Summer – hot days, warm nights, delectable smells of outdoor grilling, ice cream and frosty sodas! It’s time for picnics in the park with potato salad, fried chicken, chips and dip. Summer food favorites are a delicious treat but can destroy your diet. You can enjoy a juicy steak from the grill or a hot dog and cold beer at the baseball game without completely undoing all your hard work to lose weight, but moderation is the key! Unless you pay attention to what you eat and drink you can consume hundreds of extra calories during a casual day at the beach. 

The backyard barbecue is one of the worst diet destroyers. Steaks and burgers are high in calories and fat. Pork ribs are loaded with fat and high in calories. Select lean means with the fat trimmed before cooking. Skinless chicken and fish is another good choice for the barbecue. Grilled vegetables and lean beef lightly grilled on a skewer is another great way to enjoy the barbecue without adding too many extra calories. 

Baseball is a summer tradition, and so is the hot dog and beer at the game. Hot dogs and sausages like bratwurst, are high not only in fat but also in sodium. Too much salt in your diet can cause you to retain fluid in your cells and may contribute to high blood pressure. A typical beer is high in calories too. Choose lite beer or reduced calorie beer if possible. One sausage or hot dog won’t completely undo your diet if you watch what you eat for the rest of the day and get some exercise afterward. Ice cream and milk shakes can have almost 800 calories per serving! Consider a frosty sherbet, fruit sorbet or frozen fruit juice bar to beat the summer heat instead. 

The local fair is a dangerous place for dieters.  Many food booths at fairs batter and fry everything. Fair goers can indulge in every imaginable fried food from fried cake, fried cheese and even fried butter. The treats are virtually endless too. You will find candy apples, cotton candy, grilled fatty meats, hot dogs, bratwurst loaded with cheese and sugary sodas. Many fair-goers will buy a fried food and eat it while they walk around the fair taking in all the exhibits. You can easily eat more than you think if you eat while being distracted by fair booths. If you are going to visit a fair this summer take a bag with some healthy snacks and plenty of water. Eat a light lunch with plenty of whole grains and healthy carbohydrates before you go to the fair so you will not be hungry and tempted to buy a cheese covered corn dog or a stick of fried butter. 

Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in the United States. A staggering 12.5 million children in the USA are obese. When children are obese they can suffer from many of the same weight-related illness as adults. Children can develop high blood pressure, high cholesterol, breathing difficulties like asthma and joint problems. Children need a healthy diet and plenty of exercise to avoid gaining too much weight.  It can be difficult to get the kids off the sofa, away from the video games or television shows and outside to play. Some children are less active than others or may not like playing team sports. If you have a sedentary child in your family, there are ways to get them up and get them moving. 

Set a good example for your child by eating healthy and getting plenty of exercise yourself. Many people like to sit in front of the television, feet up with a soda and a snack after a day at work. Your children are likely to follow your example. Make it a habit to take a walk around the block after work. Invite your child to join you. You can encourage your child to join you on walks by providing a reward after you return home. A refreshing cup of fruit sorbet or a cool fruit smoothie is a delicious, healthy treat after a walk.

Limit the amount of time your child spends on the Internet, in front of the television or playing video games. Children should spend no more than 2 hours each day on the computer, playing games or watching television. Inevitably your child will claim boredom and want to watch television or play a video game. Invite your child to join you in gardening, lawn work, playing a game of one-on-one in the driveway or play tag in the back yard. Give your child daily chores that require exercise, such as walking the dog, taking the trash to the curb or walking to the mailbox. Any amount of exercise is better than no exercise. Don’t put a television in your child’s bedroom. Kids tend to head straight for their bedroom after visiting the refrigerator for a snack where they lounge on the bed doing homework with the television turned on. Create a schedule that gets your child moving. Busy families can schedule one day each week when the whole family engages in some form of exercise. You can do many things together, from walking in the park, riding bikes, nature hikes or taking the dog to the dog park for a couple of hours of fetch and running. 

