5 Tips to Healthier Eating this Summer
Many people try to focus on health and wellness during warmer months. Options at farmers’ markets and being able to grow your own fruits and veggies make it easier to stick with your goals. To help you to achieve your goals as effortlessly as possible, here are a few tips to help you start or maintain a healthier diet this summer:
- Go Crazy for Berries: Berries are naturally low-calorie and a great source of fiber-rich carbohydrates and vitamins and minerals. Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are loaded with anthocyanins and flavonoids, disease-fighting antioxidants that can reduce your risk of heart disease, lower blood pressure, and prevent neurological diseases. Aim to include berries often in your diet. One cup is one serving.
- Don’t Slack on Morning Veggies: Including non-starchy vegetables with your morning meal is a great way to get in another serving of vegetables for the day. Ideally, we should be consuming 3 or more servings daily. Try a veggie omelet with tomatoes, spinach, and mushrooms, make an egg bake with leftover vegetables from the night before, or add fresh veggies like greens or peppers to your breakfast sandwich or burrito. 1 cup raw or ½ cup cooked is a serving.
- Savor the Flavor: Practice mindful eating and slow down at meals. Savor the taste, flavor, and texture of your meals and snacks, and take time to enjoy the extra time with friends and family. This can help avoid overeating!
- Snack Attack: Be prepared for snacking by stocking up on healthier options! Try to limit chips and sweets which often leave us unsatisfied. Instead, be prepared by slicing up fruits or veggies to have with Greek yogurt or hummus, hard boiling a few eggs to have with cucumber slices and crackers, or keeping fresh fruit on hand to have with a piece of string cheese or peanut butter cups. Preparing a berry, nut, and cheese snackle box can make for convenient snacking too.
- Focus on Hydration: Water plays many important roles in maintaining good health; it regulates body temperature, lubricates joints, flushes waste products out of the body, and carries nutrients and oxygen to the cells. For healthy adults, the amount of water your body needs can vary. If you feel well, drink enough water to quench your thirst. If your urine is colorless or slightly yellow, you’re drinking enough water.
Fruit-infused water is a tasty and healthy way to motivate yourself to stay hydrated!
