How to Stay Healthy This Summer

Summer can be your best friend, your worst enemy or both. I tend to think it’s both. Why do I feel this way? Summer offers many enticing aspects. However, it’s the season that most reminds of the sirens from Homer’s Odyssey. You remember them, right? They were a group of beautiful looking and singing women who almost lured Odysseus’ sailors to their doom and were thought to have turned Pete into a toad in O Brother, Where Art Thou? Who among us, can resist the siren’s song?

Summer lures us to our (unhealthy) doom with warmer weather, more hours of daylight, vacations, picnics, festivals, cook-outs, holidays, family get togethers, beer, loads of unhealthy food, increased UV rays from the sun being higher in the sky, and dehydration.

But as we enter the summer months, everything looks beautiful, like the sirens. We then get thrown off our schedule and overindulge in just about everything, just as the sirens of summer desire. Below are a few tips to help you stay healthy this summer and to help you spend as little time with the sirens as possible…and yes, sirens cross gender lines.

• Be active outside as often as possible. Take advantage of the warmer weather and extended hours of daylight to hike, bike, kayak, garden, play tennis, pickle ball or any other ball sport, paddle board, swim, or any outdoor activity that flips your switch.

  Just remember to stay hydrated and to apply liberal doses of sunscreen as sweat and water will remove it from your skin. Don’t forget the insect repellent as well, especially if you live in an area that has a tick problem. Also, try to avoid the heat of the day by getting out in the early morning, which is always the coolest part of the day, especially just before sunrise. There’s nothing like watching the sun rise as you exercise…it just makes you feel good to be alive.

• Get 7-9 hours of sleep whenever possible. This rule continually gets broken during the summer months as numerous things conspire to keep us up later while still rising at the same time. The worst culprit are the extra hours of daylight we enjoy (?) during the summer.In fact, some people actually suffer from a reverse seasonal affective disorder during the summer caused by all that daylight. It would suck if you also have “regular” seasonal affective disorder during the winter as well.

  As much as possible, attempt to keep your circadian rhythm on track by limiting your exposure to daylight after 8:00PM, keeping your bedroom cool at night, limiting your alcohol intake prior to bedtime and sticking to a nighttime routine and schedule as much as possible.

• Take advantage of the season to eat healthy by regularly visiting your local farmer’s markets. There’s nothing like fresh fruits and vegetables newly picked from local farms. You’ll be surprised by the variety and how simply walking among those fruits and veggies piques your hunger and desire to try new foods.
  One of the strongest siren songs of summer are all those gatherings we get invited to that include some of the unhealthiest foods imaginable (think red meat slathered in high-calorie BBQ sauce, mayo-rich potato salad, mac and cheese and too many desserts to mention). Try to offset those indulgences by eating healthy when not at those gatherings and you can do that with the help of your local farmers.

  Finally, always think food safety, especially when that potato salad has been sitting out in the sun for a few hours.

• Monitor your alcohol intake. Friends, warm weather, daylight past 9:00PM…all these things can contribute to increased alcohol consumption during the summer months.
  Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with an occasional aperitif or two every now and again. However, if your occasional one or two become a regular four or five during the summer, negative consequences can be the result.

  Most alcoholic drinks are high calorie drinks and alcohol lowers our inhibitions which can lure you into eating and drinking more unhealthy items, among other things. Excessive alcohol consumption has also been linked to high blood pressure, cardiovascular and heart disease, increased stroke risk, liver disease and several forms of cancer. Sure, enjoy the summer, just do so responsibly.

If you remember your Greek classics correctly, then you’ll remember that Odysseus saved his crew (and himself) by stopping their ears with wax so they could not hear the sirens’ songs. Well, that won’t prevent you from succumbing to the lures of summer, but the above tips just might help.