Summer is the perfect time to embrace a healthy lifestyle, blah, blah, blah, blah….

We all know that, but unfortunately, summer tends to be the perfect time to party every weekend and gain yet another ten pounds drinking, eating, sitting on the dock or a lawn chair and letting our big old behinds just get bigger.

I’m as guilty of this as the next guy. One of my best friends owns a cottage and every Friday night for years I’d drive up north and drink too many Pomegranate Martinis, under the guise that I was getting 2 servings of Fruit and Vegetables. I ate too many whatever’s and floated in the lake for hours. It’s no wonder that I gained about 3 pounds by Sunday night. Then I was back at the gym Monday working off all those extra calories vowing to be better the next weekend.

Sound slightly familiar? If you answered yes here are some tips I’ve learned over the years.

 

Tip #1

Don’t drink your face off every weekend; not only will all those extra calories contribute to a wider rear end but the recommendation for women is 1 drink a day. Yes, you read that correctly, one crummy drink a day or you up your chances of developing breast cancer. Men you get 2 drinks a day. Anything over that and it’s a slippery slope as far as your health is concerned. So pick a great drink and watch your limits. No stockpiling – so don’t fool yourself with “I didn’t drink all week so I get 5 drinks on Saturday.” Nope. You can fool yourself but you can’t fool your liver.

Tip #2

Drink water. Oh, the old water trick. Well it works. Lots of times we eat because we are actually getting close to being dehydrated but we think we’re hungry. So drink those 6-8 glasses of water every day. In the really hot weather, drink more, but beware you can over do it. So don’t water log yourself, you’ll end up diluting some important electrolytes and that’s a very bad thing.

Tip #3

Eat more fruits and veggies. They’re in season. They’re abundant. They taste fantastic.

Visit your local Farmer’s Market and go nuts. Fruits and Veggies are not only one of the best foods in your diet for long term healthy and vitality, but they fill you up so there isn’t room for pitiful junky empty calories.

Tip #4

Not to sound like a broken record but:

• Move it or you will rust up.
• Get off that couch.
• Go for a walk
• Go for a run
• Ride your bike
• Play baseball
• Go for a swim
• Dance with or without someone
• Do Something!!!!

If there is a magic bullet, it’s exercise. We loose weight when we burn off more calories than we take in. It’s math. It always has been math. Perhaps a tad simplistic, but you need to move and summer is the perfect time to be more active.

Tip #5

Stop eating 3 hours before you go to bed. This is a great rule because you’re basically restricting mindless eating that often occurs in the evening. Stop eating around 7:00 or 8:00 pm and you’re taking in less calories which translates into a weight loss. I told you, it really is all about math.