Look and Feel Better by Spring Break

You may have noticed a recent change at your local Gap, Old Navy and/or Larry?s Fashion Bargain Bin. The coats and cardigans of yesterday are slowly being replaced by T-shirts, sandals and … fitness gear. It?s nearly spring, which means two things: we?re mere weeks away from not having? to walk in nasty slush, but also drawing closer to that time of the year when we can no longer hide our guts behind oversized outerwear.

Don't be this guy on spring break!

If you happen to read your girlfriend?s magazines when there?s nothing else close enough to the toilet (guilty), you?re certainly aware of the ?bikini body? stories publications like ?Lucky? and ?Elle? push this time of the year. While we thankfully don?t ever have to worry about how we?ll look in a two-piece, we all surely want to look good on the beach/rocking a V-neck/etc. as well. With the return of warm weather, off come the bubble coats and snow pants and out come our more form-fitting (a.k.a. gut-revealing) clothes. Whether you?ve been working out all winter or have been less than committed to your New Year?s resolution, it?s crunch time (literally.)

You?re not going to transform your body overnight, but you can see visible results within several weeks? time if you figure out where you are physically, decide where you want to be, set a goal and stick with it. Say, for example, you?re going on a week-long vacation to Cancun in late April. If you start this week, that gives you more than two months to get your body to where you want to be. A lot of it depends on your current fitness level. If you?ve had about as much fitness lately as getting up from your gaming chair in-between marathon rounds of ?Call of Duty,? it?s going to take some work, but it is possible to make a change.

What kind of body do you want to have two months from now? If you go on the crash diet route, you won?t be doing yourself any good. Sure, you might lose some weight, but you won?t build any muscle mass. News flash: A scrawny beach body is just as unattractive as a chubby one. The best thing you can do for yourself, no matter your current size, is to stick with a high-protein, low carb diet and regular cardio/strength training regimen. This is really no different than what you should do any time of the year. Start living healthy now, so come next year you?ll be even more ready to strut your stuff on the Jersey shore (with or without a blowout haircut.)

Follow through on eating healthy and exercising daily and you?ll look better when it comes time to hit the beach and/or the club this spring and summer. Avoid crash dieting and ?Get Ripped in 30 Days? nonsense. You?ll look and feel better over time and never have to worry about rushing to shed the fat rolls for spring break ever again. At the very least you won?t have to hide your love handles behind a parka in the middle of July.