By Nicola Cucuiet and Sylvia Klinger
Summer officially calls for more fun in the sun and more exercise. If winter has left you with a few extra pounds that were carefully hidden under thick layers of clothes and you are feeling puzzled as to how to start and what to start with, have no worries little steps pave the way to great successes.
There are a number of things that you can do to burn off calories and not have to spend hours at the gym or exercising. Ten minutes of jogging at an average moderate speed (10 minutes per mile), burns about 100 calories. If the idea of running still scares you, you can brake down your routine into four sessions of five minutes each. This means you will have exercise for twenty minutes, burning a total of 200 calories. In between sessions you can sneak some crunches or even some breathing and stretching exercise. This routine will leave you feeling energized and relaxed. Another great way to sneak some exercise but at the same time enjoy some fun in the sun is to get a bunch of your friends together, and organize a picnic. This way you can take advantage of the good weather, plan a volleyball game and at the same time enjoy a nutritious picnic with all your friends.
There are some foods that can not be absent from your grocery list this season. During the summer, it is important to consume those foods that give your body what it needs in this hot period. Because of the high temperatures, our body is prone to sweat more, so it is important to focus on staying hydrated and to do so you need to make sure you drink at least 8 + glasses of water every day. Besides water there are a number of foods that have a high water content. One of them is the cucumber. Cucumbers are made out of approximately 95% water. They are low in calories but perfect for a quick rehydrating snack. Nibble on it or include it in a fresh green salad.
Next must have vegetable of the summer is zucchini. This vegetable is 94% water, it is low in calories but rich in vitamin C, potassium and provitamin A. This vegetable is great consumed raw, in salads but can also be delicious on the grill, broil or prepared in a wok pan.
Among the summer fruits red and yellow melons seam to stand out! And for good reason. Melons contain 95% water, making this giant the perfect summer fruits to turn to for rehydration and cooling down. The watermelon contains 35 cal/100g and the cantaloupe one about 50 cal/ 100 g. These fruits are rich in beta-carotene, provitamin A and lycopene, a pigment that protects the skin against the negative effects of UV exposure.
Tropical fruits are some fruits that need not to be ignored. These fruits are a power house when it come to antioxidants. Antioxidants are known to have many benefits from healing proprieties to anticancer proprieties. They are also rich in vitamin C, folic acid and dietary fiber. tropical fruits are low in calories and because of their composition are look at, as being part of the “super foods”
Live life and love it, eat well
