Summer is coming up soon, and everyone wants to look and feel good at this time of year. You probably already have some ideas in mind for how you want to get healthier, feel sexier, look your best and feel happy. But if you know that you want to make some changes but aren’t sure where to start, here are three things you can do to jumpstart the process.
1. Clean Up Your Diet
They say that you are what you eat. So if you feel like a pile of junk more often than not, there’s a good chance that you’re putting a lot of junk into your body at every meal. Fear not! Cleaning up your diet isn’t really that hard to do!
First, you want to make sure that you have plenty of energy to get you through your day. That means you need to eat sufficient calories to fuel your daily activities. But those calories shouldn’t be coming from tons of sweets, processed snacks and drive-thru meals.
Instead, load up on fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, beans, lean meats, nuts and seeds. If you are trying to lose weight, then you might want to cut back on carbs and calories and fill in the gaps with healthy veggies and proteins. If you are strapped for time due to work and family responsibilities, then you can have low carb meals delivered right to your door.
You should also be paying attention to your beverage intake. If you find yourself chugging coffee and wine every morning and every night, then that’s probably not doing your body and mind a lot of good. Cut back on those and opt for healthier options instead. Switch to decaf coffee or herbal tea. Switch from wine to wine coolers with lower alcohol content or even cut the alcohol altogether during the week.
And don’t forget to double up on pure drinking water!
2. Get Active
Once you clean the junk food out of your house and have your fridge and pantry stocked with healthy choices, it’s time to focus on getting more exercise. There’s no one-size-fits-all exercise plan that’s perfect for everyone. The key is that you pick something that is convenient enough and interesting enough that you’ll do it nearly every day. Consistency is key.
If you love lifting weights at the gym, then do that. If cardio classes and Crossfit is more your speed, then sign up and go for it! If you prefer something less intense — both physically and socially — then go for a walk every morning. Or maybe pop in a yoga DVD and get to it on your living room floor a few times per week. Feel free to mix things up and try some new exercise options to break the monotony.
3. Spend More Time with Friends and Family
Another way to boost your health and happiness this summer is to simply get out more with the people you love. Summertime is ideal for backyard barbecues, pool parties and picnics in the park. If nobody is inviting you, then pick up the phone and ask someone in your area if they’d like to get together for lunch next week.
When it comes to improving your health, a lot of people think of diet and exercise. But your social life also has a big impact on your physical, mental and emotional health. So it’s important that you put just as much effort into building those relationships as you do into building your muscles or shrinking your tummy.
Follow these three tips to improve your health this summer by eating healthier, getting more active and getting together with loved ones more often. All three of these are important for achieving balance in your life and living a happy, healthy and fulfilled life.
