UpDate - Vol. 13, No. 25, Page 2
March 24, 1994
Spring Break Syndrome: Get in shape fast

     Once again, warmer weather is here, and it's time for the long-awaited
spring break. While many students will be going home for vacation, others
will be seeking sun and fun in Florida, Texas, South Carolina, Mexico and
the Bahamas.
     For those students going to the beach, the realization of having to
fit into a bathing suit may lead to an obsession to shed pounds and get in
shape.
     Leslie Orysh a psychologist in the University's Center for Counseling
and Student Development, sees this phenomenon-"Spring Break Syndrome"-every
year on the campus. "As we get closer to spring break," she said, "there is
more attention and anxiety about students' body image and a focus on weight
loss in a short amount of time."
     The phenomenon, is characterized by "people starting to loathe their
bodies and trying to refigure them." Students trying to improve their
appearance by weight loss and exercise over a long period of time is fine,
Orysh said, but when they try to do it in a few weeks, some methods can
become unhealthy. For example, she said, some students use diet pills,
starvation and excessive exercise to lose weight.
     Orysh said the time just before spring break is already highly
stressful for students, since it is generally a time when most professors
assign papers or give exams.
     Marcus Phillips, a senior marketing major, who will spend his Spring
Break in Jupiter, Fla., said he feels anxiety about hitting the beach in
his bathing suit because, "Basically, you're only wearing one piece of
clothing. You're almost naked." Last year, Phillips started working out in
order to get ready for vacation. Although he is not doing as much
preparation this year, he is watching what he eats.
     Senior accounting major Lynn Schoenbeck said she definitely feels
self-conscious about how she will look on the beach at Panama City, Fla.
She said she doesn't really have time to work out, so she has been watching
her diet instead.
     Schoenbeck said she isn't obsessed with it, however. She said she
often looks at food and thinks, "Maybe I shouldn't eat that," but then
usually ends up eating whatever she wants anyway.
     People who work out year-round at the Student Fitness Center, like
senior accounting major Chris Reinholz, notice an increase in the number of
people who suddenly appear to work out before vacation.
     "The month before Spring Break it gets crowded," he said, "I have to
put up with all these seasonal people."
     Reinholz said he thinks everyone wants to look good when they go to
the beach, so they start trying to lose the weight they gained over the
winter. Since he works out all the time, he has not had to worry about
looking fit for his trip to Daytona Beach, but he has been eating a more
healthy diet in order to lose his winter weight gain.
     Charlie Chatterton, fitness specialist at the Student Fitness Center
in Carpenter Sports Building, supports Orysh's observation. He said the
student fitness centers on campus are usually very busy from the beginning
of spring semester to spring break. After vacation, activity tends to drop
off. While part of the decrease may be because students start exercising
outside more when the weather gets warmer, Chatterton attributes it to
break being over.
     He said, "There is definitely a feeling of urgency" to look good and
get in shape before spring break.
                                                  -Gina Poltrok