For many people, the art of staying fit during the summer becomes a hard one to master. With the sun in the sky for hours and the events that take place over summer, it’s easy to forget about self-care. When the months ahead are full of parties, nights out, barbecues and various other excuses to eat poorly and live poorly, your health can take a fair kicking in the summer.
To help you out with that, though, we have a list of some things to keep an eye on as we move into the summer. If you keep these simple facts in mind, you are much more likely to come out the other side of the summer in a positive frame of mind. It will also help you to stay happy, fit and healthy as you move through the scorching summer heat on a regular basis!
1. Take your vitamins
You should look to boost your vitamin intake if you wish to make a healthy start to the summer. One of the main reasons why you want more vitamins in your body is because it will play a key role in making sure you can handle the stress of summer. Look to increase your vitamin A, B6 and B12, C and D intake as much as you can. This can come from healthier eating or the use of supplements.
In the summer, our bodies are put under more duress than they would normally be. If you remember to take those vitamins, you will make it much easier for your body to handle the stress and frustration of the wider experience. It will also play a major role in helping you to improve yourself and to feel like you can handle staying longer in the sun during those summer days.
2. Increase your daily vitamin C intake
Otherwise known as ascorbic acid, vitamin C is one of the most powerful vitamins. It helps to maintain happy and healthy body cells, and it plays a key role in making sure that you can care for your body accordingly. It’s great for maintaining healthier skin and happier bones, too, as well as improving cartilage and blood vessel standards.
This is very important, and we recommend that you spend as much time as you can taking in more Vitamin C. This is often done through supplements, but it can also be found if you start to eat more broccoli, strawberries and blackcurrants.
3. Eat iron-rich foods
Eating more iron-rich foods – again, including broccoli – is next in our secrets for a happier and healthier summer. Iron-rich foods are good for the body, and often go a long way to making sure you can feel better prepared for the challenges of summer, giving your body the protection it needs to handle the rigours of the higher temperatures.
4. Work more veggies into your diet
We recommend that you try and get more vegetables into your diet at the same time. This is good for you for numerous reasons, but it will often play a key role in making sure that you can feel physically healthier and more capable in general. You will also find that one of the main reasons why you need more vegetables in your diet is that you will start to feel more physically capable due to the increase in vitamins and minerals.
Your body takes punishment during summer we aren’t often prepared for, so keep all of this in mind.
5. Snack On Summer’s Sweetness: Fruits!
The summer is easily one of the best times of the year, not least for the eating that you can do. Instead of living on cocktail sausages and fruit-flavoured ciders, though, why not get some actual fruit instead?
Summer brings to life all manner apples, oranges, bananas, pears, peaches, apricots and everything else that you might enjoy. Instead of always snacking on fatty foods, get some natural sugars into your system. Few things are quite as refreshing as lounging by the pool with a stunning combination of berries and oranges, for example. So, make sure that you don’t cut out those important fruits as the summer rolls on.
They not only help you to stay nice and cool, but they play an important role in making sure that you can stay happy and healthy as the summer rolls on. That extra vitamin intake, alongside Suggestion #1, will make a big difference.
6. Keep yourself hydrated
One of the most important things that you can do, though, is to keep yourself hydrated. High fluid levels are essential as the heat will be eating through much of the fluid you can retain in the colder winters. Poor management of your body will lead to problems such as, but not limited to, delirium and an inability to concentrate.
You put yourself at risk of making poor decisions in the summer when you fail to keep an eye on hydration levels. Always carry a bottle of water around with you, and never scrimp on how much water you are drinking. Tools such as the hydration calculator from gymequipment provide an easy way to calculate what you should be drinking. It’s hard to keep drinking all day every day, but if you want your summer to be a successful one you will need to.
Yes, we know that you probably want to keep some liquid space for cocktails and mojitos. Maintain hydration levels, though, to minimize risks to yourself.
7. Prepare a day ahead of time
We recommend that you always try and stay one day ahead during summer. The weather, the activities to come and the actions that you will be taking on will be dependent on how well you can plan ahead. For that reason, we recommend that you start preparing a day ahead of time. This lets you to make sure you always have the supplies that you need to enjoy today as much as you can enjoy tomorrow: you never know when stores will sell-out of water or other summer essentials!
8. Be happy
Lastly, make sure that you stop stressing out so much and concentrate on being happy instead. The reason why is simple: you are much more likely to enjoy yourself if you are able to just be happy during the summer. Concentrate on the good weather and the even better times to come with those who you love and respect most.
Keep that in mind at all times, and even the toughest and most frustrating of summers can soon become a whole lot more manageable for you. Happiness is key to maintaining a satisfying summer, so keep that in mind and you should probably find the other seven tips much easier to implement!