Hello everyone! I have been so crazy here in Florida. I hope that you have had an excellent month of June. Mine has been busy. Focusing on fitness has been tough, but I've been trying my best to make sure it happened. I cannot believe that it is almost Independence Day! That's an amazing day to spend with your family and friends celebrating our country.
Fitness
Can you tell that I love group fitness activities? I do. When you do fitness activities with other people, fitness is easier. It doesn't even seem like working out. You are having fun and completely lose track of time.
Let's talk about one of my favorite sports to play, soccer. It's so much fun. This summer, and holiday week, how about grabbing a soccer ball, picking some arbitrary goal posts, and spending some time playing with your friends and family.
There's no need to make it an official soccer match. Just kick the ball around, run around like a crazy person, and have fun!
Nutrition
With Independence Day this month, I'm sure you are thinking about a nice barbecue with friends and family. Most people assume that a barbecue is automatically unhealthy. It doesn't have to be! Throw a bunch of veggies on the grill, avoid the mayonnaise rich side dishes. You can even eat a bit of the meat, just make sure that most of what you're eating is the veggies and fruit.
And speaking of fruit, what would a barbecue be without a nice juicy watermelon. Watermelon is an amazingly healthy food for you! It's filled with water to help keep you hydrated, it has a relatively low sugar content for fruit, and contains about 21% of the recommended daily amount of vitamin C. Watermelon also has a whole bunch of lycopene which has been shown to help prevent cancer, improve heart health, and decrease inflammation. And if that isn't enough of a reason to eat watermelon, it also contains Citrulline which has been shown to help decrease muscle soreness after a workout.
Mind & Body
Spending time doing things you enjoy with people you like helps decrease depression and anxiety. Studies have shown correlations between mental health and socialization, with those people that you enjoy being around, actually increases your mental health. I acknowledge that a correlation does not a cause make, but still, it is a noticeable correlation. These studies have actually shown increased mental function with socialization. This means that you might actually strengthen your brain while spending time with people.
This Independence Day, hang out with those people that you love, play a couple of games, and enjoy some delicious, healthy food.
I really do hope that you have an amazing month!
Love and well wishes,
Kris