Enroll your child in team sports like soccer, baseball, softball or basketball. Children that do not enjoy team sports may be interested in karate or taekwondo. Try to find activities that you and your child can do together. The YMCA offers seasonal sports activities and most centers have a swimming pool that the whole family can use. Take advantage of community activities for your child. Community charity walks are a good way to get fit and raise money for a worthy cause. Whatever your fitness plan, your kids have to enjoy it if they are to continue and benefit from regular exercise. If your child complains or lags behind when exercising, find another activity that he or she might enjoy. Ask your child to share his or her ideas about games to play or places to go to enjoy some exercise and have fun. 

Interval training is a form of exercise where you engage in vigorous exercise for a fixed amount of time, decrease the level of activity and then do vigorous exercise again. Interval training can help improve your speed, strength, endurance and burns fat. Your heart rate is a good indication of how hard you are working your body. Work out hard to increase your heart rate, then recover by allowing your heart rate to slow during moderate to mild exercise interval.  You can use a treadmill at home or in the gym to get a good interval workout in about 30 minutes. Warm-up by stretching your muscles and to increase flexibility in your joints before mounting the treadmill. This workout is easy to do but will really help burn fat and increase your physical endurance. 

Begin by setting the treadmill at an incline and walk at a rapid pace for 10 minutes. Keep your elbows above your heart but try to avoid using the handrails for a better workout. After about 10 minutes of power walking at an incline stop the equipment and get off. Do some stretching exercises for 5 minutes. Lower the incline on the treadmill to zero for a flat surface. Jog or sprint on the treadmill for 1 minute, and then reduce the speed to a walking pace for 5 minutes. 

After walking for 5 minutes, get off the treadmill. Do 20 squats. Return to the treadmill and repeat the 1 minute of sprinting, 5 minutes of walking. Stop and do 15 crunches. Return to the treadmill and again repeat the sprinting-walking routine. Do some stretches to cool down and finish up your exercise routine. 

It is important to exercise if you have type 2 diabetes. Exercise can help control your weight and improve blood sugar control. It is critical, however, that you monitor your blood pressure and take precautions to avoid a rapid drop in or rise in blood sugar before, during and after exercise. Exercise with a friend who knows that you are a diabetic and knows what to do if you do experience a rapid increase or decrease in your blood sugar. Always wear a medical alert bracelet to alert others to your condition should you become unconscious. Most importantly, see your doctor for advice about exercise and talk about how or if you should adjust your diet or medication to prevent a sugar reaction. 

Keep a log of your blood sugar to help you understand how your body reacts to exercise. Check your blood sugar about 30 minutes before exercise and write it down in a small notebook. Log what you’ve had to eat throughout the day and before exercise, too. Test your blood sugar again just before you start to exercise and write it down. The second test will reveal whether your blood sugar is rising, falling or stable. Follow your doctor’s advice about stabilizing your blood sugar before exercising. Check your blood sugar again after exercise and write it down in your notebook. Exercise stimulates your muscles and liver to release stored sugar for energy. After exercise, your body will remove sugar from your blood to replace the stored sugar used during exercise. The more vigorous your exercise routine, the more sugar your body will use for energy. This means that your blood sugar levels will drop after exercise up to several hours later. You may need to eat a high-carbohydrate snack, such as fruit juice, some crackers or raw fruits.

For more information about exercise and diabetes, see:

WebMD, Exercise and Type 2 Diabetes

Weight training to strengthen muscles and burn fat should be a part of your exercise routine. You don’t have to be a bodybuilder to benefit from weight training. Done properly, weight training can help you to increase muscle strengthen, tone your muscles and burn body fat. Done incorrectly, you risk a strain injury or worse, a bone fracture. Don’t try to learn lifting techniques by watching people at the gym or watching an exercise DVD. Before picking up some dumbbells or grabbing a barbell, connect with a personal trainer who is knowledgeable about weight training. 

A fitness trainer can teach you the proper form for each lift. Improper form when lifting weights can result in injury and you won’t get the benefits of the lift. Begin with a light weight and establish good form when lifting. Gradually increase the amount of weight. It’s difficult to maintain good form when trying to lift too much weight. Lift the right amount of weight for your stage of physical development. Start with the lightest weight and lift it 15 times. Gradually increase the amount of weight you lift as your muscles get stronger. 

Don’t forget to breathe when lifting weights! Many people tend to hold their breath. If you hold your breath when straining to lift a weight it can cause your blood pressure to rise which can be dangerous. Breathe out when you lift and breath in when you lower the weight. 

