5 Easy Ways Your Family Can Get Healthy This Summer

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The summer is a perfect time to focus on being healthy, and what better way to get healthy than to do it as a family? Being healthy as a family provides everyone with motivation, someone to be accountable to, and maybe even a little healthy competition at times. Best of all, there are some really easy things your family can do to get healthy this summer.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is something that is caught, rather than something that is taught. For instance, if you require your children to eat fruits and veggies at every meal but never do this yourself this will be something they will skip as soon as you aren’t looking.

The decision to be healthy starts with you, but you will need to get the kids, and your spouse, on board, too. Present it as something that will be fun rather than as something that will be work. The truth is, these things will make getting and staying fit fun.

Maybe you want to live a more healthy life but just aren’t sure where to start. These easy activities will help both you and your family get healthy this summer!

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Physical activity

The options for this are endless, and they don’t have to cost a thing.

Most high schools have tennis courts and tracks that are open to the public. These can be a great way to have fun as a family.

Turning a regular walk into a scavenger hunt is so much more fun, and a walk can also be more fun if you incorporate other things like jumping jacks, push ups, or skipping for the kids.

There are backyard games like what I wrote about here, and there are also three legged races, relays, and so many more things that can be fun while also burning some calories right in your own backyard.

Head to the park, a playground, or the pool.

Healthy eating

Getting more fruits and vegetables into your family diet is so much easier in the summer.

Grow your own. My kids love eating whatever we grow!

Replace some of your unhealthy snacks with healthy ones. Keep plenty of cut vegetables on hand so they are easy to grab, and freezing yogurt into popsicles can even make that more fun.

Have you discovered air popped popcorn? We have an air popper and just use a little coconut oil and salt. Much healthier than chips!

What about having a vegetable eating contest at dinner? Keep track of how many servings each child eats over a week and reward the winner with a treat of some kind.

Grill more. Grilling is such a healthy way of cooking, and it always smells great, too.

Remind your kids that eating heathy will help them think better, perform better in their sports, and even run faster. This is usually a big motivator for kids.

Drink water

Keep a cup or water bottle on the counter for each family member. Set goals of when each one is to be completed. For instance, everyone must drink the entire amount by 10 in the morning. Next it could be 1 in the afternoon and so on. Keep them filled and keep reminding. Soon, it will be a habit that everyone will do on their own.

 

Cut the caffeine

I love my caffeine, I really do. But caffeine naturally dehydrates us, which makes us feel more sluggish…kind of the opposite effect in the long run, especially during the summer when people are more prone to dehydration in the first place. Instead of reaching for the caffeine, try a:

• Power nap
• Protein snack
• Brisk walk or workout of some kind

Turn the electronics off and exercise your mind

Try it for a day, try it for a week, or be really bold and try it for month. Instead you can

• Play a game
• Read a book together
• Look at old photos
• Work on jigsaw puzzles
• Solve word puzzles like crosswords or word searching
• Go volunteer within your community together. This will exercise your mind, body, and spirit!
• Head out on an adventure somewhere

Living a healthy lifestyle works best when it is a family affair, and summer provides the perfect opportunity to get started. Once you get started, it doesn’t take long for these concepts to become a habit and simply part of the way that you live each and every day. Get moving, eat better, drink water, cut your caffeine, and exercise your mind with these easy steps today.