I can't remember a summer where I didn't hear about getting a "summer body." I think that's stupid. A summer body is the same as a winter, spring and fall body and people should be worried about the health of their body, not the look of it. People should be concerned with having healthy bodies all year long but there are some things you can do to improve your health starting this summer so that you can swim, vacation and sleep to the max.

1. Lookin' Fresh

Eating more fresh veggies and fruits is literally the best way to improve your health any time of year but during the summer months, there's more fresh produce than any other time of year. It's fun (and cheap) to go shopping at farmers markets, there are also berry farms in the countryside where you can go and spend the day picking your own fresh berries! It's so much fun to go berry picking, especially because you can eat while you pick!

A lot of people assume that if you're going to eat healthy then you have to be willing to pay an arm and a leg, but I've found that when I fill my cart with fresh produce I actually spend less at the store. Not only is it a little less pricey but the more you eat fresh produce you'll find yourself feeling a lot less sickly bloated and a lot more energetic. Another perk of eating a mainly plant based diet is that you almost never have to feel guilty about over eating no matter how much you eat!

2. Roll Up your Sleeves

And throw on an apron! Try out new recipes or techniques in the kitchen. Now that you're out of the dorms and have a full sized kitchen, you should use your free time to cook up something fun. I recently watched a documentary called Cooked that made a really interesting argument. They basically said to eat whatever you want (pizza, burgers, fries, pie, ice cream) but in order to eat it, you have to cook it. If you were to cook everything you ate then you'd view it as much more precious and you wouldn't be as flippant about your portion sizes!

There is so much room for creativity in the kitchen. If you can't find anything you want to make in a cookbook then I suggest you take a look at what you have in your fridge, then find a cool recipe online to help you use up your leftovers!

3. Size Matters

The size of your portion that is. My nutrition teacher taught us that moderation is the key to nutrition and she's right. Everything in moderation, including moderation! It's so easy to over eat stuff when you aren't paying attention so be conscious of how much you're eating. Seriously, most snack food packages have 4-8 servings in a bag and it's so easy to mindlessly pack in the munchies while you're watching a show. Getting 100 calorie bags of snacks is an easy way to control portion sizes, so is taking a smaller dish and it's way easier to not over eat if you wait until you've dished your food before you take your first bite.

If you're watching your portions then it's really not going to effect your health at all if you have pizza, french fries, ice cream or anything really. Eating a predominantly healthy diet frees you up to have a meal here or there that isn't nutritious with little to zero effect on your health.