With the start of the new year, Spring right around the corner, and bikini season and Prom inevitably approaching, many girls here at HHS are hitting the scale and counting the calories. However, simply eating less will not put a teenage girl into the size zero Abercrombie pants she dreams of. To be fit requires a lifestyle change, not just an idea. Working out, eating RIGHT, not just less, and treating your body right are all vital factors that play in to this healthy equation.

Working out can seem ominous and daunting, but even after a single workout session, you are already in better shape than when you started! And plus, “working out” doesn’t mean doing laps around the track, it can be Zumba at the gym (which is a Latin-inspired dance workout), a kickboxing class with friends, or even a quick, basic, one hundred calorie workout (try doing forty jumping jacks, ten push ups, twenty squats, and thirty crunches). “I think working out is just about the best thing you can do for yourself. Joining a team at school is the easiest way to work out, because you are on a regimented schedule,” says Senior Tera Bradbury.

Eating right can transform your body, with hardly any effort done on your part. By paying attention to more than just the calories (although those are important) on the labels on foods can open your eyes to all of the bad (and good) things out there in the foods you eat everyday. Apricots, avocados, raspberries, cantaloupe, cranberry juice, raisins, tomatoes, lemons and limes, onions, ginger, broccoli, spinach, garlic, peanuts, yogurt, and salmon are all fantastic foods that will fuel your body and give it what it needs to perform and perfect.

By starving yourself, you are actually at risk of setting yourself up for permanent weight gain. When you don’t eat, your body, thinking it is in fight or flight mode, holds onto every last bit of food it gets. It does this by slowing your metabolism, essentially making the food last longer. By messing with your metabolism, you have now put yourself in a position where it can turn into a lifelong problem. From then on, it will always be untrusting of you, it will always want to hold onto the food as long as it can because it doesn’t know if it will be getting any more fuel anytime soon. By simply eating healthier, you can avoid this viscous cycle altogether.

When it comes to eating right, you also need to be conscientious of what fluids you are putting into your body. It is recommended that the average person drink eight cups of water a day. Not only will this hydrate you, but it will also increase metabolism (if it is cold water), fill you up (if it is hot water), aid in weight loss, flush out toxins that are in your system, give you healthier skin, reduce the risks of certain cancers, help digestion and constipation, and improve your overall health. All of this for zero calories! By doing all of this, you ARE treating your body right.