5 tips to getting healthy for summer

Summer is just around the corner, and that can only mean plenty of sun (but lots of rain) and more importantly; ditching those winter clothes for something a little lighter.

Whether you stuck to your New Year resolution to get fitter or not and even if getting ripped for the beach isn’t your goal, we all feel a certain pressure to get a little healthier for the summer season. So here’s five ways you can get summer ready without much effort.

1 – Sleep more.

Easily one of the most overlooked aspects of getting fit and healthy is sleep. We don’t even think about it when signing up to gym classes, yoga or dieting, but it’s probably the most important part. If your focus is on losing weight or gaining muscle, sleep is where it all happens. Not only does it allow your body to repair and grow, it also helps order your mind, suppress the appetite and has been proven to help with focus and concentration.

The biggest barrier is our always-on culture, but if you want to get physically and mentally healthy, for later life too; you need to get at least seven to eight hours a night. And no, you can’t get five hours on Monday and make it up on the weekend, your body doesn’t work like that!

2 – Eat a lotta the right stuff

The biggest fad of our time is probably the diet. Now, dieting can be great for getting people help and also curbing unhealthy habits. The reality however is that by jumping on things like the Paleo diet, the Atkins diet and all the rest is that it’s impossible to deny yourself food that you might like forever.

Everything in moderation is key to being healthy. Absolutely have that slice of cake, but maybe not the second, and maybe not every day. Choose fresh fruit over dried, fresh veg instead of processed, Fresh meat instead of Microwave meals. A little extra time in your day and you can cook simple and tasty things fairly easily. You should never be too busy.

Also read the labels! Many low fat items have been packed with sugar to keep flavour, so always go for full fat milk, yoghurt, or butter and never flavoured. Sugar is a huge contributor to body fat as the body doesn’t break it down as easily. Fat however, is extremely useful to your body.

3 – Exercise more

You don’t have to be Chris Hemsworth in Thor or anything like that, but the simple reality is that humans are not designed to sit around. Whether you join a gym or just go for a walk, it’s pretty essential to get moving. Basic maths is that if you move more than you eat; you’ll lose weight.

Gyms are scary and can be fairly intimidating, but there’s plenty of ways to get healthy. Go for a walk, take public transport instead of driving, cycle around a bit. You don’t need to kill yourself, but a little movement is better than none.

4 – Drink a little less

Irish people love to drink, and there’s no harm letting your hair down and having a few cans or a glass of wine. The problem can be that we don’t really know how to stop. Drink in-and-of itself isn’t bad for you, but it does add calories and it also slows down the body’s ability to process and breakdown foods, which is why that burger at 3am helps for the next morning!

So much like sweets and sugar, a little moderation and your liver and your older self will thank you for it.

5 – Find a Hobby

One of the biggest problems for people today is that we can be time poor, the idea of switching off has, in less than a decade, become a novelty. The harsh reality is that our grandparents and their parents in particular worked longer hours in worse environments than we do today, so we should cherish being the first generation to be able to have time off.

Your work emails can wait until you’re actually being paid to read them, no one will thank you for working until 9pm every night, and certainly no one will remember. It does awful things for your stress levels and can impact your diet and your sleep.

Switch off the phone and find a hobby, whether it’s painting, cycling, yoga, theatre, dancing, or anything you find interesting. Take the time to enjoy your free time, you’ve earned it, and your mental health is arguably more important than your physical health. Or just enjoy the sun! It’s not like we get a lot of it…