The Phit Girl: Shaping up for Formal Season

It’s about that time ladies. We all look forward to it, some of paint coolers for it, go on extreme diets for it, and even put those Norts to good use. That’s right, it’s Fraternity and Sorority winter formal season. I personally LOVE to workout, I eat very healthfully, and I use formal to give me a little extra push. So I’m going to share with you my favorite tips and tricks for getting in shape for that little LBD, or whatever dress you choose!

First step, find a dress that looks flattering on you. If you have amazing shoulders, legs, collar bones, waistline, pick something that plays up your assets. This will also help to give you a place to focus on when you’re working out. Remember!! You have to work your entire body to see changes but focusing on parts that your dress accentuates will help you feel more confident.

Second is what you eat because you can’t out exercise bad diet.

• For breakfast I recommend having protein and a complex carbohydrate. This could be non-fat/low-fat Greek yogurt with a little granola, berries if you have them, eggs and toast, a protein packed cereal such as Kashi with skim, low fat, or almond milk with a piece of fruit.

• Lunch is similar to breakfast but incorporating more veggies. So grab some spinach from your wrap or sandwich, focus on lean protein, some complex carbohydrates to give you the energy to get you through class, and veggies to give you vitamins and minerals you need. You can also have sushi made with brown rice, or no rice for a lighter lunch. Edamame is also really great because it’s a plant that’s low in calories but high in protein.

• Snacks: I like to snack once or twice a day but I do not always snack at the same time, and only if I’m hungry. I always make sure that I have a snack in the afternoon to keep me going through classes, a workout, and studying. So I may have an apple with peanut butter, a Luna bar, I have recently fallen in love with Quest bars, they give you 20grams of protein, which is great for your muscles and your hair, or yogurt and granola. Whatever you choose for your snack make sure it’s not another meal, it’s just to tide you over until dinner, or lunch if you get up really early.

• Dinner is a meal that I like to keep light so that it doesn’t feel like it’s just sitting in my stomach. I love grilled chicken, fish if it’s available, or a turkey burger without a bun paired with a salad. It’s light, gives me vitamins, protein, and I don’t feel deprived afterwards.

• Make sure that you’re properly hydrated. Sometimes your body confuses thirst for hunger so make sure you drink half of your body weight in ounces of water. If you’re a coffee drinker like me, drink a few more glasses to compensate for that.

Our third component: Fitness!!

As I said, I LOVE working out, but if that’s not your jam, that’s ok too, you can still do a little to feel your best at formal. So I usually workout 6-7 days a week with an active rest day in thrown in to give my body time to recover. That might be a day when I walk and do yoga instead of lifting or doing intense cardio. I recommend lifting weights 3-5 days a week but alternate which parts you work. My schedule is Monday abs, Tuesday abs and arms, Wednesday is HUMP DAY so obviously I work the booty and my legs, and then Thursday is arms and upper body. Friday and Saturday are usually total body, and one of those days I use a kettle bell because it burns a lot of calories and tones every muscle in your body differently than traditional weights. Depending on what part of your body your dress accentuates, I would send more love to those areas. For instance, if you’re wearing a dress with no sleeves, send a little extra love to your arms by increasing weights, adding a little more arm toning to the end of another workout to give it a little work without overdoing it. Or a dress that shows off your gorgeous legs, maybe work them a little more, or give them an extra day. This is your workout, make it work for you.

I recommend a minimum of 20 minutes of cardio a day, incorporating Highly Intense Interval Training (HIIT), to speed up your metabolism, and maximize your cardio workout. So what that may look like is 3 minute warm up jog and then 1 minutes sprint, 1 minute off repeating, followed by a cool down. There are some great Pinterest workouts in their health and fitness section so find what works for you and if a workout is too hard, do what you can and work up to it. I also like Blogilates, she has free videos on YouTube for people at all levels of fitness so give one of those a try. One day you’ll be able to breeze through it with no problem.

As a disclaimer, I am not a dietician, I am not a personal trainer (yet), so these are just things that work for me