Caught Prom Fever?
We’ve Got the Cure
You won’t need a flu shot to avoid this illness.
All it requires is a little planning and a pledge to take your medicine.
By Mike Mauney
Okay ladies, it is that time of year again when many of you come down with “prom fever,” a very serious condition which, if left untreated, could lead to sadness and disappointment. Symptoms of prom fever include the following:
• Confusion: Not knowing which gown to choose due to so many choices.
• Stress: Not being able to wear your choice of gown due to your weight.
• Nervousness: Caused by trying to combine too much homework, too many school activities, and being totally out of shape.
The recommended cure for prom fever is fitness training in the form of muscle toning, aerobic activity, and healthy nutrition. You must begin this treatment program with planning, scheduling, and daily commitment.
First, let’s look at planning. Write out a list of all of your daily activities, including everything that you do in a day — meals, homework, telephone conversations, etc. Now prioritize your list, beginning with the most important. Of course, you will find activities that must take place, but you will also notice activities that can be deleted; examples of activities you could cut back on or do without include extra time talking on the phone, sending e-mails, watching tv, and the like. In your list of must-do activities, add a new item — fitness training.
Once you have decided which actions must be taken each day, you must then schedule your entire day to ensure every item on you list can be fit in and completed. An important thing to remember about your fitness training is that it does not have to be scheduled to be completed all at one time. For example, let’s say that you would normally
Pageantry contributor and Miss Teen USA 2004 Shelley Hennig demonstrates the correct technique for exercising her back muscles.
LAT PULL-DOWN 1 Inhale and grip bar with wide grip
2 Exhale and pull bar down behind your head
3 Inhale as you return bar to beginning position, extending arms as much as possible without locking out your elbows
• Complete 2-3 sets
• 10 reps per set
• Rest 30 seconds between sets
• Perform 3 times a week
set your clock to wake up each morning at 7 am. Since your have added fitness training to your schedule, you could set your clock for 6:30 am to give you time to begin your day with 30 minutes of aerobic training on a treadmill, stationary bike, or a similar piece of equipment. After you have completed your aerobic training, you would then schedule the rest of your morning and afternoon. When you return home, you could schedule 30 minutes of muscle-toning exercise before dinner. After dinner would come homework or and extra activity such as dance class. Here is a scheduling example:
6:00 AM Aerobic training
6:30 AM Shower, breakfast, prepare for school
7:30 AM Travel to school and attend school
3:00 PM After school activities
5:00 PM Travel home and rest period
5:30 PM Muscle toning exercise’s
6:30 PM Dinner
7:00 PM Homework, etc.
10:00 PM Retire to bed
This is one of many variations of how your daily activities could be listed and planned. The main thing to realize is that scheduling your daily activities will allow you to include fitness training along with other important activities.
Okay, now that you have a better understanding of how planning and scheduling can work, you must now be committed to do so, because without follow-through none of your planning or scheduling will work. Of course, from time to time you may have to rearrange your schedule. Notice I said “rearrange” your schedule, not “delete” from you schedule. Having to rearrange your schedule is to be expected.
Seeing improvement in your body brings us to our next points; aerobic activity, nutrition, and muscle toning. The aerobic activity will be needed to help eliminate excessive body fat. This must be done in order to wear and look good in the gown of your choice. Keeping your heart rate (beats per minute) in the 70 to 75 percent range for a minimum of 30 minutes a day is very good for burning body fat. Of course, doing more than 30 minutes a day would be even better. To determine your target heart rate (beats per minute), subtract your age from the number 220 and then multiply this number by 70 or 75 percent.
For muscle toning, I suggest training your entire body three times a week. To save time, you may want to train your upper body (shoulders, chest, back arms, and abs) on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, leaving your lower body (hips, legs, and abs) for Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Make sure that you complete a minimum of one exercise per body part. I recommend completing two or three different exercises per body part, as time allows. You will also be completing your aerobic training six days a week. Remember that it’s okay to separate your aerobic training from your muscle toning training, and doing so will help you fit your total training into your busy schedule.
When it comes to nutrition, a few simple changes to your diet will make a major difference to your body health and appearance. Replace high-carbohydrate snacks such as cakes, cookies, ice cream, and chips with a snack of fruits, fat-free yogurt, pretzels, and sugar-free Jell-O. Substitute 100 percent whole wheat bread, bake potato, and grilled chicken breast as better alternatives to white bread, French fries, pizza, hamburgers, and hot dogs. Consuming your carbs at breakfast and lunch but eliminating them from dinner will help your body burn them for energy, rather than storing them as fat.
Prom fever has also been reported among women in all walks of life, whether they are preparing for their wedding, going on their honeymoon, recovering from giving birth, working from 9 to 5, preparing to enter a competition, or facing any major life-altering experience. For all of them, I have great news — the cure is the same! Just follow this advice and you too will be fever-free and ready to be your best for whatever special occasion is on the horizon.
Mike Mauney, owner of Body Design By Mike fitness center in North Carolina, is a Personal Fitness Trainer certified by the National Federation of Professional Trainers. Mike specializes in Personal Fitness Training for women of all ages. For twelve years he has been training dancers, models, cheerleaders, pageant and swimsuit contestants of all ages and competition levels (local, state, national, and international). His daughter Michelle Mauney was Miss North Carolina USA 1995. Some of Mike’s training credits includes the following: Carrie Stroup, Miss World United States 2001, Janice Ward, Mrs. United States 1999, Vanessa Minnillo, swimsuit winner and Miss Teen USA 1998, and Michelle Warren, 1st runner-up Miss America Pageant 1998.
Getting started with a fitness routine is always the hardest part, so it’s important to remember the benefits that you’ll reap from a healthier lifestyle.
By performing your exercise routines in short-but-intense bursts, you can actually achieve desired results without having to spend all of your time in the gym.
The struggle between “The Fat Boys” and the “the Cardio Kid” isn’t one to take lightly.
Which side you favor determines which size you’ll fit into when trying on those gorgeous gowns.
Jump-starting a daily workout program now can make the difference between settling for a cover-up smock or having the body to wear whatever fashions you favor.
