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Summer Goalz Are Here 🪴⛱😎🍉☀️
In the Northern Hemisphere, most of us have been awaiting summer like…
And your clients have been incubating “summer goals” lists over the cold, hostile months of winter.
Come lilac season, the fire is in their eyes.
They want to be fit, healthy, and make the MOST of their summer.
Below is a list of three small practices that can help your clients take advantage of this season. They all benefit health, sure. But hopefully, they’re also pretty fun. 🤸🏻♂️🤸🏼♀️🤸🏾
Incorporate more seasonal fruits.
Yes, fruit is available all year round, but some produce tastes especially spectacular—often at a lower price tag—when it’s eaten in-season.
(Looking at you, peaches. 🤤🤤🤤)
However, you might’ve heard some version of this from clients:
“I avoid fruit. It has too much sugar.”
But as the below chart shows, most of us actually aren’t eating enough fruit.
Add to that:
Almost 60 percent of all calories consumed in the US come from ultra-processed foods.
What does that tell us?
Fruits aren’t reducing diet quality. More likely, a high proportion of ultra-processed foods are.
Encourage clients to experiment with loosening up their fruit ban.
Cool side effect: Many clients notice when they eat more fruit, they crowd out less nutritious sweets—without even trying to. 💪🏼💪🏾💪🏽
Talk about restoring vitamin D levels.
Statistics suggest that between 20 and 40 percent of people worldwide have insufficient levels of vitamin D.
That risk goes up for those who:
✅ Live far from the equator, and/or experience winter
✅ Have darker skin
✅ Fall into the “50+” age category
✅ Have a medical condition that reduces their absorption or synthesis of vitamin D
✅ Tend to cover up (with clothing or sunscreen) when they go outside
✅ Just don’t go outdoors much
With the sun out, clients have both the opportunity to restore some vitamin D—but also potentially overdo it.
Make it clear: Slathering yourself with baby oil and roasting yourself golden like a rotisserie chicken is so 1987.
Instead, encourage clients to get some (responsible) sun exposure.
For most, that means getting about 10-20 minutes a day of midday sun, with face, arms, hands, and legs uncovered (and no sunscreen).
For clients who’ve been told by a doctor to stay out of the sun, vitamin D rich foods can bump levels up. (Check out the below image for a list of top sources.)
Still though, many people may need to supplement to achieve optimal blood levels of vitamin D—which can only be assessed through a blood test performed by a client’s doc.
For reference: People should aim to achieve a blood level of vitamin D of about 50 nmol/L (20 ng/mL) to 75 nmol/L (30 ng/mL).
Most adults can achieve this by getting about 1000 IU daily of vitamin D, from food and supplements. For specific recommendations, clients should consult their doctor.
Encourage time with tree friends.
Good news for your nature-loving clients:
“Forest bathing”—immersing yourself in a lush, natural environment—is a thing.
Research shows that 10 to 30 minutes of time in a forest or park can improve mood, reduce stress levels, and restore emotional balance.
Results are temporary, which means you have to return to green spaces for regular “doses” of equanimity.
But is that such a bad thing?
Help clients identify green spots accessible to them—and make visiting them regular “therapy.”
An easy mindful exercise you can teach them is to simply engage their senses when they enter a green space:
Encourage them to breathe in the smell of grass, listen to the sound of birds, look at the sun winking through the leaves, and feel their feet or butt on the ground.
Makes for a darn good summer moment. 🍃🌼🐿
If you want to help people experience darn good moments 🍂all ❄️year ☔️round, consider our Level 1 Nutrition Coaching Certification. It combines the science of nutrition with the art of coaching, so you can help folks make healthy eating and lifestyle changes that last for seasons to come.
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