As winter draws on it’s tempting to snuggle up under a thick jumper (or 5), drink mugs of hot chocolate and forget about keeping fit. Besides, it’s months until the next bikini season, right? But although you probably won’t be on the beach in anything less than thick socks and a coat for a while (though this is Scotland, when is anyone ever in a bikini on the beach?), it’s important to keep healthy. To help you stay motivated in a semester full of drinking, deadlines and freezing weather, here are a few helpful tips:
1. Write it down: many of us use lists to organise our academic life, so why not treat fitness the same way? A post-it note on the mirror reminding you to work out is hard to ignore!
2. Use working out as stress-relief: instead of taking a relaxing break from revision and essays by pigging out on chocolate and watching reruns of Gilmore Girls, try doing some yoga, going for a run or heading to the gym. Not only will it help you to relax and give you that much needed respite from work, but you’ll get fit doing it!
3. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring: it’s easy to think that eating healthily means boring plates of veggies and not much else. But just because you’re watching the calories doesn’t mean you can’t eat delicious food. Check out the BBC’s Good Food webpage for inspiration http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/category/healthy.
4. Get a fitness buddy: working out with friends is not only a lot more fun but it’ll push you to work harder and it’s not as easy to make excuses!
5. Gym clothes are amazing: comfortable, cute and they make you look good! Just make sure you actually do some exercise…
6. You won’t have to work as hard when it comes to spring: avoid that two-months-til-summer panic and feel privately smug about those amazing abs you’ve been hiding under your jumper.
7.Get outside: gyms can be really expensive, and student budgets are often already stretched as it is. So try pounding the pavement instead of the treadmill. Fresh air, working out in nature and being away from the sweaty, crowded gym are all benefits.
8. You’ll feel happier for it: breaking a sweat has been proved to improve your mood, and of course seeing yourself getting fitter can only put a smile on your face.
9. Cheat: once every 10 days or so, eat whatever you want and laze around doing nothing. You shouldn’t feel guilty about wanting to stay in bed rather than head out in the cold, and allowing yourself to cheat occasionally means that working out won’t become a chore.
10. Treat yourself! Exhausted from hours at the gym? Have a biscuit! Life is too short to not eat biscuits.