Wellness – Living Sharp

How To Create Structure for Your Family This Summer

Creating a structure and a routine for you and your kids over the summer months can have great benefits for the whole family.

Does creating a routine during the summer seem stressful & overwhelming?

Trust me, I know how easy it is to throw a schedule out the door when summer break starts.

But this may have consequences! You lose focus on all the things you’ve worked on throughout the year, including the balance you’ve created in your life, and your kids’ lives.

Scientific studies have even shown that when the structure is put in place, people have a greater chance of sticking to lifestyle changes and habits.

So, let’s talk about the importance of creating a structure for you and your family this summer and some tips that I’ve found helpful.

Why Is Structure Important?

Stress increases for parents when school is out, and some of this is due to the lack of schedule and structure in everyone’s life.

The chaos begins with kids home all day, camps and vacations, and endless pool time (which is all SO fun!).

But we all can benefit from having a schedule of some kind in place. Having a routine in place will help both you and your kids stay focused during the summer months.

Let me be clear, that doesn’t mean planning every minute of every day. What it DOES mean is having some idea of what will happen each day that week.

Don’t worry- having structure does not need to be as complicated as you may think! You can follow these tips below that have worked for me & my family, as well as my clients.

Tips for Creating Structure

Have meal and snack times for you and your kids. Similar to what they’re used to at school.
- Looking for healthy snack ideas? Check out my 5-step how-to guide for building a healthy snack!

Plan your workouts ahead of time each week.
- Schedule them into your planner and make them a non-negotiable!
- You may need to start early morning workouts to ensure they get done.
Look ahead and see what days you will try to do a playdate at a friend’s house, have kids over for playdates and pool days, and hire a babysitter to give you some time.

Involve your kids in the planning! You would be surprised how much they like to give input & it makes them feel as if they have a say too.

Have a general morning and night routine in place that you can do consistently.

Consider a summer camp program that is educational or involves physical activity. This gives you some more time during the day & keeps kids engaged!

Even though structure is important, part of a good routine is flexibility! Make sure to leave room for “flex days” or days where things just might not go as planned.

Use these tips above to help you build a foundation and balanced routine for yourself and your family this summer!

The Takeaway

If you’re feeling like your stress levels are high or the kiddos are misbehaving, think back to the structure you all are used to during the school year and how that is different at home.

Try to implement habits and activities that feel familiar and work well for you and your family.

I know parenting and keeping a routine during the summer months can be challenging, but it is well worth it to create a sense of structure in your life! For both you and your kiddos.

5 Ways to Find a Balance in Your Life

5 easy ways to find a health balance in your life

Let’s face it. We’ve all been there. We had a nice, healthy breakfast, packed a nutritionally balanced lunch, and we head off in our car to start the work day. We’re feeling proud of ourselves so far for sticking to our “diet” the last few days, till Cindy at work shows up with a plethora of donuts and coffee. And we’re not talking a simple glazed donut, we’re talking the sugary, cream-filled, sprinkle-covered, delicious mounds of dough. We know we “shouldn’t,” but the temptation is strong.

What do we do?

If anyone is like me, and donuts are a weakness, we devour the tempting fried pastry immediately. Then we are consumed with immediate guilt and self-frustration for “cheating on our diet.” We sink into a lull, then ever so often, we proceed to fill the rest of the day with processed sugars and unhealthy food because “the day is already ruined.” We go to bed frustrated and say “I’ll start again tomorrow.”

But why? It doesn’t have to be that way.

Below are 5 ways to develop a healthy and happy relationship with food.

Don’t Hate Your Guts

Learn how to kick the guilt! It’s not healthy to self-loathe! We have inadvertently trained ourselves over the years to point out things about ourselves that we don’t do as well as we would like, or that those around us do better. When we put ourselves down, we kill our own productivity without even realizing it! Instead, boost yourself up when you feel like it the least. It may feel silly at first, but point out things that you like about yourself and things that you are good at, rather than focusing on things you want to change. When you feel better about yourself, you will feel more confident in achieving your goals.

Separate Your Eating Habits from the Diet Stigma

Deprivation makes us crave! Have you ever wanted something simply because you weren’t supposed to? If you ever have, good news – you’re human!

So how do we combat this in regards to our dietary habits? The key is to remind ourselves that indulging in a “bad” food every once in a while isn’t necessarily a bad thing and that eating healthy is not a punishment. Health and fitness aren’t about crash dieting. A healthy lifestyle is about balance and maintaining dietary habits that are beneficial long term.

Set Attainable Goals

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

It’s easy to set large goals, but short goal setting is a foundational tactic that is often overlooked. Change takes time. When we set huge, broad goals for ourselves, whether that be to lose weight or gain weight or to look like Jennifer Anniston by the end of the month, we set ourselves up for failure. Instead, physically write down your long term goal, set a realistic date, and plan out several smaller milestones down the way. When you reach those small milestones, congratulate yourself, rather than focusing on how far you have to go.

One Donut Isn’t One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Just because you ate one “bad” thing, doesn’t mean your day is ruined, or you can’t see progress. While the wording is relative and unrelated to health, the idea behind the old phrase “One salad won’t make you skinny and one dessert won’t make you fat” is true. That isn’t to say that small changes don’t matter, but rather it’s reminding us that if the majority of our dietary habits follow along our goal, we will still see progress. Don’t give up on yourself for the day because you’ve eaten something you aren’t “proud of.” Keep going, you’re getting there.

Stop Calling It a Cheat Meal/Day

Cheating is associated with bad behavior. Nutrition is all about balance and living a flexible, healthy life-style. When we categorize a meal or day as “cheating,” we are inadvertently telling our minds that it isn’t okay, creating a divide between our everyday lives and our “cheat meal/day.”

When we can learn to develop a healthy relationship with food, we are much more likely to reach our goals and to happier with ourselves when we do. If you want one of those sugary snacks Cindy brought, enjoy it. But then continue with your goals. Don’t start tomorrow, you can do this today!