LOVE and WARdrobe
Exercising A Lesson In Confidence
Pugwash Newspaper
Pugwash
How many times do you see ‘lose 7lbs in a week’ or ‘the 3-minute 6-pack’ splattered across the pages of magazines per week? Not only are these fads unlikely to work, but because they fail, they shatter your motivation.
While I could spend hours reeling off my bodily dislikes; many are conforming to a new regime; one that, if followed properly, can set the precedent for a healthier body and mind for years to come.
This can be achieved by following the ideologies put across in Brazilian culture; that we should accentuate and focus on the bits of our body we do love rather than the bits we don’t. After all, what does self-loathing actually achieve? Probably feeling so low about ourselves that we dash under bed covers in a manic state so people can’t see our feet, our legs or our stomachs. Our bodies do not physically change from one day to the next; we don’t go to bed beautiful and wake up ugly, but often we feel like we do. These erratic feelings all relate down to one thing; your confidence affecting your self-perception.
Many of us cringe at the idea of exercising, but often after going to the gym, our energy levels are up and we feel better about ourselves. Even though our bodies will not have physically changed from the moment we enter the gym to when we leave (you won’t go in with no muscles and come out looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger), we feel better about ourselves, showing that even the smallest bit of exercise can really affect our confidence.
At this point I know many of you will be thinking, ‘but I don’t have time‘ or ‘I‘m too tired‘, but with 120 hours in a week, the Government-recommended 30 minutes per day isn’t as hard as we like to pretend. For those of us that are simply exhausted; you often find your energy levels actually increase from exercising. So with those two excuses conquered, it all boils down to the desperate last attempt of an excuse that we have all used at some point; ‘but I’ll miss Hollyoaks or the football.’ Fear not, gyms tend to have TVs, so its time to banish the excuses which are holding you back from achieving your body goals and to get exercising to the theme tune of Eastenders (sexy.)
If the idea of exercising really has got you breaking out a sweat, or if you’ve spent all your money on nights out (let’s not deny it now), fear not, there is a simple solution.
You could simply walk to Uni instead of getting a bus or car; this can amount to an extra 40minutes of walking a day, saving you pounds the same time you’re burning them. Taking the stairs instead of the lift works those gluts to give you a bootylicious bum on the dance floor. Jogging along the seafront also offers a more scenic view than watching old men in lycra at the gym (mmm.) But if it’s too cold for this, you could go swimming; this works all your muscles in a really relaxing way. Swimming is also a really good stress-buster when it comes to exams. Many of us feel stressed, get spots, scoff our face with chocolate, procrastinate and maybe ‘just check our Facebooks ‘quickly’’ when the thought of revision hits us. But we needn’t be so dramatic, we could just go for a swim, helping us clear our heads and building up our energy levels to help us defeat that ghastly revision.
So step away from that chocolate; binge eating is the last thing we should be doing to boost our confidence. Many of us binge eat and rely on takeaways due to lack of funds (we all know what we spent that on), because we miss home or because we can’t be bothered to cook a nutritionally healthy meal. But the smallest of changes to our diets can really make an impact. Swapping coke for a fruit juice as a mixer will not only provide you with one of your 5 a day (ignore the fact its got vodka in), it’s not as destructive as fizzy drinks can be to your body. After all, any drink that has the same ingredient used to dissolve stains in toilets mustn’t be too good for our bodies.
So its time to get our trainers, skates, or dance shoes on; there are many fun forms of exercise you can do with your friends that’ll guarantee you’ll be having so much fun you won’t even notice you are exercising. It’s time join the revolution, beat the winter blues, look and feel fabulous and get ready to feel super-smug when you go home for Christmas and people compliment the new, confident you.
While I could spend hours reeling off my bodily dislikes; many are conforming to a new regime; one that, if followed properly, can set the precedent for a healthier body and mind for years to come.
This can be achieved by following the ideologies put across in Brazilian culture; that we should accentuate and focus on the bits of our body we do love rather than the bits we don’t. After all, what does self-loathing actually achieve? Probably feeling so low about ourselves that we dash under bed covers in a manic state so people can’t see our feet, our legs or our stomachs. Our bodies do not physically change from one day to the next; we don’t go to bed beautiful and wake up ugly, but often we feel like we do. These erratic feelings all relate down to one thing; your confidence affecting your self-perception.
Many of us cringe at the idea of exercising, but often after going to the gym, our energy levels are up and we feel better about ourselves. Even though our bodies will not have physically changed from the moment we enter the gym to when we leave (you won’t go in with no muscles and come out looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger), we feel better about ourselves, showing that even the smallest bit of exercise can really affect our confidence.
At this point I know many of you will be thinking, ‘but I don’t have time‘ or ‘I‘m too tired‘, but with 120 hours in a week, the Government-recommended 30 minutes per day isn’t as hard as we like to pretend. For those of us that are simply exhausted; you often find your energy levels actually increase from exercising. So with those two excuses conquered, it all boils down to the desperate last attempt of an excuse that we have all used at some point; ‘but I’ll miss Hollyoaks or the football.’ Fear not, gyms tend to have TVs, so its time to banish the excuses which are holding you back from achieving your body goals and to get exercising to the theme tune of Eastenders (sexy.)
If the idea of exercising really has got you breaking out a sweat, or if you’ve spent all your money on nights out (let’s not deny it now), fear not, there is a simple solution.
You could simply walk to Uni instead of getting a bus or car; this can amount to an extra 40minutes of walking a day, saving you pounds the same time you’re burning them. Taking the stairs instead of the lift works those gluts to give you a bootylicious bum on the dance floor. Jogging along the seafront also offers a more scenic view than watching old men in lycra at the gym (mmm.) But if it’s too cold for this, you could go swimming; this works all your muscles in a really relaxing way. Swimming is also a really good stress-buster when it comes to exams. Many of us feel stressed, get spots, scoff our face with chocolate, procrastinate and maybe ‘just check our Facebooks ‘quickly’’ when the thought of revision hits us. But we needn’t be so dramatic, we could just go for a swim, helping us clear our heads and building up our energy levels to help us defeat that ghastly revision.
So step away from that chocolate; binge eating is the last thing we should be doing to boost our confidence. Many of us binge eat and rely on takeaways due to lack of funds (we all know what we spent that on), because we miss home or because we can’t be bothered to cook a nutritionally healthy meal. But the smallest of changes to our diets can really make an impact. Swapping coke for a fruit juice as a mixer will not only provide you with one of your 5 a day (ignore the fact its got vodka in), it’s not as destructive as fizzy drinks can be to your body. After all, any drink that has the same ingredient used to dissolve stains in toilets mustn’t be too good for our bodies.
So its time to get our trainers, skates, or dance shoes on; there are many fun forms of exercise you can do with your friends that’ll guarantee you’ll be having so much fun you won’t even notice you are exercising. It’s time join the revolution, beat the winter blues, look and feel fabulous and get ready to feel super-smug when you go home for Christmas and people compliment the new, confident you.
