The weather’s glorious, the sun’s shining, that “holiday feeling” is in the air, and it just doesn’t feel like the right time to focus on dieting. It’s easy to find a whole host of excuses to put off making changes to our eating and exercising patterns – or to avoid sticking with the good habits we’ve already established.
Here’s some popular summer excuses … and my reasons why they just won’t cut it!
It’s too hot to exercise
Sure, a blazing hot day probably isn’t the best time for a five mile jog … but your gym will have air-conditioning or fans to keep the temperature down. If you don’t have gym membership, what about heading for a cooling swim in your local pool?
If you really can’t face doing anything energetic, get out for a walk when it’s not too warm (earlier morning or after dinner) and enjoy the gorgeous weather.
I don’t want to cook in this weather
None of us fancy spending hours in a steamy kitchen during summer, but dialling for a pizza or stocking up on frozen ready meals won’t get you any closer to your healthy eating goals. Try out some light dinners instead: one of my favourites is prawn wraps with crudités – no cooking involved.
Other good options include big summer salads, cold soups like gazpacho, or quick-cook recipes like stir-fries.
I don’t want to diet on holiday
When you’re enjoying yourself and taking a well-deserved break from the office, the last thing you want to have on your mind is calories. That’s reasonable enough – but eating chips dipped in mayo twice a day isn’t …
Relax while you’re on your holiday, but try to keep up your fruit and vegetable intake and have fun without ruining your diet.
Everyone else is eating ice-cream …
There are certain summer treats that some of us (okay, me!) find it very hard to refuse: ice-creams featuring highly on the list. It’s fine to indulge occasionally, but if a three-scoop cone is becoming an everyday event, it’s time to look for some alternatives.
Frozen yoghurts, sorbets and juice lollies are all good options; see my post on alternatives to ice-cream over at Diet-Blog.
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