th (2)What is your favorite part about summer? Is it the warmer temperatures? Not having a set schedule or routine? Vacations? If you don’t have school age children, then the highlight might be less traffic on the roads during your morning commute.

I love summertime. I love it all.  I love having my children home.  I love grilling out or going on picnics. I love the laid back atmosphere that seems to linger no matter where you are.  Everyone just seems more relaxed during summertime.

Do you find when you don’t have a daily routine it’s easy to let a few things slip, like healthy habits you’re trying to establish: daily exercise, eating healthy or your quiet time? Maybe you sleep a little later than normal a day or two so you’re pressed for time to get things done on your “to do” list and you don’t have time to run to the gym or you’re going on vacation and forget to pack your Bible. Then there are the multiple cookouts, ice cream runs, and holiday celebrations. If you’re trying to take care of yourself, mind, body and spirit, then summer can make it difficult, but it doesn’t have to be.  So how can we avoid it? How can we avoid having our plan for health derailed? By taking steps to make it successful.

Here are three steps you can take to help you have a healthy summer:

1. Accountability– Get an accountability partner that you check in with on a regular basis. Whether its someone you exercise with, share recipes with or talk over what the Lord is showing you in your quiet time, accountability helps.  Proverbs 27:17 says,

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

2. Journaling– Keeping a record of your workout, what you’re eating or writing down what you’re discovering in your quiet time, jounraling is a great way of staying the course. You can share what you learned with others and help them establish their own healthy habits. Psalm 102:18 says,

Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.”

3. Prayer– We often overlook prayer or view it as a last resort. How sad it would be if we looked at conversation with those we loved as a last resort.  When we are struggling with something, one of the first steps we should take is to go to the Lord with it.  We don’t have to reserve prayers for crisis moments in our lives.  It’s simply talking with Jesus about anything and everything.  He is a God of detail and if we want to maintain a habit of healthy eating, exercise or a quiet time, we can ask Him to help us do so.  Philippians 4:6 says,

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Don’t let summer derail you from establishing some healthy habits.  Set yourself up for success and let this be your best summer yet!