Deadly Dieting: Don’t let spring break you

Jesse+Magill

Abby Baum

Jesse Magill

Two of the most exciting events for this time of year are spring break and prom.

For many students, these events serve as motivation to get in shape. Sometimes, this desire can turn unhealthy. Spring is a time of renewal and life, don’t let the pressures of looking your best for the warm weather get in the way of that

Skipping meals and intense dieting is not a safe way to keep the body healthy. When the body does not receive any food for an extended period of time, it goes into starvation mode. This causes the body to hold on to everything it takes in, instead of getting rid of waste like it usually does. This can actually cause weight gain.

Intense dieting also causes a huge drop in glucose levels. This forces the body to get energy from breaking apart protein tissues, or muscles, which weakens the body overall and can reduce metabolism.  Also if you fail a diet the common response is to begin yet another weight loss plan.  This leads to a fluctuation in weight from starving to slamming called “yo-yo dieting.”

Diets can lead to lower self-esteem and even depression.  Social media suggests that losing weight helps feel better about themselves, but that’s only if done a healthy way.

Exercise and a balanced diet is key. One of the most efficient ways to lose weight is through moderate-exertion aerobic exercise. This is defined as an increase in heart rate and breathing, but not so much so that breathing is extremely difficult. Things that fall into this category are medium speeds of biking and jogging.

This kind of exercise is so important for weight loss because it allows the body to use oxygen. This means that you are burning calories from fat, instead of calories from carbohydrates. Carbohydrate calories do not reduce overall percent body fat as efficiently as fat calories.

This also increases metabolism overall, which results in more burning of calories throughout the entire day. Of course, this should be combined with other types of exercise such as weight lifting.