There seems to be a seasonality to weight loss.

There’s the Winter Diet Season (Starts in January), a Spring Diet Season (usually starts right after Easter or sometime in early April) and the Fall or Post Labor Day Diet Season. There is no Summer Diet Season!

The Spring diet season is the result of removing heavy winter clothing and more of our body gets revealed. We like to have less of our bodies to actually reveal. We want slimmer thighs and a flatter belly!

Spring dieters usually go hard the first month or so inspired by the warmer weather and longer days. When it’s obvious that summer has arrived and we’re still carrying around our winter flab, we run out of motivation.

When I failed to reach my goal (Summer 1990) I gave up and went with shorts and tee for swim wear!

Too many challenges with getting slimmer in the summer.

The kids are out of school; things are hectic, there is too much impulse partying, and summer heat forces us to eat more ice cream and frozen drinks!

I won’t argue that there are unique summer challenges because there are. I am writing this blog to help people who are looking to lose weight and keep it off all year long.

The only way to do that is to stop dividing the year into weight loss and weight gain seasons. It’s time to start learning how to manage weight in Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring!

Here is what you can do to get slimmer in the summer.

• Track and record your food. The lack of structure, various activities and even the summer heat make it hard to plan ahead. Tracking and recording is a very effective method of “planning behind.” In other words, when you keep track of what and how much you’ve eaten during the day it helps you to stay within a “weight loss budget” because you know what you have already spent. You can track and record with paper and pen in a little notebook, on your smartphone using an app, or to make it really simple create a food album on your phone and take a picture of everything before you eat it.

• Fruits and vegetables are tastier in the summer! I’m sorry I’m always pushing the fruits and vegetables. I do it for a good reason. They are filling because they have a lot of water and fiber. They are also low in calories because they have a lot of water and fiber and very little, or no, fat. They’re the perfect replacement for processed snack foods. You can have sweet, crunchy, or even savory when you eat them with a low-calorie dip for a fraction of the calories. If you really want to get the full advantage of fruits and vegetables try growing and/or picking your own! You can reduce your calories going in and increase your calorie burn – win/win!  

• Play! Who cares what you weigh! If you love to swim or wakeboard or play tennis or kayak, or whatever you enjoy, for goodness, do it and have fun! Don’t punish yourself by not allowing yourself to enjoy fun activities because you “weigh too much!”  The more you play, the better it is for your body and spirit. Happy people make better choices. Active people burn more calories. There is no need to punish yourself because of your weight and certainly no reason to “wait until your thinner” to do all the things that you love.
  

  Toddlers don’t miss out on fun and action worrying about how they look in their bathing suits! Channel your inner, self-loving child!

• Stop comparing your body to anybody else’s; stop inspecting your body for trouble areas or flaws. Your body deserves the best care you can give it. If you don’t think it’s good enough, you won’t give it proper care and feeding. Say this everyday in the mirror: “Hello beautiful body! Today I will give you the best care possible!”