How to Stay Healthy During Summer - Dietitian discusses how to use your summer to look after your body and mind!

You may be surprised to hear that many people struggle to stay healthy during Summer months!

Do you find yourself full of energy by the time summer arrives? Do you sway naturally to healthier foods and more active past-times? Or do you find that you can often spend your summers lazying a little too often in the sun, and sipping on one too many drinks?

Summer is well and truly here. And it’s a fantastic time of the year to turn your focus to keeping fit and healthy! Whether you’re staying in the country this year, or jetting off to somewhere exotic, lets take a look at how we can use this sunny time of year to our advantage. Over the course of the next few posts, we will review the top summer-time hacks for your health. We will see how that holiday away can help you recharge and refresh. We’ll have a look at how to travel in style, and arrive feeling energised rather than drained. I’ll share the top reasons why summer is my favourite foodie time of the year. And we’ll look at how to keep those nasty food bugs at bay!

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Summer Health Hacks

Summer is well and truly here, and its a fantastic time of the year to turn your focus to keeping fit and healthy! Whether you’re staying in the country this year, or jetting off to somewhere exotic, lets take a look at how we can use this sunny time of year to our advantage.

In this post we will have a closer look at how to stay healthy during Summer!

From the “summer body” weight loss goals, to summery food inspiration, and from living in the moment with mindfulness to getting your hike on with some destination exploration. Summer time is bursting with opportunities to kick-start your healthy lifestyle!

Summer-time weightloss: How to stay healthy during summer while dealing with the “Summer Body” weight loss craze.

How many of us spend the months before summer keeping an eye on our diet to get into “summer body” shape?

Losing weight to look a certain way for an event like a holiday may not be a strong motivator for long term weight loss success. But losing those few pre-holiday pounds when you are overweight may get the ball rolling on introducing healthy habits into your diet.

Long-term weight loss is usually built on a solid foundation of intrinsic motivation. This is the type of motivation where you want to make a change for yourself, rather than for others. Intrinsic motivators may include your energy levels, your health or your confidence. So if your upcoming holiday is turning your focus to losing some excess weight, take a closer look to see what intrinsic motivators may be fuelling this. Focussing on these may help you continue your healthy habits even when your holiday has come and gone!

Now, remember that crash diets will only lead to yo-yoing weights, and may even be dangerous depending on the diet.

Focus on small and sustainable changes to achieve your goals. For example, make sure that half of every meal you eat consists of fruit and veg, with the remaining two quarters being lean proteins and whole grain carbs. Have healthy snacks at hand to combat those sugar cravings and keep an eye on that mindless eating by using a food diary. Small healthy changes can go a long way!

Summer Healthy Eating Inspiration: How to stay healthy during Summer by making the most of delicious Summery meals.

What better time to build on those healthy diet habits than during the summer-time.

It’s a time when local food starts hitting the supermarket shelves again, and picnics and barbeques get our creative juices flowing. And travel gets those food inspirations growing even further. Each country, each continent, brings with it their own cuisine. Their own smells and own tastes. From the finest restaurant to the smallest street vendor, food inspiration is all around you!

Too often we can find ourselves growing bored of cooking the same go-to dishes time and time again. Use your holiday to hunt down the local specialities, and marvel at the combinations of foods you had never thought of combining yourself!

Take special notice of the ways that the countries you visit incorporate fresh fruit and vegetable into their meals. The Italian pasta made with fresh tomatoes, the Greek salad with crispy lettuce, the Asian stir-fry and the South American salsas and beans! Adding this oomph of inspiration to your cooking can help to bring you back into your kitchen more often.

And the simple act of cooking at home means you are back in control of the food you eat. And I’m pretty sure that you add a whole lot less butter and sugar in your home-cooking that your average take-away does! Each time you cook a meal at home inspired by your holiday away, you get to treat yourself to a throwback of those lovely moments of holiday bliss. We’ll explore some great healthy summer food inspirations in one of the blog posts in this course!

Summer-time Mindset: How to stay healthy during Summer by making the most of sunny mindfulness opportunities.

What is it about summer-time that can make us feel so refreshed and recharged? Perhaps it’s because you are using our senses to the full when you spend time outdoors.

This refreshed state of mind is often associated with the practice of mindfulness. Mindfulness can sometimes be explained as “being in the moment”. And using all of your senses, so your sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste, can help you to feel more connected with your environment and help to slow down your racing mind.

Make the time to really take in those views from the hill you climb. Listen out for the birds in the trees, the sound of the cars passing and, if youre travelling somewhere outside of Ireland, the unfamiliar accents or languages of the people around. Don’t be afraid to stop and smell those roses, and revel in the smells coming from that small local restaurant. Feel the sand between your toes at the beach, and explore the texture of that old stone wall with your fingertips. And take the time to taste the fruit from the farmers market, or that local speciality dish.

Focussing on your senses can calm down your mind, and help you to feel more at rest. And bring your curious mind and senses back home, to continue this mindful practice in your own garden, and even in your own home!

Summer-time Activities: How to stay healthy during Summer by embracing the great outdoors to help you to get fit and active.

Summer time brings with it longer days and kinder weather! If you ask me, those are perfect conditions to get outside for a walk after work, and a hike on the weekends!

While holidays are typically a time to rest and relax, perhaps at a beach or a pool, there are plenty of opportunities to break a sweat and get some fun-filled physical activity! Grab your runners and hike up the hill in the local town. Take a swim at the beach or in the pool. Challenge your friends to a game of beach volleyball, or rent a bike and cycle around the city to see the local sights. Exercise doesn’t have to be in a gym and it doesn’t have to be boring.

A few minutes of exercise here and there add up quickly! So make the most of that gorgeous sun or that hilly town, and totting up those exercising minutes will be a breeze. Make sure to wear your sunscreen if you’re spending time outdoors in the sun, and reapply every few hours, and after being in the water!

Whether your healthy habits start well before summer arrives, or you pick up some great food inspiration, mindfulness practice and outdoorsy activities during days in the sun. Summer is full of opportunities to build on your healthy lifestyle!

I hope that this post has inspired you to use your summer to the fullest! Get out into that lovely sun, marvel at the delicious local veg on offer and take the time to relax outdoors! In my next post, I will be exploring the top 10 healthy holiday hacks!

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