It’s finally that time of year again. A time of long beach days, hot summer nights, and that cute bikini you picked out last year. But wait a minute – before you try it on, have you considered the possibility of the dreaded ‘holiday weight’? (Don’t act like you don’t have any because that’s impossible.)
My boyfriend and I have come to terms with this fact of life. And we’ve made a 3-month pact. No junk food. 2 liters of water a day. Gym visits as often as possible. Yesterday was our first gym visit. After forking out a huge twenty dollars for a casual visit and spending an hour sweating and aching and feeling like I was going to throw up, I must admit I began to question what I got myself into. Why does summer have to be such a pain?
I woke up in the morning with aching arms, legs, abs, and a starving stomach. Damn you, holiday weight! There has to be an easier way…
Here’s what I think. The moderation rule is important, as in – eat everything in moderation. Feel like some chocolate? Have a square! Craving lollies? Go for the 98% less sugar option. It may not be the healthiest way to ‘diet,’ but who am I kidding? Diets are boring anyway. At work, we are careful to have a small stash of All Natural lollies on hand for those one-off sugar hits. Now when lunchtime rolls around, rather than going for the trusty Kebab Shop Nachos, try out a fruit salad with yoghurt, or even a salad sandwich. It’s important to keep your stomach full the whole day long. Skipping breakfast is a big no-no, so as not to affect your metabolism, leaving you more likely to pig out on the tempting junk later on that night.
What’s important is staying active. This really depends on the individual. While I would much rather fork over loads of cash to sweat it out in the gym, a smarter individual may realise that jogging is far more affordable (plus, you can take your iPod and sing along simultaneously!). Team sports are always fun if you’re more of a social person like me. While it’s off-season for the more popular sports, like netball or soccer, nighttime indoor competitions are always run. Grab a bunch of friends and sign up!
Don’t like to sweat? Walking for an hour a day can do just as much good as a half-hour run. So go on a shopping spree and take the stairs instead of the elevator. Little things like this that may seem like nothing at the time really do add up. Even if it’s doing ten push-ups in an ad break of your favourite show and seeing if you can beat the next lot of ads. Fun little challenges for yourself make exercising not seem like it at all, and trust me; you begin to feel quite proud of yourself when you beat your last Personal Best!
At times it will all seem too much, I’m not going to lie, and Baskin Robbins will probably seem like Heaven to you, but before you break down: just think of that cute bikini you’ve got sitting at home. It’ll all be worth it.