lastminute.com Survey Reveals One-Third Diet Before their Holidays with Half Embarking on a Crash Diet

Panicking about getting bikini-fit already? Worrying about unveiling acres of white flesh for your sun holiday? You're not alone. According to a lastminute.com survey over one-third (36%) of people in Ireland have gone on a diet prior to their beach holiday and half of those don't do it sensibly – 49 per cent leave it to the eleventh hour, embarking on a crash diet to shed the pounds.

But once they actually go on their holidays, the salads and sparkling water go out the window in favour of beer and eat-all-you-want buffets. Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) actually came home heavier than before they went away, with the average weight gain coming at 3lb. Over one-fifth (22 per cent) said they had put on more than 5lb, whi fashion jackets ch is almost half a stone.

The popular travel and lifestyle website questioned one thousand people nationwide to see what their thoughts were on being bikini (or mankini) ready.

Females and young adults are far more obsessed about their body image than any other group. Two and half times more females are likely to go on a pre-holiday diet (48 per cent) than males (18 per cent). Young adults are most likely to rely on "quick-fix" solutions to get in shape with 55 per cent going on a last minute diet.

In fact the older you were, the less likely you are to care about how you looked on the beach: 43 per cent of the 18-34 age group admitted to pre-holiday dieting compared to 22 per cent of the over 55s.

And how are they trying to shed the pounds in time for their holidays? While the Dukan Diet has become the latest diet craze with devotees including Jennifer Lopez and Carole Middleton, Kate's mum, only 1 per cent admitting to trying it. The most popular diet was Weight Watchers with nearly half (47 per cent) of Irish holidaymakers saying they preferred it, with 10 per cent preferring Atkins and 8 per cent opting for Slim Fast.

And which celebrity has the most admired beach body? That honour goes to Jennifer Aniston, topping 25 per cent of the total vote, with Halle Berry in second place (22 per cent) followed by Beyoncé (11 per cent). Bottom of the league was Gwyneth Paltrow with only 2 per cent rating her bikini body the best.

Other findings from the survey, conducted on behalf of lastminute.com include:

•     11 per cent of men said that they had gone on diet to impress their partner while only 4 per cent of women surveyed had done so
•     67 per cent said that feeling better about themselves was the reason for their pre-holiday diet
•     73 per cent of those surveyed thought that being in shape for a holiday was important
•     Shopping for clothes is the most popular pre-holiday activity (67 per cent), primarily driven by women (81 per cent)
•     14 per cent of those surveyed will apply fake tan prior to a holiday, with 2 per cent of men admitting to doing so

Mark Maddock, Managing Director of lastminute.com UK and Ireland says: "For many people, a beach holiday is the first time this year when they'll have to bare all and of course they may feel under huge pressure to look great. So it's hardly surprising that one-third of people surveyed have dieted beforehand. But with lastminute.com's great summer deals at least booking the perfect holiday is one less weight off people's minds."

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