To Diet Or Not To Diet For Spring Break

Yesterday, my roomie barged into my bedroom with a huge smile on her face and an Amazon package in her hand. She had been waiting weeks for the bikinis she ordered for our spring break trip to come in the mail. I watched as she pulled the bright colored fabrics out of their wrapping and then saw the joy slowly fade as she tried each one on.

"Well, this just ruined my day," she said at the end of her try-on haul. How could her excitement have dissolved into melancholy so quickly? I'm sure you can guess.

For weeks leading up to this, all we could talk about was our "bikini bodies" and how we needed to go on crash spring break diets. With only a week left until our flight, we were running out of time to achieve that drastic weight change that we all hoped we'd have when we step off the plane in Florida.

I know, I know, every body is a bikini body! But can we all stop kidding ourselves for one second and admit that as much as we like to say we're body-posi, we all still have that voice in the back of our heads that keeps on wishing we were super skinny.

I'll be the first to say it out loud (or in writing), when I tried on my own bikinis that I ordered specifically for spring break, I had to force myself to like what I saw in the mirror. And then I had to force myself to not want to only eat a single piece of lettuce every day until I left for vacation.

It's extremely hard to not get into that mindset, especially when you tell yourself your new diet is only going to last until spring break, and then you'll go back to eating normally.

It even feels good when, for the first day or two of crash dieting, you're less bloated but still have a good amount of energy to get through the day. Guess what? On day three your tummy might still be flat, but your head will be pounding and your roommates will hate your new bitchy attitude.

Take it from someone who's tried to find an easy path to some spring break weight loss: it's not worth it. You'll never be able to keep up with whatever crazy diet you thought up without bingeing or feeling guilty about finally caving and eating (god forbid!) one chocolate chip.

And in regards to 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels'? I'd rather be happy and free to eat whatever I want on vacation than shame myself into toxic habits just so I can look good for one week out of my life.

REMINDER: Every college kid you run into on spring break will also be drunk and most definitely will not be thinking about how you look in your bikini!

Anyway, after I write this I'm going straight to my freezer for a pint of Ben and Jerry's. Maybe I'll try on my bikinis afterwards, too.