Alotta Water

Most people who want to get healthy know that there are many ways to do so. Some  even sound easy. We see it everywhere, “Five Easy Ways To Get Flat Abs Without Hitting The Gym.” Sounds almost unbelievable right? That’s probably because it is. Sure, there are tricks to getting healthier without doing intense cardio everyday, but my question is, how well do these methods actually work for the presumably lazy people that use them? As a self-proclaimed “lazy girl,” I’d like to see what easy ways to get healthy are out there and which ones actually work.

First, let’s look at one of the oldest tricks in the book - not drinking calories. It sounds like an easy way to cut calories without really trying and if you do it you can cut about 400 calories a day or about 3.4 pounds a month. The problem is in reality it’s just not that simple (surprise, surprise).

The thing is, almost all drinks are full of calories. Even those ones that you think are healthy can have about 122 calories per serving (I’m talking to you, milk). So, to use this trick, your options become limited to black coffee or tea and water. Exciting, I know. I’m choosing not to include diet-type beverages here because most of them contain aspartame which some studies say is bad for you, see what I mean here.

I have been trying to apply this lifestyle change for some time now and although I  prefer drinking water to soda or juice (it’s free and not cloyingly sweet), I still find myself having a hard time with being limited to that. One of the problems I’ve encountered is avoiding alcohol. Now, I’m not an alcoholic by any means (I promise mom), but consuming alcohol is often an aspect of social situations, especially when you’re student. Unfortunately, alcohol is full of calories (see here) and even one night of drinking can lead to hundreds of empty calories (along with that killer hangover).

So, for those of you lazy people like me, this trick alone may not give you the drastic results you seek. However, switching your cola to water and lowering your alcohol intake can't hurt.

Allyson Knappers

Allyson Knappers is a second year student of the Professional Writing Program, and a native to the Ottawa area. Although a seemingly quiet young woman, Allyson loves to find the humor in life, and prefers to spend most of her time laughing with her friends. Allyson has an assortment of random interests, the most prominent of course, writing.

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