Summertime Fun!
With more sunshine and more heat, there tends to be an uptick in everything from trips, to social gatherings, to food. And everything is both tempting and repealing. Here’s how to navigate all the summer fun with improving your health and without harming your progress.
Enhance your Social and Mental Health
Summertime is full of activities that inspire community, build relationships, and allows you to have fun. When it comes to your health, these DO matter. Keeping up with your connections to joy and to others sends positive vibes throughout your body. This wave of oxytocin and endorphins spark healthy outlooks on life and allows you to think creatively with work. If you’re solo or have your crew, here are a few ideas for summer fun directly affecting your mood and your brain.
If you haven’t looked in your community, there are so many outdoor festivals, free and paid, that truly connects you to your neighbors. If you’re looking for cheap ideas try out the regulars such as farmers markets and concerts in the park. Many farmers markets and flea markets do come with entertainment and activities for the kids so it ends up being fun for the entire family.
Off shoot activities include festivals around food, drinks, music and art. Many of these are paid but they’re interesting and special and tend to only happen once a year.
And these exist outside of your local area too!
Travel to near and far lands excites the soul and creates new memories! The adventure aspects brings about excitement, joy, sprinkle in some stress but also expands the mind with problem solving, learning new cultures and history, and give you that boost of confidence in your own resourcefulness.
Doing all these things connects us to the people and places around us. That sense of belonging and sharing contributes to reduced stress, overall wellbeing, and mental and emotional health sustainability. According to Psychology Today, isolation and loniless are major risk factors for depression. Combat that with more social time.
Summertime is also social time and it’s a great way to improve your mood and enhance your social supports.
balancing NUTRITION
The other abundant item during summer is food – and this is fun and can be a little scary.
If you’re on a health and fitness journey, you may be afraid to go out with friends due to temptations or peer pressures. You’re probably here because there’s part of you that wants to continue your healthy lifestyle or part of you that wants to get in shape, but you’re unsure how to manage what you want and what’s best for you and your goals.
Personal story, I had gained 20 pounds due to my own food FOMO (fear of missing out). I lived in Japan for 2 years and enjoyed all the exploring geographically… as well as all the exploring with the cuisine. This is how I started my health and fitness journey.
Once I figured out how to control my food and my workouts I was too afraid to leave my controlled environment at home. I made progress with my physique, my weight, my clothes started to fit again and I felt stronger, leaner, and healthy. I had a routine I found worked for me.
Unfortunately keeping this structured life left me isolated, alone, and unfulfilled, and yes fit! This did effect my mental health despite being fit. I could be proud of my body but where was my interaction with friends and making exciting memories with people I cared about and who cared about me?
I felt so stuck trying to navigate fighting for my health and spending time with friends as most of the time we would go to brunch or happy hour. Those inspire lots of consumption and centered around food.
There had to be a way forward and this is what I teach in Strength in Balance 1-1 Fitness and Nutrition coaching.
No matter what stage of health you’re in, there is a balance to everything and moderation can be easier said than done.
Here are three ways to keep your food and drink selections in moderation and aligned with your goals without feeling guilty or odd for not participating:
- Become a food snob. In other words, be picky. Go out with friends and family to the food festival or that new restaurant. If the quality is not to your health standards or its all processed foods, find something else or limit consumption. Prioritizing whole and nutritious food of quality is what keeps you on your health routine, stick to it.
- Portion control. Admittedly portion control is hard to do without lots of practice and training in relation to your body. When it comes to food items that are not “worthy” of your health but there is a palate curiosity, take a bite or two or share the item. Sharing inherently allows you to reduce your portion size. The fried Oreos or Chicago style hot dog may not be regularly available to you so try it and portion it.
- Savor it completely ONE time. There will be MANY events and food options for you this summer. This doesn’t mean you sample everything from every event. The frequency of your sampling and sharing can easily lead up to over consumption. This is particularly applicable during week long trips and vacations. Think of this as having a decadent meal once a week. It’s exactly what you want, how you want it ONE time while the rest of the week is on your routine.
Summer is nature’s way of providing plentiful foods so that we can store all that consumed energy during the winter. In other words, get fat for winter when food is scarce.
Now that we’re in a modern age, we can both acknowledge and enjoy the abundance of summer and still keep our health progression.
Now there’s freedom around food, travel, and continued health and fitness.
Summer is more than just the shape of our bodies. Let’s also remember to enjoy the epic trips, the new connections, the shared memories and the increases to our mental and emotional health!
Are you just getting started or found yourself restarting your health and fitness journey? BodyWeight Strength Course is just what you need to ease back in.
For more information about One on One Strength in Balance Fitness and Nutrition Coaching, email me at steelrosea@gmail.com