Spark An Idea That Motivates You This Summer : How To Get Healthy During The Summer Months!

Welcome to ‘Spark an Idea Thursday’.  Each week we’ll be sharing some great ideas for a topic of interest to our readers.  We invite you to grab our image and carry the tradition through to your own blog!  If you do, please link back to this post so we know where you were inspired!

Guys, even though it may be a tad late to impress the ladies with your six pack abs at the beach this summer, it doesn’t mean you still can’t get in great shape and use the summer as your motivation!

You see if you are like most guys you may have spent a little too much time eating not so healthy foods and drinking a little too much beer while watching your favorite fall and winter sports.

It’s pretty easy to hide those extra pounds under a sweat shirt or heavy winter coat right?

Well trust me, I’m no different.

You see in addition to setting a goal for myself to leave my full time job and start my own business by May 1st, 2009, I also told my wife I would trim down and reveal my six pack abs by this summer!

Well if you read my last blog post you’ll know I was able to leave my full time job but I didn’t do so well with the six pack….abs that is.

I was so busy working and preparing for my escape from the rat race I didn’t stop to think about what I was eating during those late night working binges.

I was also working so many hours I was dead tired during the day and the last thing I felt like doing was exercising even though I knew it would help improve my energy levels and mental clarity.

So anyway now that I’ve left my job and I’m my own boss, I’ve  been eating much more healthy and exercising multiple times a week and I feel great.

Maybe it’s a  little too late to reveal my six pack abs but not too late to drop 20-30 lbs over the next few months.

So, I’m going to use summer as my motivation and start living a more healthy lifestyle.

I actually think it’s easier to be healthy in the summer months as you can fire up the old hibachi and grill leans meats, fish and veggies basically whenever you want.  Not that you cant do this year round but living in the northeast it’s a little more difficult then our brothers in the sunbelt and out west.

Summer is a great time to add fresh fruits and local veggies to your diet from produce stands and local farm markets. Nothing’s better than stopping at one of those roadside stands and picking yourself up some fresh summer berries and maybe a zucchini or some fresh broccoli for the grill!

It’s all about making simple changes to your diet and not beating yourself up if you want a cheeseburger and beer at the family picnic.

In addition to all the fresh fruits and veggies in season you can also take advantage the nice summer weather.  It’s much easier to get outside and start moving around on a nice warm sunny day than it is on a freezing cold  January afternoon right?

So over the next few posts I’ll share some of my fitness tips and healthy eating tips ANY MAN can follow.  ( By the way, I am also a certified personal trainer so I do know a little something about this stuff!)

In the mean time I’d love to hear from you!  How do you stay motivated to keep a healthy lifestyle? Or maybe tell me about your frustrations trying to be healthy….I’d love to try and help you out if I can!

So send in your questions and comments and lets see if we can both lose a few” lb’s “over the next few summer months OK?

Now get busy, Bill Parlaman