Select a weight lifting routine that works your whole body for maximum fat burning and muscle toning benefits. Don’t exercise the same muscle group on consecutive days. Your muscles need one day of rest between exercise. You may choose to work all your major muscle groups with weights every other day or exercise daily working a different muscle group each day. A fitness expert can help you to develop a routine that works best for you. 

Never skip breakfast. Your body has not had nutrition while you were sleeping and it will be low on energy stores. If you exercise without breakfast you may feel weak and dizzy. Plan to eat at least one to two hours prior to exercise. Fruit and whole grain cereals or whole wheat toast are good choices for breakfast. Slice some bananas or strawberries and add them to a bowl of whole grain cereal or oatmeal with low-fat vitamin-fortified milk. How much you eat will impact your performance. Eating too little can leave you feeling weak, but eating too much before exercise can also impact your performance. Try to avoid eating large meals right before a you play sports. Eat large meals at least 4 hours prior to physical activity. Small meals may be eaten as soon as two hours prior to sports exercise. If you eat too much too soon before exercise you may feel sleepy, sluggish or experience stomach upset. 

It’s important to eat after exercise to help repair your muscles and replace your body’s glycogen. Eat protein and carbohydrates after exercise. Drink fruit juices, eat a bagel with some low-fat cream cheese, have a snack of cheese and crackers, fruit, yogurt or a peanut butter sandwich. Don’t forget to drink plenty of water before, during and after exercise. 

Regular exercise combined with a healthy diet and sufficient sleep can help keep your immune system strong. Moderate exercise daily or at least every other day helps enhance your immune system’s flu-fighting power. To keep your immune system in peak condition and fighting off infections, try to get at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise daily. Walking, riding a bicycle, running, jogging, swimming and dancing are  ideal ways to get in a challenging aerobic workout. But, should you continue to exercise if you do catch a cold or the flu?

If you do catch a cold or the flu, go easy on yourself. See your doctor before continuing your regular exercise routine. You  may be able to continue to exercise if you feel well enough, but do mild exercise instead of your moderate to vigorous routine. If you normally run for 30 minutes every day, walk for 20 minutes instead. Mild exercise can help relieve body aches and get your blood flowing to move the disease-fighting white blood cells through your system faster. Rest if you feel too ill to exercise. 

If you have a fever, you should not exercise. Fever is a sign that your body is trying to fight off an infection. Your body needs energy to fight the virus. Exercising can strain your immune system, which can exacerbate your symptoms and slow recovery. You can be susceptible to dehydration when suffering from a cold or the flu, so be sure to drink plenty of water. 

Parents often have trouble finding time to exercise and care for their children. Infants and toddlers require constant care for stay-at-home parents. School age children keep parents shuttling them from one activity to the next. It can be tough to find time to exercise every day. The key to keeping fit with kids is to get fit with the kids. Involve your children in your fitness activities and parents get involved in their kids activities. With a little planning parents can find lots of things to do that are good exercise and fun for the kids.

Parents who are caring for a baby or a preschool toddler can take baby along on a walk or a jog. Invest in a sturdy jogging stroller and take baby along for the ride. Older children can go along for a bicycle ride in a child seat on the back of your bicycle. Don’t forget the helmets for both you and your child! Place your baby in a secure pack that straps to the front of your chest and take her along for your daily walk. The added weight will help you to burn more calories. Toddlers will enjoy activities when the parents are part of the action. Take your toddler to the park and push him on the swing or merry-go-round. This is a pretty good workout for your arms and your toddler will have fun. 

School-age children may enjoy skating or rollerblading in the local skate park. Go to a park that has monkey bars and race your child across the monkey bars. Have a contest to see who can do the most pull-ups on the bars. Play games like touch football, kickball, keep away, tag or softball. Go swimming together at the local pool or community center. Have a contest to see who can swim across the width of the pool the fastest. 

Fitness can be a great way for parents to stay connected with their teenagers. Play team sports with your teenager, such as doubles tennis, ping pong, volleyball, baseball or play one-on-one basketball. Volunteer to help coach your teen’s school sports team. Fitness video games are another way to connect with your teenager and get some exercise at the same time. Take part in a community walk to raise money for a charity. Remember to involve your teen in activities at home too, like yard work and gardening.