No matter where you live, the summer heat can take a toll on anyone’s health and wellness. I live in Tampa, FL, so it can get incredibly hot in the summer, leading to increased sweat and dehydration. It’s important to be extra conscious in these hotter months, and take extra care to stay healthy this summer. Below, I’ll be sharing a few tips on how you can accomplish just that!
Why It’s Important to Stay Healthy This Summer Season
First of all, let’s talk about why it can be challenging to stay healthy throughout the summer.
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#1 It’s incredibly HOT.
We’re spending our days sweating like crazy and probably on the go more than in the colder months. I know personally, I’m out and about 10x more when it’s hot out than when it’s cold.
Due to the increased heat and constant sweat, we lose electrolytes and hydration much faster. Especially if you live an active lifestyle, you’re more prone to dehydration in the summer. This can lead to muscle cramps, decreased cognitive and physical performance, and other health concerns (source).
If you’re interested in learning more about the effects of dehydration and why you should be drinking more water… Check out our article on the 7 reasons why you should increase your water intake!
#2 Dehydration impacts more people in the summer.
Like I said above, it’s much harder to stay fully hydrated in the summer months due to increased heat and sweat. The best way to stay hydrated in the heat is by utilizing a combination of electrolyte-rich foods, plenty of water, and an awesome electrolyte supplement.
My favorite electrolyte drink for the summer is Liquid IV! If you haven’t heard of Liquid IV, it’s a hydration multiplier electrolyte powder that you mix into your water. It hydrates faster than water alone and is chock full of nutrients and electrolytes, such as Potassium, Vitamin C, and B Vitamins.
You can read my full review on Liquid IV here. Overall, it’s an incredible way to boost your hydration and overall energy in the summer.
What to Eat to Stay Healthy This Summer
To stay properly hydrated in the summer months, you should aim to eat electrolyte-rich foods alongside your drinks. A few options are watermelon, strawberries, banana, and mangoes (source). These are not only great options to meet your electrolyte needs, but they’re also super tasty!
You can eat them on their own, or blend them into a smoothie. I love to make a strawberry, banana, and mango smoothie. Which works really well for this, because that’s combining 3 electrolyte-rich foods into one smoothie.
I buy the fruits frozen and keep them stocked for whenever I’m feeling a smoothie. I also always make sure to freeze my bananas when they’re starting to turn brown (unless I’m going to make banana bread!). This way, I’m not wasting perfectly good bananas and I’m always stocked on smoothie ingredients!
The Tips on How to Stay Healthy This Summer
To avoid fatigue and other struggles that can come with dehydration in the summer months, I’ve put together 4 tips for keeping healthy!
1. Get Enough Sleep
Let’s face it, sleep is already one of the most important factors in a healthy lifestyle, but in the summer its importance is amplified. We’re typically on the go more in the summer and living a more active lifestyle than in the cold winter months. This means we’re expending more energy every day, so we need to rest & recover by getting a solid 8+ hours.
Everyone’s needs for sleep are different. I feel my best on 7.5+ hours a night, but some people may need less or more than that.
Take the next week to track your sleep and see how you feel on different days. You might be surprised to see how much sleep you actually function the best on.
Sleep is incredibly important for your overall health for a number of reasons. It helps with proper brain function, stress reduction, memory, your immune system, your mood, and more (source).
For some reason, even the healthiest of people will often put sleep on the backburner. For some reason, it doesn’t seem as important as eating healthy, getting our workouts in, or drinking enough water. While these lifestyle choices are also important, sleep needs to be up there on your priority list if you truly want to feel like your best & healthiest self.
2. Wear Sunscreen
This one seems like a no brainer to most, but I know so many people who avoid wearing sunscreen at all costs. I was one of them for years! I can’t even explain why I didn’t want to wear sunscreen, but all through my teen and early young adult years, I just assumed I didn’t need it.
This was a crazy (and incredibly inaccurate) assumption, especially because I have pale skin and burn within 15 minutes of being outside.
Wearing sunscreen (at least SPF 30) helps to protect us from the sun and lowers our risk of skin cancer. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in America, and a big part of that is people not wearing SPF (source).
Even if you are only going to be outside for a short period of time, or if it’s cloudy outside, you still should be wearing sunscreen.
It’s not only important to wear sunscreen to decrease the risk of future disease, but it also decreases premature aging and wrinkles (source).
Who wouldn’t want to have flawless skin until they’re old? I know I would! The only way to get that is to make sure you’re protecting what you’ve got.
