It’s that time of year again. The sun is shining, the temperatures are rising, and EVERYONE will want to break out their new tank tops and high waisted shorts for the last few weeks of school. But what happens if you try on a cute outfit on the first 75 degree day and realize that it fits a little more tightly than it did last year? As human beings, the cold weather and constant convenience of oversized sweaters have inevitably caused us to avoid exercise and instead turn to comfort food. Seriously, the choice between a large cheese pizza and a long run in sub-zero temperatures… isn’t much of a choice at all.
But now you want to slim down in preparation for bikini season, and that’s totally fine. If those tight shorts aren’t enough motivation, then the Victoria’s Secret Swimsuit Edition featuring tanned and toned models most definitely is. I just want to encourage you, and all the other girls out there, to go about it the right way.
Just because summer is right around the corner doesn’t mean you have to jump into starvation mode just to get a “quick fix.” You may look at pictures of yourself when you were thinner and think, “I only have to survive a few weeks of being really, really hungry, then I’ll reach my goal weight and start eating normally again.” But this hardly ever happens. As girls, we start to like that empty feeling in our stomachs. We start to like eating at an extreme calorie deficit. We start to like exercising with hardly any fuel in our stomachs. And most importantly, we start to like seeing the number on the scale slowly but surely creeping down.
It may seem harmless at first. But then you hit your goal weight and you keep starving because you’ve made it this far and you could be thinner. After all, people are starting to notice. “You look smaller,” they say, “have you lost weight?” Your clothes are looser, you feel more athletic, and you look REALLY GOOD when you look in the mirror. Why stop a good thing when it just started?
I want all our readers to know that this kind of behavior can, and most likely will, lead to some kind of eating disorder. It’s unhealthy, dangerous, and can lead to anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating (since I ate so much last night, I just won’t eat anything today).
The most healthy and effective way to lose weight is to eat good foods like fruits and vegetables, exercise more, and make small changes to your diet that will pay off in the long run. It’s not about cutting out the occasional piece of cake or handful of chips. It’s about not eating cake and chips as a snack three times a week.
I know that losing weight can be a frustrating thing, especially when you keep comparing yourself to how you used to look and feel when you were thinner. But ladies, you will get there. It just takes patience and dedication. Be kind to your bodies – after all, they’re the only place you have to live.