Summer is the perfect time for a renewed sense of freedom, opportunity, and resets! Truth be told, there is no better day than today to start this refresh. Whether you have fallen succumb to the workaholic lifestyle lately feeling frustrated, maybe even resentful towards not being able to prioritize yourself, not being able to take a vacay like others are, triggered by the smallest of things and living on the over-caffeinated undernourished life OR if you are just trying to find your footing, get back on track and take care of yourself again because no one likes not feeling like themselves (am I right?) you are in the right place.
Let’s dive into the ultimate summer checklist I’ve created for you – the busy, high performer, “do it aller” because it’s important we take care of you too…starting here!
Without further ado, the Ultimate Summer Checklist:
1 | Go out of the office. Deliberately.
“Status: Currently OOO 📆”
“Who is on email: Me, the email auto-responder.”
Taking a deliberate vacation, a day off, or just time away even from technology can feel HARD but it is necessary. Whether you are going out of the office to try to disconnect, enjoy a vacation, learn something new and grow – taking intentional time away is a must to reset and feel refreshed.
Think about it like this:
- If you want to serve your clients or support your family at the highest, you can’t do that depleted
- If you want to feel energized by your daily routine and the work you do, you can’t do that drained
- If you want to feel like yourself again, full of life, energy, zest for living, you can’t do that when you come second to everything else.
With that being said: go put something on the calendar as we speak and deliberately go off the grid, take time away, do something that lights you up! If you are struggling with being burnt out and this workaholic lifestyle, you aren’t alone. I’ve been there, my clients were once there and it is a constant learning curve. But when you see the value in downtime – that you are worth it, that the work and who you support is worth it and that living a life that feels good full of revitalized energy is treasured — this downtime is not a waste but deliberately resetting.
Tell me: What did you put on your calendar when you will be out of the office? Holding you accountable so you can feel your best. This is your permission slip to go OOO…
2 | Hydrate before you caffeinate.
Hey, all you caffeine lovers – this one is for you.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love meee a strong BOLD coffee, espresso, tea, matcha, booch…you name it. But being stuck in a caffeine hamster wheel trying to stay afloat and survive is only doing you harm. Hang with me here —
All I want you to start practicing is hydrate before you caffeinate. What’s that mean? Have MINIMAL a glass of water before you have your first cup of joe. But best yet? Challenge yourself to a full 32 oz before!
This is a natural energizer, rehydrator after sleeping all night losing fluids while you sleep and mental clarifier! I’m not what you may think of when it comes to stereotypes of what / who a Registered Dietitian & Holistic Wellness Practitioner is…I’m just real and I really get where you are coming from.
So enjoy your caffeine, but hydrate beforehand because I care about the way you feel. Will you try that for this next week?
….Simple yet oh-so effective, just the way I like it.
3 | Time for an Energy Restructure!
“Going through the motions” — introducing the most hamster of all hamster wheels.
This cycle just reeks of feeling stagnant, stuck, not feeling invigorated on a day-to-day basis. Who feels thrilled living a life that way? Not me but we have all been there… So let’s shake it up.
Before we begin, time to visualize. Picture energy as an infinite energy circle that is continuous. When you are in the flow, this circular energy flows naturally and for anyone that bypasses this stream of energy, it acts infectiously, getting caught in this positive energy loop causing shifts in their energy as well. But what if you put a roadblock within this circle? The energy gets stuck, stagnant, and feels difficult to navigate the waters. It’s like a dam of water backed up.
So why is this important to YOU? Because your energy affects every single dang thing in your life. If you don’t believe me, think about how your days run when you feel full of energy vs. super low in energy. Much different right?
If you’ve been just going through the motions, summer activates the perfect time for brighter, longer days filled with opportunities to change things up!
And to clear out this stagnant energy, it’s time to intentionally change up your energy routine! So where can you begin? Here are 5 Habits to change up your energy routine:
- Switch up your morning routine – change the pattern, add something new, do things in a different order, do it in a new place
- Change your workspace! Move things around, organize, change the order, make it refreshingly appealing to walk in and sit at your workspace
- Try a new workout or movement routine – walk after dinner, workout earlier, try a whole new workout you’ve been wanting to try
- Shake up what you drink and eat
- Write a “not to-do list” of things you don’t need to do and either delete them, delay them or delegate them. Use this newfound space for something that will light your energy up or do nothing at all! It all works!
You can see a theme here: new, simple and intentional actions that take what you are doing and revitalize them for renewed energy! Remember wellness is the foundation to a life lived richly. And living a rich life, starts simply with you and the simplest of things!
