DON'T LET SUMMER SABOTAGE YOU

With the scorching temperatures lately and the last day of school fast approaching, even the best laid plans and schedules sometimes fall by the wayside. This is especially true when it comes to weight loss. This year, instead of throwing in the beach towel and letting summer sabotage your health plans, why not leverage your summer, use it to your advantage and continue moving closer to your goals instead?

Summer has always been my favourite time of year. Spending time outside hiking, camping, travelling, visiting with friends, and of course hosting BBQ's is what summer is all about. Despite the fact that food (and not always the healthy stuff) plays a huge role in each of these events, it's also the season where I have always had the greatest success in achieving any new health and/or fitness goals. If you're thinkin I just suggestied you could enjoy your summer and still lose weight and reach your goals, you thought right.

The first step in reaching any goal is to make a plan. Get out your calendar and mark down those fun, summer events. Menu for each is next. Whether it's a BBQ's, camping trip, weekend getaway, beach day, day trip on the bike or a full-on vacation, making a food plan ahead of time will go a long way in helping you be successful. Deciding ahead of time on the menu not only removes some of the planning stress on the day of, it allows you to remain in control of your food choices more often than not. And being blindsided by something unexpected is the number one thing that will throw someone off track and distract them from achieving their goals. Next, decide which of your events you'd like to enjoy as your off-plan meals. If your calendar has several things happening each week, choosing one off-plan per week to enjoy will give you something to look forward to, yet still allow you to progress toward your goals.

Now that your plan is set, shopping and prep is next. With all the fresh fruits and veggies we have available to us locally, this part should be a breeze. Make a list of what you will need for your special dishes and add it to your weekly shopping list. I recommend shopping early in the day to get the best variety – this goes for both market and grocery store. Washing, chopping and packing into containers in the fridge makes your day-to-day meal prep much faster, as well as providing healthy options ready to go when you need a snack or want to pack a picnic for the beach. Packaged food tends to start looking good even to the most dedicated souls if the healthy food has to be washed, peeled and chopped before you can actually eat it.

Cooking in the summer can sometimes be a challenge, especially on those record-high temperature days. So wouldn't you like to cook less? Me too. I often cook in bulk and encourage my clients to do the same. Cooking in bulk means you could have enough protein cooked and stored in the fridge or freezer for as little as two or three meals, or as much as an entire week's worth. Fewer meals to prepare, house stays cooler/less gas is used in the BBQ and best of all, when food is prepped and ready to go, spontaneous hiking trips, picnics at the beach, company dropping by, etc., won't sabotage your food plan by leaving you without any healthy options.

Although 70 to 80 percent of your results is determined by the food you eat, exercise is still a must. And seriously, living here in the Okanagan there are so many ways to stay active, you could start today, pick a different one each week and still not get to try them all by the end of August. Come to think of it, I think I'll give paddle board yoga a try this summer.

Don't let summer sabotage your weight loss results. New with FIT Nutrition, Group weight loss. Info night Tuesday, June 14, 5:00pm. Call 250.870.8719 or email [email protected] for info and/or to register.