5 Healthy Summer Habits to Maintain this Fall
Don’t let healthy summer habits fade away as you move into the fall. Fall often means shifting gears from summer activities into a more structured fall routine. How can you maintain healthy summer behaviors while stepping into fall?
#1 Complete Your Workout First
Summer is hot. You don’t want to be outside working out in hot mid-day temperatures, so you complete that workout early in the day to avoid the heat. Maintain this habit in the fall. By completing your workout first thing every day you are more likely to complete it versus waiting and having other priorities bump it off the to do list.
#2 Eat Breakfast Daily
More relaxed summer routines allow more time for a leisurely morning breakfast. Don’t push breakfast aside in the fall time crunch of getting kids out the door for school and yourself off to work. Breakfast “breaks the fast”, meaning it is the jump start your metabolism needs daily.
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Farmers Markets to Lower Blood Pressure with the DASH Diet
This Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is recommend to manage high blood pressure. This diet is rich in fruits and vegetables. You need to consume between three to five servings of vegetables daily and between four to five fruits daily. That likely sounds overwhelming, but it can be effective in your efforts to lower blood pressure.
One vegetables serving is equal to 1 cup raw leafy green vegetable, ½ cup cut-up raw or cooked vegetables, or ½ cup vegetable juice.
One fruit serving is equal to 1 medium fruit, ¼ cup dried fruit, ½ cup fresh, frozen, or canned fruit, or ½ cup 100% fruit juice.
It’s the perfect time of year to adopt the DASH diet if you are struggling with high blood pressure. Many varieties of produce are in season and farmers markets are readily available.
3 Benefits of Shopping at Farmers Markets
- Farmers markets are environmentally friendly. The food is produced and sold locally, while food in grocery stores travels an average of 1500 miles before it reaches your plate.
- Produce grown for farmers markets is typically allowed to fully ripen naturally before it is harvested. Nothing is used to speed up the ripening process.
- The produce purchased at a farmers market comes straight from the garden. No processing. This equals fresh and nutrient rich food.
Tips for Shopping at Farmers Markets
Shopping at a farmers market is not the same as going to the grocery store.
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