Miami Quarterly

Issue date: 3/3/10 Section: Arts & Entertainment

With spring break quickly approaching, some Miami University students are taking drastic measures to look good for their long-awaited vacation. Expectations of wearing a swimsuit and heading to the beach cause some people to conform to dangerous diets, exhilarating workouts and repetitive visits to indoor tanning salons.



"It's crazy what some people do to prepare for a week of vacation," sophomore Colin Pyle says. "I think people go pretty extreme, which is so unnecessary."



Sophomore Sasha Star* confesses that last year she went to the extreme in preparation for spring break. "It all started when we came back from winter break in January," Star says. "My friend asked me to make a pact to not eat at the dining halls before spring break.



Instead we went to Kroger and bought carrots, hummus, grapes, crackers, cheese and other snack foods that we lived off of until break." Star says she worked out six times a week and even used drugs such as Provigil and Adderall to suppress her appetite.



"I lost 10 to 15 pounds over a six week period," Star says. "I probably under-ate more than over-exercised. Most girls would most likely rather not eat than exercise more."



Last year when break finally rolled around, Star and her friend drove to Panama City, Fla., where the dieting worsened.



"We made one trip to a grocery store for the whole week we were there," Star says. "During the entire week we didn't go out to eat for lunch, dinner or breakfast. I literally lived off of hummus, fruit, wheat thins, tomatoes, alcohol and mixers."



The preparation was not worth it in the end, Star says.



"Everyone was too drunk to care what we looked like," she says. "By the end of the trip, I was so excited for solid food."



This year Star is again going to Florida, but she'll be relaxing at her grandparents' home. Instead of fasting for spring break, Star says she is enjoying her normal diet and regular exercise. And she's getting spray tans, which are less risky than tanning beds.



Star is not the only one who takes preparing for spring break seriously, but some Miami students have devised healthier plans. Sophomore Lindsay Becker has started working out everyday and eating healthier to prepare for her vacation to Sanibel Island.



"I do 30 minutes of cardio and an eight-minute ab workout everyday," Becker says. "I am trying to lose that extra winter holiday weight in order to tone and tighten everything. This lifestyle is a lot healthier than my normal one."



Following her trip to Sanibel, Fla., Becker plans to continue her new way of life to prepare for her "summer body." Cincinnati Tan Company employee Lindsey Criswell says the salon starts to get very busy around the last week of January and early February.



"There is absolutely an increase in business before spring break," Criswell says. "It literally gets crazy with girl after girl after girl. However, a lot of guys tan at Cincinnati Tan as well."



The shop, which has 19 beds and a spray tan area, becomes so busy the employees usually end up working until 11 p.m., when the salon regularly closes at 10 p.m.



Miami senior Mary Holmes* has been tanning nearly every day at Cincinnati Tan in preparation for break.



"Starting in January, I went tanning two or three times a week," Holmes says. "Recently, I have started going every other day. Come the week before spring break, I am going to tan everyday to build up my base tan."



Mindy Stephens, the Recreational Sports Center's associate director of fitness and marketing, says the number of people working out also increases prior to spring break. "You have to get inspired somewhere," Stephens says. "Spring break is good motivation, but the sad thing is that not all people continue their workout routine after break is over."



She says a lot of people aren't educated about fitness either.



"You can easily over-exercise and students have a tendency to do it before they go on spring break," Stephens says. To prevent crash workouts right before break, the RSC offers incentive programs to correlate with break. One is called "Miami to Miami," which requires participants to swim the number of meters it would take to swim from Oxford to Miami, Fla. The program starts in January and is safe and healthy, Stephens says.



The second program is a group fitness challenge, in which students attend four classes at the RSC each week for four weeks before spring break. Participants take one strength class, one cardio class, one fl exibility class and one class of their choice each week. The program is also offered after break until the end of school year.



Miami's Student Health Services also offers a Safe Spring Break Campaign. Leslie Haxby McNeill, assistant director and prevention coordinator of health education, says students are not very conscientious or safe about their health when they go on vacation.



"We promote students having routine healthy lifestyles," Haxby McNeill says. "Crash dieting is not good for the body and can have opposite effects, such as weight gain. Everything should be done in moderation."



But preparation for spring break isn't Haxby McNeill's only advice for students.



"Another issue is drinking," Haxby McNeill says. "Drinking alcohol and getting drunk, even once, can impair someone's abstract thinking for up to three days afterwards. A week of getting drunk can impair abstract thinking for up to 30 days after."



Haxby McNeill advises students to get enough sleep, not drive drunk, have resources to rely on and make plans ahead of time.



Instead of stressing out to get in perfect shape before spring break, this year Star is looking forward to time with her grandparents.



"I just ordered two new bathing suits and I am definitely not as worried this year as I was last year," Star says. "I'm looking forward to an actually relaxing spring break.



*Name changed upon request of the source to remain anonymous.

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