It’s Summer! How do I stay fit?
It’s Summer! How do I stay fit?
Summer is really difficult for dieting for several reasons:
- a) It’s hot so you feel less hunger and end up having longer breaks between your meals. But then once you eat you have a huge portion and you end up gaining more weight as a result (no food for ages -> stomach thinks it’s basically war time -> starts storing everything you have later as fat).
- b) You travel and want to try all the delicious, traditional food wherever you are.
- c) Hotels offer tempting buffets with billions of choices and it’s hard to resist having a bit of everything…
- d) It’s summer! Who wants control?!
And yea, obviously – don’t go crazy about keeping fit. Summer holidays are supposed to be relaxing and trying new food while traveling is our favourite things ! But if you’re worried about staying the same size, yet don’t want to go to any extremes – here are some simple, useful summer tips:
- Walk a lot – especially if you’re visiting some nice city. You can compensate for all the new food you want to try by having long walks instead of e.g. using public transportation (as much as you can, anyway). You can also rent some bikes and explore the area this way!
- Smaller plates – If hotel buffets are your weakness: always take a smaller plate because this encourages smaller portions. Also, try to eat slowly: this will help you to stop eating when you’re physically not hungry anymore.
- Remember to eat! As I just said, not eating in the summer can mean a few extra pounds. You don’t have to have a full-on meal every 2 hours, but try to eat 4-5 times a day. If you don’t feel like eating because of the heat, at least have a smoothie or a yogurt. If you’re off for a long day-trip, always take some snacks with you to avoid stopping at quick fast foods on the way (e.g a sandwich, a banana, muesli bars, yogurts…).
- Take the stairs! Obvious, simple and VERY useful! Think of all the calories you can burn just by choosing the stairs over the elevator everywhere you go.
- Watch out for cocktails… If you’re worried about extra calories, then always try to go for cocktails that don’t contain grenadine, sugar syrups or sweet (and often artificial, sugar-loaded) purees. But, well, you can always dance these calories off :)!
