It’s no secret: everyone gains a few pounds during the winter months, and that’s totally okay. But if you’re someone who is determined not to gain those infamous few pounds, and maybe improve your figure, read on.

Some fun and (relatively) easy ways to stay in shape during the winter:

• Ask a friend to stay after school with you to workout in the weight room. It’s open after school everyday until the 5:40 PM bus, and no worries- you don’t have to become a master of the bench press this winter. There are some elliptical and treadmill machines next to each other, so you and a pal can chat and work out at the same time.
• The holidays are over, so no one’s forcing you to gorge on honey ham and pie anymore. It’s up to you to make smarter, healthier choices for the rest of the winter. While you’re snowed-in in your house during these winter months, do not open a bag of chips. Keep lots of natural foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts, olive oil, etc. in your kitchen so you can cook homemade meals on those boring snow days.
• Have you slept in on some cold, dreary mornings to avoid gym this quarter? Yeah, it’s not just you. To make up gym and get a solid workout you can sign up for the Pilates gym ram!
• Feeling adventurous on a snowy weekend morning? In an effort to feel like you’re in a Nike commercial/Rocky Balboa movie, bundle up and run outside! Not only will you warm up within a few minutes, the run doesn’t have to be for too long. Surprisingly, running outside through a winter wonderland is very, very satisfying. Just try it.
• Can’t stay after school, or too scared to slip on the ice outside? No worries. Turn on Pandora, lie down on your rug/mat, and do core exercises in your room. Some examples of common core exercises would be planks, side-planks, crunches, side-crunches, six-inches, Russian twists, and sprinter abs. If none of these sound familiar, search YouTube for a core/pilates video. To make things a little less boring, change the exercise you’re doing every minute.

Happy staying in shape!