Weight loss can be a lot of fun.
If you’re rolling your eyes at me, I’m all the more excited you’re here.
Because I love turning the “beauty is pain” lie on its head.
There are so many ways you can improve your health and boost your happiness simultaneously, and summer is the best season to get started.
So, grab your kids. Call over your partner. Let’s make some fun family plans. You’ll be too busy having fun to realize you’re getting stronger and leaner with every activity.
6 Summer Family Activities to Boost Your Fitness
☀️ Cool Off with Pool Games
Grab your goggles. But don’t tread water on the side, tracking your burned calories while the rest of the family has fun. Join the kids, and jump in! While you’re chasing them, tossing them in the water, and playing marco polo, your body is handling the fat loss.
Water provides natural resistance, forcing your muscles to work harder than they would on land. Playing in the pool burns calories fast, boosts your daily energy expenditure, and gives you a full body workout without the threat of joint pain.
Nutrition Tip: Remember how hungry you felt on pool days when you were a kid? Don’t rely on the Snack and Sweets shop at the pool. Pack a pool lunch high in protein and fiber to keep you satisfied and splashing all day long.
☀️ Hit the Trails Together
There’s no WiFi in the forest, but you will find a better connection with your family there. Hiking with family is an entrancing activity. The rhythmic pat, pat of your hiking boots on the trail. The smell of fresh air and thousands of trees. The quiet. The big mountaintop views and the tiny details of moss and wildflowers. It’s a magical place to get lost with your family.
While your mind and conversation drifts on the mountain winds, your body is working overtime. Hiking combines cardio with resistance training, placing your body right in the sweet spot and optimal fat-burning zone.
Nutrition Tip: Protein and fiber matter everyday, including hike days. But you’ll need a bit more of a carb load to prevent a drop in energy mid-hike. Think beef jerky, nuts and nut butter packets, sugar snap peas, tuna packets, seedy crackers, and dried unsweetened fruit.
☀️ Pedal Off the Pounds
Scientific research has identified biking as one of the happiest, most mood-boosting activities. It combines mood-elevating benefits of aerobic exercise with the mental freedom of being outdoors. Little bumps and turns in the trail give us small senses of accomplishment.
While you’re caught up in the joy of the ride, your body is moving you further on your fatloss journey. Biking engages your largest muscle groups (the glutes, hamstrings, and quads). And because it’s so enjoyable, people often find themselves immersed in a long fat-burning session without noticing the time passing by.
Nutrition Tip: That fresh breeze while biking quickly evaporates your sweat. You’ll feel dry and comfortable, not realizing you’re losing over a liter of fluid per hour. Electrolytes are a must! Fill your water bottle with my favorite electrolyte water, and stick a second pack in your back pocket.
☀️ Leverage Your Lake Day
My love for the lake was born thirty years ago, at Camp Sequoia, when I learned how to slalom. It was one of the most thrilling experiences of my life, and now I love taking my whole family out for a boating adventure.
Lake life can be packed with activities. Play a game of spikeball with the family on the beach. Take a swim to the middle of the lake. Give water skiing a try. Paddle around the lake. Take a waterside morning walk. Your mind and body will feel rejuvenated in no time.
Nutrition Tip: Summer activities, like a day at the lake, can make eating healthy so much harder. But with some good recipes to lean on, you can stick with your goals, even on a vacation day! See what I pack for the lake.
☀️ Move to the Beat
Dancing with your kids is a powerful bonding tool. It promotes deep emotional bonding, healthy nervous system regulation, and cognitive development! Plus, dancing triggers a flood of neurochemicals like endorphins and serotonin. When people dance, they smile, feel happier, and significantly reduce stress. In other words, it’s fun!
When the weather is too hot to handle, find a dance class. Or blast an upbeat playlist and dance around the house. Dancing burns calories in the moment and lowers cortisol, increasing fat loss long term.
Nutrition Tip: Feel a little silly? Sometimes a beverage in hand makes us feel like we can cut loose, even if that drink is a mocktail. Make the activity feel like a party with my favorite summer mocktails.
☀️ Make Backyard Recreation a Ritual
Did you know that rituals (doing the same thing, on the same day, with the same people) creates strong relational bonds? This summer, while school’s out, pick a night to play outside with the family. Gather up the kids for some evening soccer, baseball, or kickball in the backyard. Throw the football, or practice volleyball.
Want to try something new? Try easy set-up sports like badminton, kan jam, spikeball, or wiffle ball. While you’re making memories as a family, your body will revving its metabolism.
Besides the calorie burn, playing sports slows aging at a cellular level! It reduces inflammation, boosts collagen production, and prevents age-related muscle and bone loss. Which means you can keep playing as a family for many more years.
Nutrition Tip: Make a simple picnic dinner to help keep this ritual going all summer long. Think chicken salad, crackers, cheese, and fruit. Or you can choose from my favorite no-cook foods to add to your weekly picnic.
See the Difference In Your Whole Family
Exercise improves memory, boosts your mood, reduces the risk of chronic diseases, and reduces anxiety. Plus, it bonds families together. It’s magical medicine that your whole family will benefit from.
So…do you believe me now? Try out these family activities and decide for yourself whether weight loss can be fun after all.
In LEAN, we’re all about making weight loss realistic. All of us are living busy, hectic lives. None of us want weight loss to take over our lives. Join LEAN, lose weight, and get back to the life you want to live. We can’t wait to join you on your health journey.
