By Megan O'Connell, Student at University of Wisconsin – Platteville

For most of us, summer is either here or just around the corner. With this in mind, I made a list of summer health resolutions for myself, and I encourage you all to do the same.

Making summer health resolutions is a great way to kick off a healthy summer and writing them down is a great way to have a daily reminder of your resolutions. To help guide you through the task of making summer health resolutions, I’ll share the steps that I took to establish my own.

1) Establish resolutions that revolve around you. You might have a super annoying friend who keeps telling you to do this, this and this. “Moisturize more, stop drinking soda, try this new diet I’m on,” she might say. Do not listen to her, as you are different people. Every person needs health resolutions that cater to themselves as individuals. For instance, while interning this summer I will be living with my parents. These two things led me to two of my summer health resolutions: to pack a healthy and satisfying lunch every day and to spend more time growing more vegetables in my garden. These resolutions are perfect for me, and they go hand in hand — more vegetables equals more food for my lunch! Below I’ve listed some ideas for summer health resolutions you might try.

• Working full time during the week with a part-time job on the weekends: Squeeze in a workout routine before you go to bed. Something as simple as 50 sit-ups, 25 squats and 50 jumping jacks is better for your body than not working out at all.
• Stuck at your parents' all summer with nothing to do: Go for a long walk or jog every day with your parents. Not only will it be great for you and your body, it’s always great to reconnect with your parents after being off at school for a year.
• Working part time in your college town: Look up some odd jobs you might be able to do around town for some extra cash. Many towns will need dog-walkers, babysitters, lawn-care providers and who knows what else! Check out local posting boards for opportunities such as these. Not only will you be earning some extra cash, but you'll also be getting your workout in.

Once you establish some summer health resolutions, write them down everywhere! I’ve seen dozens of adorable ways to frame cute love notes on Pinterest. Who needs to frame love notes when you’ve got summer health resolutions that need framing? This step adds some fun to process of making resolutions. Hang up your beautiful creation(s) in your bedroom, bathroom, workplace or wherever you find you need the most motivation.

Don’t give up! If you come home at night and feel like you’re too exhausted to proceed with one of your resolutions, such as the nightly workout routine, just keep going. What’s another half an hour after the day you just had? Another idea is to reward yourself after you accomplish a resolution that seemed daunting. Ran a mile after a seemingly endless day at work? Treat yourself to a yummy chocolate-banana smoothie!

Making summer health resolutions is a fabulous way to start off your summer. Keep it up during the summer and when fall comes around, you’ll find you won’t want to drop the healthy habits you started during your break.

Image: nixxphotography / FreeDigitalPhotos.net