If you have chosen to lose weight this summer, you are not alone. Many people feel like summer is the optimal time of year to find weight loss success, and for good reason.
Summer is when nature gives us an amazing variety of yummy foods that we don’t have access to as readily during the rest of the year.
In fact, it’s almost like warm weather and weight loss belong together!
Hello and welcome to Fearlessly Holistic.
My name is Irma and I want to share my journey to improved health by eating whole foods, moving my body and eliminating stress as much as possible.
It is my hope to inspire you to make daily changes. Why? Because eating fresh, seasonal food, getting some sunshine, and purging unhelpful thinking is the best way to increase longevity. But you do not want just a long life.
You want a quality long life, and you want to look and feel your best while you live it.
Ready to eat for the season? Grab my SEASONAL PRODUCE GUIDE (low-carb too!) and start eating better today. Eating seasonally is better for your health, especially if you buy locally.
My blog posts are my opinion and the results of things that I have tried that either worked for me or didn’t. My opinions are for informational purposes only and are not intended as medical advice. Medical advice should always be obtained from a qualified medical professional for any health conditions or symptoms associated with them. As well, there may be affiliate links in this post. Read more here.
Summer Produce + Activity = Weight Loss
Whether we realize it or not we tend to be most active during the summer months.
The reason for this is typically because we are taking vacations, our children are off of school, and many of us are spending much more time outside.
Summer also offers fun activities that would be less fun to do in other months.
For instance things like walking in the evening, bike riding, and soccer are all much more popular during the summer months. Trips to the beach are always a good time, and so is boating, and hiking nature trails…or geocaching…is that still a thing?
We spend a week in another community floating on the canal there and baking in the sun. That looks like this:
We take jerky, mixed nuts and berries with us (we try to get 3 floats in per day), and lots of water.
Believe it or not even sweat works in your favor during the summer months.
Have you ever felt that tired but energized feeling that comes after a big workout?
This is because during your workout you were sweating, and that sweat helped to flush and detoxify your body. If you plan on doing workouts in summer, pack extra water!
Because the summer tend to be so warm, you can usually get the same sweat effect with lighter workouts.
While it might take you 20 minutes or more of hard cardio to work up a decent sweat in your air-conditioned gym, you can usually achieve the same effect by taking a light jog on a hot day.
While anytime is a good time to focus on losing weight, the warm summer months can be your best friend in your whole food weight loss journey.
Summer is also the best time for cookouts and picnics.
There’s no getting around it, people love the summer and all of the activity that goes with it. But fresh fruits and veggies are what will revitalize your health.
Be sure to mix-and-match your summer foods in salad form: add berries, cubes of cheese, fresh herbs, spring onions and whatever else you fancy.
Top your fresh salad with a light homemade vinaigrette (my new favorite is olive oil with a champagne vinegar…so yumm!)
Summer is the perfect time to lose weight.
The warm summer months tend to provide a much larger selection of fruits and vegetables.
We don’t always realize that when we are walking the aisles of the grocery store, but many times our produce selection has been chemically engineered. That means that we can eat it even though it’s not technically in season.
As you can imagine, this does nothing amazing for your health.
Off-season produce is devoid of nutrients because the product has to travel great distances to get to the store. Then it sits in the store waiting for you to buy it.
Eating seasonally can change that.
Seasonal eating allows you to shop at local farmers markets or even grow your own produce.
Even if you live in an apartment building, if you have some balcony space, you can grow cherry tomatoes, lettuce and herbs.
Typically things like berries are very cost-effective. If you have a deep freeze, you can also have frozen berries (for way less money) by purchasing bulk berries in summer.
Weight Loss on The Go
Life is busy, especially when you are holding down a work schedule, are shuttling kids around or are running errands.
Some days, it may seem impossible to stay on track with your weight loss goals.
If your day to day stresses feel like they overwhelm you please know that you are not alone.
One of the biggest reasons people get off track with their weight loss goals is that they did not plan for their busy-ness.
The best way to stay successful losing weight in summer is to have a plan.
Somewhere between commuting and picking up the kids they find themselves hungry. and when this happens it is all too easy to eat whatever is around simply because it is available.
One of the biggest pitfalls that you can fall into when it comes to losing weight with whole foods is to let yourself get hungry.
Fortunately, with a little bit of preparation, you will be able to handle whatever life throws at you while remaining on your healthy eating journey.
Look for foods that are easy for you to carry.
If you are at work or heading to a meeting it may be a bit hard for you to eat your typical lunch.
When that happens you want to have a backup plan. This is when things like jerky, string cheese or mixed nuts will come in handy.
These are foods that you can easily eat on the go without making a mess, and best of all they will help you to feel full.
Eat Protein
While protein doesn’t have to be your whole meal, it should be a staple in all of your meal choices.
For example, pair your salads with a good serving of protein like chicken, fish, or steak. Or even hard cooked eggs.
Likewise, if you are eating a snack like celery or an apple, be sure to pair it with a nice serving of nut butter.
Always have water with you
Even if you think that you have drank enough water in the course of the day, odds are you haven’t.
Many people are water deficient and they don’t even realize it. But something amazing happens when we have the right amount of water in our system, the water actually helps to keep us feeling full for long periods of time.
When you are starting your seasonal eating weight loss journey, it is important that you do everything possible to set yourself up for success.
By making the plan to always have snacks, protein foods, and water on hand you will be setting yourself up for weight loss success.
Conclusion
I have been combining seasonal eating with my keto diet, to have my own seasonal ketovore program, which I think this is the most holistic way to eat.
Watch for more articles on the ins and outs of seasonal eating and how to eat seasonally with keto diet.
Holism targets overall wellness, and when we are well, we only get better with age.
Eat the best food that you can afford to give your body the building blocks it needs for optimal health, longevity, and looking good for as long as possible 😉
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Until next time, here’s to our health!
-Irma