There’s something about summer. It simply feels like the best season to form healthy habits. It seems easier and more natural during warm, light-filled days. If you’re ready to make a change and make this your healthiest summer ever, we’ve got the top super-charged habits to help you.
These habits are not complicated, but they may be life-changing. They are simple and easy to add to your lifestyle. In fact, most of them require just a small change in behaviors you’ve already established.
Why not get started today?
7 HACKS TO MAKE THIS YOUR HEALTHIEST SUMMER EVER
1. MAKE IT ICE WATER
There are actually 2 ways ice water can help you make this your healthiest summer ever.
First, drinking ice water keeps your body cool during the hot summer months while improving calorie burn.
How? Ice water is much colder than your body temperature, and your body must burn calories to warm it up. While this may seem like a negligible metabolism increase, it can add up to significant calorie burn. In fact, mathematically, every 64 ounces of ice water you drink should require 61 calories (burned) to warm up. Over a week, this can add up to almost a 500 calorie deficit.
In studies, drinking 16 ounces of ice-cold water per day actually increased calorie output by about 100 calories per day (1). While the studies are small in scale, they suggest ice water offers calorie and metabolism benefits.
The second way ice-cold water can make this your healthiest summer ever is by exposing your body to it. When your body is exposed to very cold water, it uses brown fat cells to warm itself. These cells are extremely advantageous for metabolism. What’s more, ice-cold showers have been found in studies to activate “white fat” by making it act more like “brown fat(3).” In time, your body will naturally burn more calories the more brown fat you have.
Easy Summer Hack Plan: This summer, drink at least 16 ounces of ice water per day. Then, either shower or plunge into ice-cold water as often as possible.
2. GROW A GARDEN FOR YOUR HEALTHIEST SUMMER EVER
While you may think the only benefit of gardening is the harvest, there are actually many health benefits when you put your hands in soil. In fact, studies have found that gardening is a great stress reducer and promotes feelings of calm and well-being (2).
What’s more, gardening is a great excuse to get outside and be active. Take advantage of the time using your muscles and increasing vitamin D production from the sun.
Easy Summer Hack Plan: Plant your own garden, herb container garden, or join a community garden. No matter how you do it, you will reap benefits beyond the food itself.
3. EAT DELICIOUS SEASONAL FRESH PRODUCE LIKE GREENS AND HERBS
Ever feel like winter’s ingredients are less than inspiring? Well then, summer foods are for you! Take a look at your garden or the produce section in your local grocer. It’s brimming with fresh, in-season, healthy foods.
In fact, when you add more greens and herbs to your diet, you can consume the same component plants used to grow and flourish: chlorophyll. In addition, vibrant and brightly colored vegetables and fruits offer a vast array of phytochemicals, antioxidants, and other health-promoting nutrients. Try:
- Delicious Fresh Herb Sauces. A delicious parsley-based sauce like Keto Zone®
- Chimichurri or Fresh Basil Pesto is perfect for any summer meal!
- Vibrant Salads and Green Vegetables. Greens are amazingly nutritious foods that are highly anti-inflammatory and health-promoting (3). Try eating a green salad with heart-healthy extra-virgin olive oil every day.
- Fresh Low-Carb Summer Fruits. With a bit of portion control, fruits like berries can fit into a Keto Zone® lifestyle, and they are ripe and flavorful in the summer. Berries support healthy blood pressure (4), deliver loads of antioxidants, and promote overall health. Lemons and limes are also great for you, adding vitamin C, antioxidants, and more.
- Divine Health Organic Fermented Green Supremefood® and Organic Red Supremefood®. A great way to add even more organic greens and fruits to your diet is through Divine Health’s delicious organic fruit and vegetable powders. They are great-tasting and easy to add to water, tea, smoothies, and more!
Easy Summer Hack Plan: Add 1-2 servings of Organic Red and Green Supremefood® to your daily routine, cover half your dinner plate with fresh greens, and try a new herb sauce this summer!
4. ADD VARIETY BY DRINKING TEA
Tired of plain water? Make the switch to tea for part of your daily fluids. Beyond providing great hydration on hot summer days, black and green tea offer amazing health benefits for your eyes, brain, and entire body.
In fact, black and green tea support cellular detox, the fight against oxidative stress, normalized cortisol, increased calorie burn, healthy blood pressure and cholesterol, brain health (3), oral health, and a fiery metabolism.
What’s more, you can get double the benefits when you add Organic Fermented Green Supremefood® to your tea or other foods during the day. It contains Green Tea Leaf Extract for a fermented, potent healthy green tea source.
Easy Summer Hack Plan: Drink 16 ounces of green or black tea per day, preferably ice-cold. Consider adding 1 scoop of Organic Red and Green Supremefood®to your tea. You just might get 3 habits in 1!
5. MOVE YOUR WORKOUT OUTSIDE
Summer is one of the best times of the year for outdoor activities and exercise. Not only does it promote heart health, but being outside also supports mental health and enhanced mood.
Studies have found that activity outside improves health markers and supports healthy cortisol. This means less tension, fatigue, and depressed moods.
Amazingly, it may also help you exercise more consistently. One recent study concluded that men and women over 66 years who exercised outside reported higher levels of total activity per week than inside-exercisers (5).
6. TAKE AN EVENING WALK
In addition to an outdoor workout, make this your healthiest summer ever by getting outside for an evening walk after dinner.
Why?
First, walking always burns calories and supports heart health (6). Moreover, timing a walk after dinner can help normalize post-meal blood sugars, reduce evening stress, and encourage optimal sleep.
7. FOLLOW THE SUN
There’s really no better time to work on your own 24-hour daily cycle and circadian rhythms than summer. You can make this your healthiest summer ever by aligning your wake and sleep times with the sun.
Artificial light is a known issue for sleep cycles. Since most of us are inside much of the day, stay up far past sundown, and stare at blue screens like computers and phones, our circadian rhythms can easily become “off balance.”
It’s no wonder. We live in a world with fast-paced, busy schedules and often need artificial light throughout the year to get everything done. However, in the summer, we’ve got the opportunity to use more natural light and align our days with sun-up and sun-down.
You’ll find a natural-light cycle that can support healthy sleep, which in turn supports brain, immune, hormone, and whole-body health.
HOW TO MAKE THESE HEALTHY HABITS STICK
Habits are best added one at a time until you master each. To make these habits stick for your healthiest summer ever, add one per week over the next 7 weeks. Focus on each for 7 days, and then add the next. You can make small changes to supercharge your summer, and then continue them to turn your healthy habits into a healthy lifestyle.
BOTTOM LINE
Summer is a wonderful time to add healthy habits to your life. These top 7 tips can take your health from mediocre to supercharged! Try them for the next 7 weeks and experience the difference. Add great foods and ingredients like Organic Red and Green Supremefood®.
You’ve got nothing to lose, and your healthiest summer ever to gain!
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