8 Reasons You Gained Weight This Summer. (And What You Can Do About It!)

September marks back to school season and summer is coming to an end. With that, it brings a time of change with everyone getting back into a routine again.

September is also statistically the second busiest month of the year in the fitness industry because people are looking to lose the weight that is gained in the summer. Even though you might not realize it yet, you are more likely to gain weight during the summer, even if you feel like you're outdoors and more active. These are the typical reasons for weight gain:

1. You went on vacation. That all inclusive cruise or resort gave you the green light to dig into the buffet table. Hey you wanted to enjoy yourself.

2. Being the social creatures we are, invitations to BBQs happen every weekend. What’s another hot dog among friends

3. That street fair, carnival or county fair you went to was serving fried dough and meat on a stick and that's what you ate.

4. Take me out to the Ball Game, buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks. I’ll also have one of your over priced alcoholic beverages. You are more likely to consume alcohol at events, graduations, BBQs or having a few after work.

5. You’re more likely to eat out, skip meals and fall into bad habits with disrupted routines.

6. Because your schedules and routines were disturbed it was harder for you to fit your exercise in.

7. Your metabolism slows during the summer time. During the colder months your body needs to work harder to stay warm.

8. The heat of the summer was an excuse not to be outside and be active..

You can’t go back and change those choice you made over the summer so there is no use getting upset or beating yourself up over it. What you can do is start to make better choices starting today. I usually recommend picking one thing that you can change and do that one thing 100% for at least one week maybe more. Once it becomes a habit you can then pick another area you would like to make some changes in.  Creating solid habits is what will drive your success, inconsistency is the enemy.

Let’s start now because before you know it the next big wave of temptation will be here, the holiday season. Are your choices going to bring you closer to your goals or further away from them?