How to Eat Healthy in the Summer!

I’ve definitely written about this before, but I think it is a topic that bears repeating. For me personally, I find that summer time is the hardest time to eat healthy. I know that many people think that the holidays are the worst. To me the holidays are usually a few weeks where there are tons of treats around, but there are usually healthy meals. In the three months of “summer time” I find that there are parties and functions all the time. This weekend alone we were invited to three events on Saturday, and then Father’s Day was on Sunday.

I think that sometimes these events can be overwhelming, especially if you feel like you already had a rough week, or have been feeling sluggish. When it comes to eating healthy, you have to be flexible; it’s just like exercise. You have to take each week, day, and meal as it comes. As people we aren’t perfect, we don’t expect others to be, so we can’t expect our own self to be perfect. 

Since I am still trying to lose the baby (and pre-baby, if I am being honest) weight, I do watch what I eat on a pretty regular basis. I just completed a round of Whole 30, which was eye opening, and has really set me up to eat healthy this summer. In the past if I slipped up when I was actively trying to lose weight I would slide head first into a day of terrible eating. As I’ve grown as an adult, I realized one slip up at lunch doesn’t ruin my whole day. I take note of it, was that treat really good? Is it something I love or did I eat it because I was bored and it was there?  Regardless of the reason, I eat what I have prepared for dinner and move about my day. Of course I don’t always move about this without feeling some guilt, but I don’t beat myself up about it either. 

So how do I handle summer and all the events that happen? I plan for them. 90% of the time you get an invitation pretty far in advance. I put the events in my calendar right away. When I meal plan, I always look at my calendar, are there nights when I am not home for dinner and I need to plan to make enough for two nights, are there nights when we are going to go out? Those things matter when it comes to meal planning and meal prep.  It also shows me when I have an event. Usually, I plan to have a treat there, and it is something I can look forward too. That way when I am at Starbucks and I really want that brownie, that let’s face it is probably not that great and I could get any old time, I can resist it. Things like my mother-in-law’s baklava, that I can only get a few times a year, I will indulge when I know it will be around. 

I also bulk up on my protein and veggie intake the rest of the day. Saturday, we had a birthday party and graduation party that we were able to attend. I ate a healthy breakfast of 2 eggs and a Sweet Potato Hash, and coffee. I also had a ton of water. We had lunch at the birthday party. There was salad and grilled sausage and peppers, right on plan for me. I also snagged a very small chocolate chip brownie, totally worth it! For dinner, we headed to a graduation party. I had salad, and placed some grilled chicken and brisket on top, with some grilled veggies on the side. I also had 3 or 4 passed hors d’oeuvre, for dessert I split a piece of cake with my sister. I drank plenty of water throughout the whole day. I didn’t feel bad about the indulgent things I ate, and I had a wonderful time celebrating important people on a beautiful day!