How I got my cheekbones back after the freshers’ week diet

The biggest dilemma in freshers’ week is wanting to keep looking your toned beautiful best but also cutting loose and going out every night.

Girls always seem to put on some extra weight in their first year, due to stress, over eating, and drinking too much.

Stress is one of the main causes of “Fat Freshers”, whether it’s the pain of moving away from those you love, the worry about not making friends, or keeping up with your studies.

But it doesn’t have to be this way, and with a little work you can keep your cheekbones all the way through uni.

Before freshers: cheekbones ahoy After freshers: RIP cheekbones 🙁

Takeaways might seem like they’re bad for your figure, but the amount of alcohol we drink is actually far more damaging.

Each shot of vodka comes in at just under 100 calories a pop, and each can of full fat coca cola used as a mixer is at 140 calories.

So empty calories will creep up under your very nose.

How can I avoid Fat Freshers’ without missing out?

It’s very easy for me to tell you to just stop drinking. But I won’t, because let’s face it, who would listen? There are easy ways to reduce your intake of calories from alcohol, without missing all too much:

Swap your full fat mixer for a zero sugar, or diet mixer. Yes, diet coke is rubbish, but when you’re half way to drunken zombie land, how will you tell the difference anyway?

Avoid fruit juices at all costs. Replace the orange in your vodka and orange to something like slimline tonic or a simple diet coke.

Be careful with cocktails. Instead of a Long Island ice tea, have a tequila and soda mix. If you want something fruity, stick to Cosmopolitans which come in at around 100 calories a drink, rather than cocktails such as Mai Tai’s or Margaritas, which often contain over 300 calories.

I couldn’t fit into these shorts after my freshers year

The science behind this means stress releases a hormone called cortisol, which slows down the body’s metabolism and makes it harder to burn calories.

Stress also tends to lead to over eating or stress eating – who hasn’t reached for the Ben and Jerry’s when times have gotten tough?

Not getting enough sleep, be it from stress or multiple SU nights produces a lack of the chemical leptin, which can lead to increased weight gain.

It’s also extremely easy to continue eating throughout the night, through boredom or sheer availability food if you happen to be up late every night.

Stick to spirits such as: Bacardi, vodka, Southern Comfort or gin. With diet lemonade or coke of course. But stay away from sugary spirits like Malibu.

Stick to half pints of beer. Boo – but worth it.

Stay away from the VK’s. The fruity VK is tasty and generally awesome, but every bottle you consume is over 170 calories.

To put it in perspective, this is the same as a hot chocolate with whipped cream. That means each ‘VK Claw’ is worth around 680!

Don’t take part in rounds. Rounds means keeping up with the fastest drinker, and so you’ll probably end up drinking much more than you would normally. Buying your own drinks will prevent you from over indulging, while saving you money at the same time.

She shouldn’t have bought that last round

Taking supplements of Vitamins B12, A, Calcium and Folate. This can help maintain a healthy weight, as alcohol can cause vitamin deficiencies.

Only keep food in the kitchen. It’s so easy to keep a bag of crisps beside your bed and find the packet empty when you wake up.

Don’t skip breakfast. It will leave you feeling hungry throughout the day, causing over eating and snacking.

Left: No SU nights as of yet. Right: multiple SU’s. Direct effect on my cheekbones

After all of this advice, the main thing you could of course do, is just join the gym. Or at least a sports team – then you’ll have to do regular exercise.

Here’s to razor sharp cheekbones in no time!