Elliott Cottington and Keaton McAuliffe
Reporters
Attention: Prom is in approximately two weeks. Whether or not you have an official countdown (9 days, 5 hours and 58 minutes…..but who’s counting?) it is time to begin preparations to fit into that dress or tux.
The last thing a girl wants at the eleventh hour is to be happily zipping her dress only to find that it stops halfway up her back. Even guys could find themselves sucking in a large amount of gut just so they can do the button on their pants. These are just a few prom nightmares that we can help you avoid.
There are two things you should probably do to look your best on prom night: eat right and exercise. We all know that crash diets don’t work, (you are mostly losing water weight, and it is unhealthy,) so the sooner you start adopting a healthy lifestyle, the better! If you keep up a clean diet and moderate daily exercise, you will undoubtedly look better come April 5 at 7 p.m. when you arrive at the Italian Center.
However, if you are like us, the plates of food sitting at those tables will probably look more attractive to you than your date. Therefore, we give you permission to just forget about everything we’ve told you and everything we’re going to tell you for that one night. After all, it is called the Italian Center. That means good food (we assume…) and a lot of it. Bottom line is, what you do at prom doesn’t have anything to do with health/exercise. You’re there to have a good time, and if your idea of a good time involves five plates of mashed potatoes, then go for it! It’s healthy to indulge every once in awhile, and one night of overeating will have negligible effects in the long run. However, after that night of indulgence, you should try your best to get back on track and keep your healthy momentum going.
Tips for the next two weeks (applicable until April 5, or if you’re an overachiever, for life):
Things we don’t suggest: crash dieting. As mentioned above, we all know that crash diets don’t work. And personally, dieting just for prom seems a little extreme and, you’re all thinking it, pathetic. So don’t diet to the max. Cut back on some unhealthy foods that you eat too much of. When you come home from school, or whatever you come home from, skip the goldfish and try an apple.
Even if you’ve just hauled your butt in a spring sport practice, something healthy but filling will suit you better in the long run (how do you think JT got his suit and tie to fit?) One of our favorite snacks: rice cakes with peanut butter. You can never go wrong with peanut butter and the rice cake gives you just enough carbs to satisfy that craving. Plus, peanut butter is a great source of protein and will help you feel full!
Another good idea is to limit the sweets. Chocolate, cookies, cake and ice cream certainly won’t help that layer of flab that just seems to get bigger every time you sit down for dessert. Save one day a week for that deliciousness. Unfortunately, that means you might have to skip those cafeteria cookies from now on (cue gasp). If that seems like way too big a challenge, try to limit yourself to one a week (if you must.) For a weeknight treat, try fruit yogurt with a few chocolate chips thrown in. It’s just sweet enough to settle the drool that’s been hanging off your tongue while you look at pictures of Nutella cheesecake or seven layer bars on the internet.
But what’s the point in cutting back on the food if you don’t exercise? These two go hand in hand, especially for a big event. You don’t have to go all out, (it’s just JProm after all) but making the effort to go for a little jog (or run, for our more advanced readers) in Waveny won’t do any harm to your body.
Also, target the areas that are going to be most exposed on prom night. Guys, you won’t have as much of a problem here, but girls, your arms are gonna be shining bright like diamonds out there. You’re gonna want to make sure that they are not going to flap in the wind. So try to lift some weights when you can. Doing 1-2 sets of 12 reps on a machine at the Y won’t kill you (according to Kelly Clarkson, it will only make you stronger) and YouTube is full of simple workouts you can do with just the weight of your body.
Finally, abs. Just abs. Prom can get pretty claustrophobic, and we all know that the classic pose is when the guy puts his hands on a girls waist/belly area. And boys, your dates are going to be leaning against your stomachs…..just let that sink in. We’re not here to make you self conscious, so sorry if we did. We just want to help you look good and feel good on that special night. So, abs, abs, abs. Find one of the thousands of ab workouts online (this is one of our favorites) and try to complete it every other night. You can choose any routine you like, just do your best to perform some sort of activity. We promise you’ll feel a lot better about yourself.
So there you have it. These tips will help you to get fit and at least marginally more in-shape before the big night. It’s all about the long-term for the most part, so starting ASAP is your best bet for looking smokin’ hot on April 5. We’ll be back a few days before the big night to give you some last-minute “day of” tips. So good luck with the prauma and the prama (prom trauma and drama,) and we hope to see you all there showin’ off those fit and healthy bods!
Your go-to fitness gurus,
Keaton and Elliott
