These 7 Tips Will Help You Stay Active This Summer

Doesn't it feel like the summer season just gets hotter and hotter every year?! It is absolutely nuts! With numerous barbecues happening every other week (or, to some of you luckier ones: every week) and constantly chowing down on every opportunity you get with delicious eats in the summer, staying on track with a diet plan in order to stay consistent with eating smart and healthy can seem so difficult to the point where it can become almost impossible to get back on track.

Summer is the hardest season of all to stay consistent with healthy eating habits. Don't believe me? Here are 7 Reasons Spring Is The Best Time Of The Year To Lose Weight.

You may become more active playing with kids and exploring outdoors--however if you're not planning carefully, you might find yourself making frequent decisions on running errands for slurpee and popsicles (or at least be tempted to--but you shouldn't even have to be focusing on those thoughts!)

Here are 8 tips to help you stay on track and stay consistent shedding those pounds while enjoying your summer and the summer food:

Make Your Breakfasts Overly Delicious

If you start the day nice and strong you'll end up feeling full for a longer period in the day, while attaining the energy to keep up with your physical activities. A good way to start is to have breakfast with sufficient portions of healthy carbs and protein.

Related: Want To Start Clean-Eating? Here Are 6 Ways To Start

A protein shake with fruits and spinach is a great combo, and oatmeal or eggs as well.

Stay Active

The benefits of staying active is being able to keep those pounds of yours at bay. In addition you'll stay more consistent with energy throughout the day.

Here are some healthy lifestyle habits to help you stay active:

• Riding your bike to work or while running errands
• Take a walk
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Park further away from your destination and walk the distance (ever parked at a lot and watched someone park on the other side of the lot, wondering to yourself "what in the world is wrong with him/her?!")

Please read: If you frequently take your dog out for a walk in the summer, please be mindful of these summer heat tips for dog owners. Be aware of hot pavement.

Stock Up On Gum

You know what's a perfect to-go item to have on you? Gum! Carry sugar-free gum so you don't suffer from the weight gaining effects it can drag you down with. You'll also help reduce chances of being vulnerable of other health problems as well, even if its just a small percentage.

And did you know that chewing gum prevents mindless eating?

Read: 7 Worst Mental Attitudes That Make It Harder To Lose Weight

Plan Ahead

Pack or own snacks! If you've already been meal prepping, then you're good to go. Just don't depend on what your family or friends bring for you. It's a good habit to always bring bags of nuts, like almonds or cashews. Some other great snacks to bring with you are carrots, apples, cheese sticks, coconut water, dried fruit, apples, and almond milk.

Read: How to Lose Weight Other Than Eating Less

Drink More Water

Drink plenty of water! I cannot stress this enough. Regularly drinking water will provide you with many great health benefits, including:

• Improved memory
• Increased energy levels
• Increased focus
• Reducing mindless snacking

And many more. Proper hydration is probably one of (and if not, the most) biggest key factors for fast weight loss. So if you've been wondering how to lose weight fast in 2 weeks, 3 weeks, 4 weeks, even 2 months, make sure you're giving yourself some space for water consumption. Just make sure you're drinking at least 2/3 portion of your weight (in ounces). Start with flavored waters.

Related: This is How Much Water You Need to Drink for Weight Loss

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Give Yourself Adequate Sleep

When you're not giving yourself enough sleep, your body transitions into a serious carb craving state, and you'll end up reaching for carbs like chips, bread, cookies and other sugary snacks just to get yourself throughout the day. It's an easy habit to submit to, so be careful and keep yourself in check.

And studies show that the lesser sleep a person gets, the slower their metabolism is, which isn't good news for your cortisol levels.

Cortisol is known as the stress hormone that helps you control your blood sugar levels and helps regulate your metabolism. This could actually lead to excess in fat so the more rested and stress you are the better. Here are 5 Ways Sleep Can Help Slim Your Body

Give In To Food Cravings

If you think this sounds oddly weird to you, don't worry, you're not alone. But listen, it works. I mentioned this in a previous article, practicing mindful eating is a must if you want to lose weight fast. Leo Babauta shared a great story of when he used to eat mindlessly on a daily basis. But long story short, he changed his eating habits and found it much more manageable to shed those pounds.

Related: Weight Loss: Sniffing Foods That Help

What did he do? One of the things he was doing was he learned to give in to his cravings for his favorite foods. Here's the catch: Do it in moderation. Keep your portions small and enjoy every bite, nice and slowly. Do it like you mean it. You won't have the same food craving like that again for awhile.

Find A Workout You Love

The best way to stay consistent with the gym every day is to find workouts you love doing and incorporate them into your workout routines. You are more likely to stick to your gyming habits and stay motivated to keep you going.

There are so many workouts you can do to get your heart rate up and burn extra fat such as weight training, which is great for boosting your metabolism! To get you started, here are 11 Best Exercises To Diminish The Fat Around Your Belly