Summer Tips for Healthy Living
Summer Tips for Healthy Living
Find healthy snacks, get fit and reduce stress with these tips for healthy living.
Summertime is made for healthy living. Those first warm breezes seem to lift stress from our lives. Fresh fruit loaded with antioxidants abound. But does your willpower to stick with a healthy lifestyle drift away with those warm breezes?
To help everyone stay healthy and active this summer, here’s a list of tips:
1. Stock Healthy Snacks
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Fruit and veggie chunks
- Trail mix of dry cereal
- Nuts, dried fruit, and a few chocolate chips
- Sandwiches of whole-wheat crackers with peanut butter
- Energy bar cut into bite-sized pieces
- Popcorn or cookies in 100-calorie portions
For more healthy snack ideas, consider cold veggie pizza; hummus on pita bread; salsa and baked chips; low-fat yogurt dip and vegetables; mini oatmeal muffins with raisins; low-fat yogurt with fruit; string cheese; low-fat milk with cocoa; and low-fat frozen yogurt or ice cream.
2. Feast on Salads for Healthy Living
In summer, grocery stores are abundant with beauty greens, fruits and vegetables all the makings for meal-sized salads. Try watercress, spinach, mixed greens, grapes, avocados, peaches, asparagus, grape tomatoes, melons, and strawberries. For protein, add a little grilled chicken, tuna, beans, chickpeas, nuts, or cheese. Mix things up. Use up leftovers from the fridge. It’s easy, healthy, and you don’t have to plan ahead. Just make sure you get to the grocery store!
As you munch away, visualize the great health benefits you’re giving your body:
- Antioxidants (beta-carotene and vitamins E and C) to help lower your risk of heart disease, cancer and high blood pressure
- A low-fat meal to help reduce your risk of stroke and diabetes
- And if you add tuna or nuts to your salad, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids to help protect against heart disease
There’s no downside to feasting on a luscious salad!
3. Build a Healthy Smoothie
Everyone loves a nice cold smoothie and here’s how to make them healthy at home. Let kids experiment with their favorite fixings. Some great ingredients:
A candy bar or chips here and there are fine. But to boost health, stock up on nutrient-rich snacks that easily travel in plastic bags for summer outings and outdoor living:
Liquids: orange juice, apple juice, yogurt (unflavored or natural), kefir (enzyme-enriched yogurt-like milk product), soda water (not soft drinks), ice chips, water.
Fixings: bananas, grapes, strawberries, blueberries (or other berries), oranges and citrus, raw or cooked veggies, papaya, apples, nuts, flaxseed, kelp, split peas, tofu, goat cheese.
Exotics: Dried powdered milk, honey, espresso coffee powder, cocoa powder
If the days get too hot for regular workouts, here are tips on getting exercise in small but healthy chunks. Forget “no pain, no gain” and focus on the joy of the activity.
Try a 10-minute walk, several times a week. If you feel like it, jog for a few minutes during each walk. Do a few jumping jacks, sit-ups, or push-ups, along with stretches in the morning before work. Consider karate or dance classes. Go bowling, biking, swimming, or horseback riding. Even pets enjoy healthy living. Play a regular game of Frisbee with your dog.
5. Get Off to a Healthy Start: Exercise in the A.M.
Morning exercise is a healthy way to lose weight, plus you’ll beat the heat. Morning exercisers tend to stick with their exercise habit. Morning exercise also improves sleep, which helps control certain hormones that affect appetite.
Think of your morning exercise as a business appointment, one you can’t easily cancel. Walking, yoga, lifting weights, biking, running, or swimming are all good morning workouts.
Hello Konstantin!
I am glad you enjoyed the article. I will write more on tips of having a healthy Summer!