What can you start with? Try it immediately!
4 | Find Magic in The Simple Self-Care
Simple creates sustainability. Have you found it?
There are two types of days we’ve all experienced.
The days where we feel completely ON FIRE 🔥 and the not-so-wanted days where everything just feels…well off.
On the days where you just feel off, the thing to ask yourself is, “What’s missing? What’s normally there that makes me feel lit up?”
Typically the answer is simple. It comes down the most smallest of things that fell by the wayside maybe because you woke up and started working immediately before taking care of yourself, didn’t get good sleep because the baby was crying or you were up all night anxious about the next day, you forgot to eat and well drinking…yeah hydration needs some work.
So try this simple self-care checklist to reignite that energy and reprioritize your best asset – YOU:
- Drink water first before anything else
- Write down 3 things that would make today great
- Take a big slow inhale followed by a longer, extended exhale. Now do it three times through.
- Move daily – get outside, walk, exercise, move in the way that feels good or something you’ve never tried before
- Write out a simple plan of one meal or snack to have daily – that’s it but lead with intention of something that is fueling for you
- Do one fun thing a day because fun tends to fall by the wayside and fun creates space for renewed focus and energy
Save and share this checklist and let’s see you in action daily using it!
5 | Opt for a Hoozy Cocktail
Let’s chat about Hoozy = my new lingo for Healthier Boozy Cocktail (or Mocktail).
Paying attention to what you drink is a great place to start for renewed energy, revitalization, and all around feeling better like YOURSELF again! I’ve noticed many of my fellow high performer clients, wellness insider’s within our community, and plenty of others finding themselves caught in a habit of enjoying cocktails more often than they’d like to admit due to:
- Wanting to check out or numb feelings they don’t want to feel
- As a way to ‘deal’ and wind down from a stressful day or event
- Celebrating milestones or big things happening
- Just enjoying summer
- …or a nightly habit they didn’t realize (until now…)
But have no shame. It’s okay. Truth be told, all of these are societal norms and tend to be ‘unspoken’ acceptable rules people push without knowing it. But now that you know, we can do something about it in a positive way just to start.
As alcohol tends to be a part of many aspects of our lives, there are a lot of ways we can add more ‘health’ to our already consumed cocktails/mocktails!
Here’s how:
- Start with your healthier base: try a Kombucha, Jun, Sparkling water, Coconut water, Cold-pressed fresh juice splash, CBD seltzers, Vybes, Bitter base, ginger brew, teas…
- Alcohol: Clear (and non-flavored) spirits preferred, champagne, proseccos, organic (without added sulfites) red wines, gluten-free and low sugar cider
- Boost it: Muddled fruits, vegetables, roots (like ginger or turmeric) & herbs (like mint), bitters
Simple 1-2-3 formula to make Hoozy Cocktails. My personal all-time favorite: spirulina blue mermaid booch. I mix my spirulina-based booch with local grapefruit (no sugar added) infused vodka and a dehydrated orange or artichoke bitters!
Will you try a new combo? Save this and let me know what you want to try!
6 | Find Excitement In Seasonal Foods
One of the absolute WORSE things you can do when trying to get healthier…
Get stuck in the same cycle of eating chicken, broccoli, and sweet potatoes (or the same foods) over and over again – and not enjoy it! As humans, we tend to be creatures of habit. And having solid healthy habits is GOLDEN but…not so much if you are finding your nutrition boring.
And I don’t do boring foods. No thanks.
Find inspiration for newness by embracing the seasonality in foods! By eating more in season you are able to give your body (and mind) what it needs to acclimate with the new season and that time of the year!
For summer: think high water-based foods that pack in hydration and cool the body down!
- Find local CSAs, food co-ops, farmers markets to shop at
- Take seasonal herbs that you don’t know what to do with and throw it into a smoothie
- Think fresh, light summer dishes! Raw or lightly grilled fruits can be a nice twist to desserts or as part of dishes!
- Add natural hydration supporters – fresh citrus, crunchy veggies like cucumbers or ANY fresh herb can help you drink more
- Make a fun mocktail spritzer! Blend any extra fruits + sweetener of choice like honey or dates, ice and sparkling water and you have quite a refresher for long summer days
Seasonal eating can be so fun to explore! Try one new thing at a time and worse thing – you don’t like it (and that’s okay).
Did you find this helpful?
From what you eat to how you energize your day to intentional time away – this quick summer checklist will help you feel like YOU again, revitalizing your energy to your soul! Get started now.
