Summer Fun & Feeling Good

Summer is cookouts, beach days, pool days, concerts, ball games, and family trips. The schedule is looser and the general vibe is "go with the flow and enjoy it all," food and drinks included! Good news: you don't have to choose between having a great summer and feeling good in your body. Those two things can coexist, so let's get into what that actually looks like.

Be aware

Before anything else, it helps to get honest about what summer actually means to you when it comes to food.

For a lot of us, summer fun is closely tied to food and drinks in ways we don't always notice. The beach means snacks and cold drinks. The cookout means burgers and beer. The ball game means more snacks and more beer. These associations are real, and most of us never stop to question them.

This isn't about taking the fun out of summer. It's about noticing the difference between eating because you're genuinely hungry (or because you're deliberately choosing to enjoy the food), and eating just because it's there (or because that's what you've always done). Once you see the difference, you can decide how you want to approach each scenario.

Redefine "fun"

Think about what you actually love about summer, separate from the food and drinks attached to it.

Here’s an example…many summer weekends for me center around the beach with family and friends (in between baseball and soccer tourney fun)…a big semicircle of chairs that we stake out in the morning to save our spot! For so long, my brain linked beach days with food and drinks- a cooler full of adult beverages and bags of snacks (Cape Cod BBQ chips are a fave). There’s nothing wrong with this, but mindless eating (and drinking) frankly leaves me feeling like crap. When I separated the food and alcohol from the actual experience, I could see all the other reasons I love those beach days…the conversation, the book I get to actually finish, the feeling of sand between my toes, dozing off to the sound of the waves crashing. None of that has anything to do with what's in the cooler.

Try the same exercise with your own summer. What do you actually love about the gatherings, the pool days, the trips, separate from what you're eating or drinking while you're there?

Own your choices

No matter what comes your way this summer, you are always in charge of you.

You get to shape your environment on purpose. That means deciding who you spend time with, what foods you keep in your house, what you serve when you host, and what you bring to shared gatherings.

And when it comes to what's on your plate or in your hand, that's your call too. A simple "I'm good, thanks" is all you ever need. You're not responsible for how anyone else feels about your choices.

You CAN enjoy food {without the guilt}

Food is fuel, but we can also choose a particular food (or drink) because it brings us joy. Cutting out everything you love because you've labeled it "bad" isn't sustainable in the long run.

The practice of enjoying food without the guilt is pretty simple: take a pause and make a deliberate choice. Is what's in front of you actually special, or is it just there? Generic cookies from a box, maybe not worth it. Your aunt's homemade potato salad that you look forward to all year? That's a different story. Either way, the point is making the choice on purpose rather than on autopilot.

This same concept travels well on vacation [see what I did there?], along with a few anchors throughout the day to maintain some consistency and prevent you from going completely off the rails. For example, start the day with protein and fiber, stay hydrated in the heat, and eat regularly (instead of skipping meals) so you aren’t arriving somewhere ravenous. Be deliberate with your choices beyond that.

Don't let one moment write the whole story

Not everything goes as planned and that’s okay. There will be times when you’ll overeat or overdrink. There will be days (or weeks) where a fruit or veggie won’t make it to your mouth. It's not a problem and punishing yourself just makes you feel worse.

Be honest about what happened without beating yourself up over it. Treat it as information, not a moral failure. What were you feeling right before it happened? What would you do differently next time? Then make a plan for your next meal and move forward. You don't need to wait until tomorrow or Monday or September.

One choice at a time

There you have it, real strategies you can put into practice right now, so feeling good in your body this summer feels like less of a struggle.

Decide how you want to show up for yourself. Take it day by day, and try on some of the ideas I've shared. It doesn't have to be all of them at once. Pick one, give it a go, practice, and build from there.

That's what it's about, showing up for yourself, one choice at a time, and feeling good along the way.

If you want more practical strategies to game plan your summer for more energy throughout the day, more confidence no matter what you’re wearing, and enjoying yourself in social settings without obsessing over every food choice, reach out for a single session here.