Nowadays, I make sure I’m always wearing sunscreen when I go outside (especially on my face!). My face burns incredibly easy, so buying a good SPF moisturizer was essential for me.
The moisturizer I use and love is CeraVe Facial Moisturizing Lotion (SPF 30). I had been using an SPF 15 for a while and that just didn’t do the trick. I make sure to put on this moisturizer first thing in the morning, every morning before I do anything!
3. Eat Plenty of Healthy Meals & Snacks Throughout The Day
Like I talked about before, we’re typically more active in the summer months, so we need to make sure we’re fueling our bodies with enough nutrition. This means enough calories!
These days, due to the diet industry, people typically think of calories as always being a bad thing. This couldn’t be further from the truth. We all need enough calories every day, not only to have the energy to work out and stay active but also for proper brain function and activities of daily living.
There are many factors that go into how many calories you need to eat in a day (activity level, age, weight, etc.). The most important thing to look at is how you feel on a day to day basis.
Are you feeling energized every day and like you have the motivation to complete all your daily activities? If so, great! You’re probably eating enough calories for your personal needs.
On the other hand, if you typically feel lethargic, unfocused, and moody, it may have something to do with your eating habits. If you’re feeling this way on a day to day basis, you may need to increase your caloric intake.
If you’re constantly feeling hungry or always craving high-fat, calorie-dense foods, you may need to increase your caloric intake as well. Or it may help to add more nutritious foods into your diet.
Meals & Snacks to Stay Healthy This Summer
Anyways, back to the main point of this: healthy meals & snacks! It’s good to try and eat healthy meals & snacks often during the summer months because you’re typically using more energy. You’re also sweating out electrolytes, so choosing electrolyte-dense foods is important!
A few fruits that are high in electrolytes are bananas, watermelon, strawberries, and mangoes (source).
Electrolyte-dense vegetables include spinach, kale, and collard greens (high in calcium & magnesium).
Dairy products (or most non-dairy substitutes like almond milk) are high in calcium.
Sodium is also an important electrolyte that we lose in our sweat. You can increase your sodium intake with salty foods such as pickles, olives, and salted nuts (source).
You can boost your electrolyte intake with a supplement such as Liquid IV. I’ve been drinking Liquid IV almost every day this summer and it’s been really helpful for me, personally. It’s boosted my energy, focus, and resilience throughout my workouts.
The lemon-lime flavor is my favorite, but they also have acai berry, passion fruit, and more! They’re all a yummy way to make sure you’re staying hydrated and getting your essential electrolytes/nutrients in.
4. Be Especially Conscious of Your Hydration on Days/Nights You’ve Been Drinking
A lot of us love to indulge in an adult beverage (or 3) from time to time. Especially during the summer, when pool/beach days are the norm, we may end up drinking more than we regularly would.
Related: The 10 Best Fruity Drinks of Summer 2020!
The downside of this is that alcohol is a diuretic, so it makes it much more likely that you will be dehydrated during/after drinking. If you’ve ever wondered why it feels like you have to pee 10x more often when you’re drinking, this is why!
This is also one of the main reasons we get hungover the day after drinking. Especially if you’re drinking alcohol without staying properly hydrated, this can easily lead to headaches, stomach problems, and other hangover symptoms the next day (source).
To combat this issue and stay hydrated when drinking this summer, it’s important to follow these tips. Try to drink a glass of water in between every alcoholic drink. I know this may seem excessive, but it’s the best way to ensure you’re drinking enough water during a night out.
Another tip that has really helped me reduce my hangover headaches has been to make sure I’m getting enough electrolytes BEFORE drinking.
Any time I know I’m going to drink, I will make sure to have a glass of Liquid IV before. This has drastically reduced my hangovers, which is a big deal for me because they were getting bad. I would be hungover the entire weekend from having one glass of wine on Friday night. Yeah, that bad!
So my main point is to make sure you’re staying incredibly hydrated in the summer months, especially on nights you plan on drinking!
In Conclusion
We can all use these tips & tricks to make sure we stay healthy this summer. If you’re making sure to get your electrolytes in, drinking enough water, and eating enough calories & nutrient-dense foods… You’re much more likely to be living your healthiest life this summer!
I hope these tips were helpful to you guys. Let me know in the comments! 🙂
Comment Below With:
1. Do you feel like you’re more active in the summer months?
2. What’s your favorite way to stay hydrated on a hot summer day?
3. What’s been your biggest struggle with staying healthy during the summer?
