Get Healthier & Lose Weight This Summer with These Swaps!

If you want to feel and look great all summer long, be mindful of what you’re consuming. You don’t need to forgo all those summer foods and memories, just adapt them to fit your healthy lifestyle. Let's be honest, you never feel good after eating hot dogs and drinking alcohol and soda anyway!!

Get Lean with Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is such a great, simple way to support your health over the summer months and avoid decision fatigue. One less meal or snack per day is one less thing you need to plan and fuss over. Give yourself a cut-off time to stop eating in the evening and wait a couple extra hours in the morning before your first meal. Be sure to drink LOTS of water throughout the day also. Fasting can be a healthy, non-restrictive way of decreasing that belly bloat, promoting fat-burning and supporting detoxification!

Be Mindful of Added Sugars

A cookie here, a little extra sauce there, some juice, maybe a soda and your sugar intake adds up VERY quickly without you even realizing it! Check the ingredient list for sugars and additives beforehand, and ideally choose foods without an ingredient list altogether. Secondary to looking at ingredients, check the amount of sugar on the nutrition label and make your choice based on these two things combined. Sometimes foods with lower sugar are still made from highly processed sweeteners like high-fructose corn syrup or even artificial sweeteners like sucralose or acesulfame, which are just as bad and highly toxic to brain cells.

Don't Drink Your Sugar

Choosing healthier drinks is an easy way to avoid excess sugars from juice, alcohol and soda that promote weight gain. I would never recommend consuming regular or diet sodas or artificially flavoured beverages.

Some easy swaps:

• Bubbly or Zevia over soda

• Homemade lemonade with raw honey, monk fruit or stevia over a mix

• Homemade electrolyte drinks with natural ingredients over gatorade

• Use fruit and herbs like fresh oranges, mint and cucumbers over flavoured drops.

• Make mocktails with natural ingredients

• If you're going to indulge in alcohol, do so sparingly and savour it. 

• Don't forget that water is a beverage too! ;)

Change It Up

Who said "normal" summer foods were normal anyway?? Take the first step towards change in your friend group or family and show them how delicious a healthy diet can be! Choose the best option available, and if you're going somewhere without healthy options, bring your favourite food along!

Ideas for you:

• fresh cut fruit

• paleo desserts

• choose a dairy-free option at ice cream shops or pick up some Coconut Bliss ice cream from the store to reduce inflammatory dairy intake

• skip the gluten-filled cone and enjoy your dairy-free ice cream in a bowl

• Try veggie root chips with sugar-free salsa or guac instead of potato chips 

Don’t Stress Over the Perfect Diet

Give yourself some grace and enjoy yourself! The more stressed you are about having that so-called "perfect diet", the less beneficial your diet will be anyway. Furthermore, stress increases cortisol which stops you from burning fat. Learn how to have balance in a way that works for you and still impacts your health for the better. I recommend avoiding gluten and dairy and focusing on whole-foods. There are plenty of ways to indulge in tasty treats while still being compliant to your nutrition plan!

Looking for more healthy summer tips? Check out my article Healthy Summer Essentials!

OR Click here to learn more about my ONLINE nutritional consulting services!

Asher Kleiber

Registered Holistic Nutritionist™

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