Alright ladies, spring break is three weeks away, if you haven’t already started working on your body lines, it’s now or never! If it’s a struggle for you to get into the gym, there are exercises you can do at home, as well as healthier lifestyle choices you can adopt for the next three weeks.
Drink Water: Everyone knows that your body is made up of roughly 60%, but how much power does have on your body? Studies have shown that water can help with weight loss, and controls caloric intake. If you are hungry, even the munchies, at weird times of the day, this means that you’re dehydrated. When you’re dehydrated, your body will tell you that it’s thirsty and hungry, as a mechanism to obtain as much water as possible. This also means that it’s not surprising when you find out that food with high water content helps you to feel fuller. Some examples include: fruits, vegetables, soups, and beans. Water simply is the best substitute for any high calorie drink or food.
Portion Control: Along with water, portion control is a great way to control your daily intake. The phrase “your eyes are bigger than your stomach” reigns true in this case. A way to help with this difficult task is to eat out of smaller sized bowls and plates. By doing so, you can trick your mind into thinking that you are eating more than what you are. If you find yourself eating bigger meals, another way to portion control is to increase the amount of times you eat in a day. This can also help reestablish your metabolism, but remember quality over quantity. By snacking on healthy foods every 2-3 hours, you can keep your digestive system going, which then helps you feel less hungry, and results in eating smaller portions during meals.
The Mile Club: If exercise isn’t your thing, that’s understandable! It’s not easy to train yourself to inflict and enjoy pain on yourself. However, this doesn’t dismiss the importance of exercise. Your tuition already pays for your access to the gym, so I challenge you to least run a mile every other day, or so. You don’t even have to run or go fast. If you are increasing your heart rate, you can jog, fast walk, or go on an incline. Running is the most basic exercise which engages almost all your muscle groups. Don’t use bad body parts as an excuse. If it’s painful to use the treadmill, you can accomplish a mile on an elliptical, a stationary bike, or a row machine.
Detoxing: If you associate detoxing with extreme dieting, you’ve got it all wrong. Your body naturally detoxes itself by eliminating toxins from your blood in the liver, kidneys, lungs, and skin. This means that using the restroom, breathing, and sweating are all detoxing mechanisms. However, if you help your body with this slow process, then it’ll be more beneficial with your overall health. Detoxing can be as easy as adding lemon juice into your water, or it can be as fancy as drinking green and herbal teas. The variations are endless!
Don’t Diet: The worse thing to do is to throw yourself into a diet for three weeks and then stop. The reason for this is because you are cutting cold turkey and depriving your body from the norm. This will make your body and your mind to crave the foods that the diet restricts you from having, and cause you to relapse. It’s proven that women on extreme diet plans will gain back more weight than what they originally started with. Not only are you physically robbing yourself, you are also exposing yourself to an unhealthy mindset, which could potentially lead to an eating disorder. Overall, the risk factor of dieting is too high.
Obtaining a figure for spring break is only a short-term goal in the journey of healthy living. You only get one body, and if you incorporate these easy tips into your daily life, the results will be worthwhile. For starters, you’ll notice that you’re less cranky and more energized. So, what are you waiting for? Grab a friend, start this journey together, and reach your first goal by spring break.