Happy July!

Happy July! I know I'm a few days late, but I don't work on Mondays and Tuesdays, so here I am.

Tomorrow is Independence Day in the United States. If you or your loved ones are playing with pyrotechnics (fireworks), please be careful. The goal is to end the day with the same number of fingers and eyes as you began it with.

I hope that everyone had an excellent June. It was a hot one here in Florida and I ended up catching the summer bug that is going around and was down for almost 2 full weeks. It was not fun.

Fitness

If you are a social person, group fitness is a great way to get your movement in! 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, 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 and 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 Connection

Spending time doing things you enjoy with people you like helps decrease depression and anxiety. Studies have shown correlations between mental health and socialization. Spending time 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. So, get out and enjoy that barbecue with your friends, for your brain's sake.

This Independence Day, hang out with those people that you love, play a couple of games, stay hydrated, be and enjoy some delicious, healthy food.

I really do hope that you have an amazing month!

Love and well wishes,

Kris