Throughout this summer, this blog series of Summer of Becoming the Healthiest & Happiest you! Will go through how you can be the healthiest version of yourself. It is about learning how to change the way you eat, move, and feel by the end of the summer. If you have not yet checked out Part 1 or Part 2, click to check them out! In part 3, we will go through ways to learn what YOUR body needs to be healthy and how you can make yourself feel better just by eating what is right for your body! This is not to start fad diets, change your diet completely, or cut your favorite foods from your diet, but rather feel healthy. This blog is about eating foods that improve your well-being, not diminish, but also learning how your body reacts to certain foods. 

Each blog of the series contains a different healthy meal idea that you can make on your own, no equipment exercises that you can do outside or inside, and some things to keep you busy. If you are college student like me, you know that the summers have less and less time for relaxation, friends, and family because you are likely working full time. Going through the motion of working everyday especially in the summer can be tough on your mental health where you don’t find times during the day to do something that you enjoy!

Remember: Healthy does NOT mean starving yourself EVER. Healthy means eating the right food in the right amount.

How to learn what is healthy for YOU to eat?

1. Start a food diary
   1. First things first, it may seem like a tactic that people always tell you to do to keep track of what you are eating, but keeping a diary of foods that make you feel not so great is a great way to be able to look back and see what foods could possibly be affecting your health. Please try not to count calories in your diary to avoid anxieties over how many calories you are getting in a day. Everyone’s caloric intake is different each day!!
2. Portion your food
   1. Portioning your foods to smaller sizes can make you feel much healthier and lighter, literally. Having less food in your stomach helps your digestion and metabolism. Slowly you will start to feel fuller with less amounts of food. Don’t cut back completely and have smaller portions of maybe the less unhealthy food rather than fruits and veggies. 
3. Cut processed foods and bad fats
   1. This is an obvious one when trying to eat healthy but here are some bad ingredients that are in your foods and you should try to avoid: sugar-based products, trans fats, refined carbs, vegetable oils, and processed low-fat products.
4. If you are struggling with stomach issues or bloating…
   1. You can try the FODMAP diet. This diet starts off by cutting everything from your diet that are known to give high reactions to sensitive stomachs and then slowly integrating those foods back in to see if you are still having bad reactions to the food. This article gives a great explanation of the 3 stages of the FODMAP diet. 

No Equipment Exercises (make them your own and what you feel comfortable doing!)

• AB Workouts
  1. 10 minute abs 
  2. Ab exercises for all body types
  3. 7 minute abs
  4. 9 Exercises

Hobbies to try and prevent boredom

1. Thrift flip some clothes
2. Summer outdoor yoga
3. Learn origami
4. Build a bat house

Top 3 healthy DINNERS of the week

1. One sheet-Shrimp Fajitas 
2. Avocado Corn Salad
3. Bruschetta Chicken

I hope you follow along throughout the summer and use some of these tips to make you healthier and enjoy your summer to the fullest! 

Strive for progress not perfection!

Kayla Withrow