Too Hot to Cook Eat This
Well, friends…Mother Nature has apparently decided we need to be reminded that summer is still here.
It is HOT. Really hot. The kind of hot where walking outside feels like opening the oven door, and suddenly a big dinner sounds about as appealing as putting on a sweater.
When it’s this hot, your appetite may take a little vacation. That’s okay. You don’t need to force down a heavy meal just because the clock says it’s dinnertime.
But your body still needs the good stuff along with plenty of fluids, even when you’d happily make watermelon your entire food group. (Which, by the way, is sometimes also okay.)
Let’s make summer eating easier.
Think cool, simple and satisfying rather than complicated recipes and lots of cooking. 
Grilled chicken with a cool corn and avocado salad or sliced over a bed of greens with a simple vinaigrette. Make a tuna or salmon salad and pile it onto greens or into a big, juicy tomato. Scramble a couple of eggs and add avocado and tomatoes. Have Greek yogurt with berries and nuts for a snack or breakfast. Try grilled shrimp with avocado and mango over a bed of greens. Toss chickpeas with cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, herbs, lemon and olive oil for a quick salad. (I had this salad for lunch this week with some almond crackers. It was perfect.)
And don’t overlook the snack-plate dinner.
A little turkey or chicken, some cheese, hummus, crunchy vegetables, fruit, dark chocolate, nuts and a few crackers can absolutely count as dinner. No recipe. No oven. No sweat. Literally.
Leftovers are your friend, too. That leftover grilled chicken (or store-bought rotisserie chicken) from Tuesday can become Wednesday’s chicken salad without requiring you to turn on a single appliance. Here’s the link to my favorite chicken salad recipe. Savory Chicken Salad
And then there’s Labor Day…
If your weekend includes a good old-fashioned backyard cookout, please don’t feel like you must bring your own sad little container of “healthy food.”
It’s Labor Day!
Enjoy the burger. Have the corn on the cob. Put some of that colorful pasta salad on your plate. Eat the watermelon. Add a big scoop of grilled vegetables if they’re available.
And if someone makes an absolutely amazing potato salad, dessert or family recipe that you only get once in a while?
Have some.
Seriously.
Healthy eating isn’t about avoiding everything fun. There’s room for food that’s simply delicious and part of celebrating. 
So, this weekend, enjoy the good food, stay hydrated, and don’t overthink it. No need to earn the potato salad or work it off afterward. Just enjoy it and get back to your regular rhythm when the holiday is over. That’s real-life healthy living.
Much love,
Health Coach Carol
“We should enjoy food and have fun. It is one of the simplest and nicest pleasures in life.”~ Julia Child