Healthy Summer Steps

Stay healthy during the summer heat.

During these gorgeous summer months, many weekends feature barbecues and nights spent by the fire making s’mores. With hot dogs, hamburgers and sweets calling to you everywhere you turn, it might be hard to stay healthy during the summer months. You might have worked hard for that summer-ready body, so here are some tips to help maintain that healthy body.

• Calorie counting. If diets aren’t your thing, don’t worry! With smaller portions and healthier choices you can maintain your figure without completely sacrificing the things that you love. There are also countless free healthy apps to help you out. One great one it My Fitness Pal. The best thing about this app is that when you create your profile, you can select if you want to lose weight, gain weight or maintain your current weight. My Fitness Pal will create your own custom diet to help achieve whatever you want your weight to be.
  Now that you have you daily allotted nutritional value, don’t be afraid of weekend barbecues or nights out on the town! If you love that summer burger, simply opt for a wheat bun and a turkey burger. Eliminate the soda and grab a bottle of water. Eat smaller portions instead of heaping that macaroni salad onto your plate. Follow your calorie plan so you can keep enjoying the things that you love, just be smart about what you eat!
• Get your blood pumping. The key to a healthy lifestyle is keeping up at least 30 minutes of physical activity each day. If you don’t own you own personal workout equipment, there are a multitude of gyms in Montclair for you to pop in and get your heart going. Take a trip to the YMCA of Montclair to ask about a membership and access to their features, such as group exercise. Or, simply take a daily stroll through any of Montclair’s beautiful parks. Nothing is more refreshing than an evening walk on a cool summer night.
• Drink up. This might be an overly-spoken rule, but the general thought is to drink eight, eight-ounce glasses of water a day. Although drinking 64 ounces of water a day has not been entirely proven by science, there are so many perks to making sure your body is hydrated. The average adult male is 65 percent water, so making sure you keep those numbers up is obviously a good thing. If you are in the heat most of the day, drinking plenty of water will keep your body going and stop you from getting light-headed. Additionally, being dehydrated can cause your skin to appear wrinkled and dull, so drinking plenty of water will keep your skin looking fresh.
• Slap on the sunscreen. Aside from water, sunscreen is the most important thing to carry around this summer. Even on those overcast days, your skin is being pelted with rays from the sun. On long car rides, you might feel safe in your air-conditioned seat, but that sunlight is still beating on you through the windows. Sunscreen is something that should be applied daily – even if it’s sunscreen with a low SPF. Sunburn once a summer might not seem bad, but that damage adds up over the years.

There are so many small steps you can take to remain healthy this summer! Stay active, eat suggested portions and get plenty of rest. If you worked hard all year for your summer-ready body, don’t let your health go because summer is finally here!

  health, healthy, my fitness pal, ymca of montclair