Summer Fun: Health-Inspired Tips for the Family
The summer fun is heating up. However you plan to spend the days, grab the opportunity to make it a health-inspired summer for your family. Get moving, enjoy good-for-you food and have plenty of fun to show your kids just how good healthy can taste and feel.
Treat yourself and your family well with the best food choices this summer. As a partner of the Together Counts™ program for healthy, active living, the right foods in the right combinations plus activities that can get everyone moving can energize you and the kids throughout the day and week.
- Keep healthy food choices on hand and within reach to keep everyone in the family fueled for the day – precut fruits and veggies, a fruit bowl, small containers of nuts, whole grain crackers, low-fat cheese sticks, hard boiled eggs, turkey rolls and more not only make easy self-serve snacks – they can also mix and match into a well-rounded meal to grab on the go when you head out for the day’s activities.
- Make the most of the long days with a cooler early morning walk or evening game of soccer at the park.
- Grill up more nutritious choices by thinking outside the plain old burger box. Consider leaner beef, turkey or chicken or even fish for your summer meals. Don’t forget to toss plenty of vegetables and fruit on the grill for smoky sweet flavor, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.
- Swimming is a natural choice for the long and hot summer days. It also happens to be a great total body workout for everyone in the family. Have a noodle battle, play some Marco Polo and get in some splashing good fun during the day.
- Get kids involved with planning. Task kids with planning some of the snacks, meals and even activities during your summer. MyPlate and Together Counts offer a wealth of resources to help give them ideas. Kids learn valuable skills and gain some control while you, hopefully, get to spend more time on something you love.
Cool off with Healthy Dining and Kids LiveWell menu choices at your local participating restaurants. These choices are hand-picked by Healthy Dining’s team of dietitians and include lean proteins, whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
How are you making it a healthy summer for the family this year?
Healthy Dining’s signature web and mobile site, HealthyDiningFinder.com, is the only search engine of its kind providing personalized dining out recommendations validated by Healthy Dining’s team of registered dietitians. HealthyDiningFinder.com features more than 4,000 menu choices from participating restaurants nationwide enabling diet- and nutrition- conscious consumers to find nutrition information and Healthy Dining options emphasizing lean protein, fruits, vegetables, whole grains and unsaturated fats.
HealthyDiningFinder.com also features a Kids LiveWell platform, a program developed by the National Restaurant Association, to help parents find restaurants offering healthier meals for children. With 25 years of expertise in the restaurant industry and hundreds of thousands of restaurant recipes analyzed for nutrient content, Healthy Dining is the most experienced restaurant nutrition services provider in the world.
For more ideas on ways to incorporate healthy habits into your daily routine, take a look at these other articles from Together Counts!