Every year right before the start of summer, many people put themselves through rigorous exercises and extreme diets just so they can achieve the perfect beach body. There are many approaches you can take to acquire this slender silhouette, and many of these techniques are utilized across the board for Annandale students.

Senior Ian Griffin exercises and watches what he eats to make sure he gets in shape for the summer. “I have football workouts over the summer so I guess that’s how I get a beach body, and I also try not to eat fast food a lot because it has a lot of fat,” said Griffin.

Another student who enjoys working out is Sophomore Salvattore Ames. “I usually work out at the gym because it gets you psyched up too train your body rather than just sitting at home doing sit ups.” Like Griffin, Ames also uses schools activities to get in shape. “During the winter and spring I like to do track because it’s a great form of exercising.”

One of the most popular ways, but not so effective, ways to diet is by calorie counting. Junior Bellal Hussain is one student who likes to take the dietary approach to getting in shape. “Twinkies are for sure my favorite food, but when summer is approaching I try to watch my calorie intake and lay off of them.”

Although calorie counting may seem easy, the International Food Information Council Foundation suggests that although 67 percent of Americans count calories, of those people, 9 out of 10 don’t know how many calories they should take in daily.

Calories are the body’s main source of energy and they are generally abundant in foods that contain many fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Since calories are imperative to create energy for your body, pairing calorie counting along with exercise can be very dangerous to your health.

Since we need calories to function, restricting yourself to an insufficient amount of calories each day and then burning them while exercising can cause sickness and fainting.

The easiest way to get the perfect beach body with faster results and less risks only takes three steps. The first task is to set an ideal weight which you would like to reach in two weeks. Next, you should create a workout schedule that contains a different workout everyday for two weeks. Include exercises such as jogging, pilates and other cardio-intensive activities. The last step is to restrict yourself from eating any sweets or foods that are high in fat. By completing all of these steps, you will be ready to hit the beach in just two weeks.