Summer and the Wellness Break

Shhh....can you hear that? That's the sound of summer going, going and almost gone. We are now down to the last few weeks of summer and again as every year before it seems just about everyone is doing their last minute scramble to get away, get relaxed, go out and unwind before the winds of fall blow in. The one thing that stands out for me when talking to people about their "summer breaks" is that so many people also take a break from their healthy lifestyle pursuits as well. Plans are made to include "all you can eat" and destinations include places with no gym access or limited activities. So what happened here?
Ok quick story...bare with me. Recently, I was contacted by a woman interested in losing weight. Not all that out of the box, I know. The motivation behind her very specific weight loss was to facilitate her going on an all inclusive, all you can eat cruise, with the intention of eating everything she wanted. I could hear myself say, "You do realize that all you can eat does not mean all you need to eat, yes?" It was the reply that started me thinking..."Well if it's free, why wouldn't I eat it?" Needless to say we are not working together at this time.
However, my point with that story was to showcase the extreme but when we take "breaks" from our healthy lifestyle choices aren't we really doing something similar? Scheduling events that are specifically outside your wellness goals treat the journey of fitness and health as a chore that we are forcing ourselves to do every day and then need a vacation from. The goal of living a healthy lifestyle is to incorporate ways into our lives to embrace healthy options, not run from them.
While I am all about needing to reward ourselves, enjoy ourselves and relax, I am of the opinion that a healthy lifestyle and those things are not mutually exclusive. If they are, perhaps it's time to reassess the things you are doing to achieve those goals. If the activities, exercise, eating habits and spiritual pursuits are making you so unhappy or drained that you need a break from them, I would think it is time to revisit the motivations that brought you to the path in the first place.

Until next time...be well!