Summer may be over but that doesn’t give fall, winter, and spring the right to mess with the swimsuit bod you worked so hard to achieve and maintain during our wonderfully extended vacation. With school back in session it would be so easy to just head to the Mexican or Italian food lines during lunch and eat nachos and pizza every day, or skip the workout. However stooping that low just for the better tasting side of the mediocre lunches, or staying inside because it’s mildly uncomfortable outside just isn’t worth the damage it does to your nutrition and body.

1: Keep the healthiest diet you can

Either bringing your own lunch or ordering fruits and veggies in the cafeteria can really help for that calorie count and keep you filled and fueled up properly. If you ever question whether or not to super size or order that sweet tea you know you shouldn’t really be having just remember that this is always the answer: D.O.N.T., Don’t Order Nothin Tasty. Yeah sure that sounds really boring but it will be much better for your habits in the long run, it also ties into the next tip.

2: Have/Develop some strong willpower

Keeping away from temptation is always difficult when on a diet, however it is something that can be accomplished easily if you can remember when you see some tasty foods that wouldn’t really be healthy D.O.N.T.. Find a rubber band, wrap it around your wrist and snap it back whenever you see a dish or two that really catches your eye but you just can’t have.

3: Sweat it off

So on the off chance you have cheated on your diet more than you would like to admit, there is still hope to keep that calorie balance closer to zero. Rise up from your rear-end and get ready to move. You can walk it off (if you walk enough, granted Pokemon Go is no longer popular so good luck with that) or a light jog around the neighborhood a few times should put you back into a good standing.

4: Stretch it

Another key to staying in shape is being limber, and daily stretching is a great way to make sure that happens. If you let your muscles tighten up after any form of exercise, you begin to set yourself up for pulling a muscle. The subsequent weeks you would need to take off in order to recover throws you way out of routine. On top of all the consequences previously mentioned some serious permanent damage can come from not taking care of yourself and stretching properly.

5: Sleep, sleep, and even more sleep

The final tip has absolutely nothing to do with being active, stretching, eating, or painful rubber band behavior correction. What any person, active or not, needs is a decent amount of sleep every night, and no, decent is not 5 hours, 6 hours or even 7 hours of sleep. 8 hours at least every night is the minimum requirement for your sore muscles to rest and recover properly. It just so happens to also be the minimum amount of hours to function and transition into a person who can tolerate the early hours of school without complaining to everyone in 1st block.

With these tips, however basic they are, can help you achieve a nice level of fitness during the school year. Keeping your base nice and clean so when it comes time for all of us to get our summer bods again we won’t be starting from square one.