Summer is here! School is out and the temperatures are rising. Our family sees lots of changes this time of the year. Our schedule is no longer dominated by school and extracurricular activities. Summer is all about camps, pool time, more frequent library visits, playdates and much more. These last couple of weeks, I’ve reflected on a few other changes in our lives as well.
My Cravings Change
I am a big proponent of honoring your food cravings. One thing that I never noticed as a younger adult, was that my food cravings, or foods I want throughout the day, shift slightly with the seasons. I had heard others talk about this phenomenon, but I don’t think I had really noticed it until recent years. Gone are the winter days of wanting oatmeal for breakfast or lasagna for dinner. Hello to the days of wanting cereals, overnight oats, smoothies, salads, wraps, and well, anything cooler to eat. Even my son, who is not a big fruit eater, has been asking for more fruit occasionally and I can’t help but wonder if he is experiencing what I’m noticing.
Logically, it makes sense. We are outside more, and the temperatures are up so we would not crave warm/hot things when we are trying to cool ourselves down. I’m sure others notice this shift as well. Luckily it seems nothing more than a slight shift in what I purchase at the grocery store and some new meals added to our regular routine.
Hydration Changes
Going hand-in-hand with my food craving changes would be beverage shifts. During colder months, I often drink 2-3 cups of coffee as well as hot teas often splattered throughout my days. The rest of the day I’m content with water to keep myself hydrated. Come the warmer months, not so much. Now, the hot beverages are down to one or less and if I’m ordering coffee out, it’s almost always iced. Even water has had to make a change because during the summer, I crave something “refreshing” instead of plain old water. I want a dash of lemon or lime in my water or a seltzer water or whatever iced beverage is all the rage. We’re making lemonade ice cubes and experimenting more with smoothie recipes.
My Sleep Changes
I love summer because it becomes so much easier to get up early since the sun is coming up earlier. I’m a morning person and find I’m extremely productive in the morning but in the winter, it can be so hard to pull my butt out of my warm, cozy bed when it is still so dark outside. I will lay there, wide awake for sometimes an hour, not getting up. It seems that in the summer, it becomes easier to just get up and get going. Luckily my kids don’t seem effected by this and are still able to sleep their normal amount despite the sun being up earlier.
Seasonal shifts are a great part of living in Maryland. Will I be sad to see summer go? No, because I love my hot coffees, warm casseroles and all the comforts that come with winter. But noticing these changes and shifts in cravings can be helpful for grocery shopping and meal planning as we move from one season to the next.