5 Ways to Keep Your Health on Track During the Summer Holidays
Written by Catherine Scott, Registered Nutritional Therapist mBANT rCNHC, specialising in perimenopause, gut health and energy.
If there’s one time of year that derails even the most committed healthy habits, it is the summer holidays.
The routine that kept everything in place disappears overnight. The kids are home. The days are unpredictable. You are eating at different times, sleeping differently, saying yes to ice cream at 11am because frankly it is hot and nobody has the energy to argue.
And then September arrives and you feel like you are starting from scratch.
It doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t need a perfect routine to maintain your health over summer; you just need a handful of anchors that work even when everything else is chaotic.
Here are five that actually make a difference.
How do you maintain a protein breakfast during the summer holidays?
This is the single habit I come back to with almost every client I work with and it is the one I am most insistent about keeping over summer, even on holiday.
Here is why it matters so much. When you start the day with protein, you stabilise your blood sugar from the very first meal. This means fewer cravings by 11am, more consistent energy through the afternoon and better mood stability. In perimenopause this matters even more because declining oestrogen affects insulin sensitivity, making blood sugar harder to regulate than it used to be and this can lead t o weight gain.
A protein-rich breakfast does not need to be elaborate. It just needs to happen.
The easiest way to protect this habit over summer is batch prep. Make breakfast the night before so there is nothing to think about in the morning.
Berry Bircher Overnight Oats — makes 2 servings
Five minutes to make. Ready to grab from the fridge.
Ingredients
60g jumbo oats
40g chia seeds
300ml milk or unsweetened soya milk
250g 2% Greek yoghurt or soya yoghurt
20g pumpkin seeds
120g berries, mango or pineapple
Juice of 1 lime
Mix the oats, chia seeds, milk and yoghurt together in a bowl. In a separate bowl mash the fruit with the lime juice. Split the oat mixture into two pots and top with the fruit and pumpkin seeds. Refrigerate overnight.
Approximately 20 to 22g protein per serving. Add a scoop of protein powder stirred in the night before to get closer to 30g.
Make a double batch on Sunday evening and breakfast is sorted for the first half of the week with no effort at all.
What should women in perimenopause eat during summer to keep blood sugar stable?
If protein breakfast is the foundation, making sure every meal has both protein and fibre is the structure built on top of it. These two things together keep blood sugar stable, support hormone clearance through the gut and keep you properly full between meals rather than reaching for snacks every hour.
Over summer this does not need to mean cooking from scratch every day. It means keeping a few things in the fridge and cupboard that make it easy to build a balanced meal without thinking.
Summer staples worth keeping in: tinned chickpeas, pre-washed salad, eggs, Greek yoghurt, nuts and seeds, a bag of frozen edamame and a pouch of ready-cooked quinoa. Things you can throw together in five minutes that do not require a recipe or a plan.
The simple rule to keep in your head: half the plate vegetables, a quarter protein, a quarter complex carbohydrate with healthy fats alongside. No tracking, no weighing, no app required.
What is the best type of movement to maintain during the summer holidays in perimenopause?
Summer is actually a brilliant time to build a movement habit because the barriers are lower. It is light, it is warm and there is often more flexibility in the day than there is in term time.
The trap is thinking movement has to be a gym session or a structured workout to count. It does not!
A ten-to twenty-minute walk after dinner or first thing in the morning is one of the most powerful things you can do for your health in perimenopause. Walking after a meal specifically helps to blunt the blood sugar spike from eating, which directly affects your energy, your mood and how well you sleep that night.
It also gets you natural light which supports your circadian rhythm and your cortisol awakening response the following morning. Both of these are particularly important in perimenopause when cortisol and sleep are already under pressure from hormonal changes.
If you have children at home over summer, bring them with you. A post dinner walk with the family costs nothing, takes twenty minutes and is good for all of you. And if you need it to be your twenty minutes of quiet, that is completely valid too!
The key is to make it a daily anchor rather than something you do when you feel motivated. Set a time, protect it and treat it like an appointment you would not cancel.
Does breathwork help perimenopause symptoms during stressful periods like school holidays?
The summer holidays are wonderful but they can also be stressful! Children arguing, unpredictable days, less time for yourself, disrupted sleep and a to-do list that is not going anywhere.
In perimenopause your tolerance for stress decreases. Oestrogen helps to regulate the stress response and as it fluctuates and declines, your nervous system becomes more reactive. Things that wouldn’t have bothered you in your 30s can feel overwhelming in your 40s.
Breathwork is one of the fastest and most evidence-based ways to bring your nervous system back into balance. It activates the parasympathetic nervous system, your rest and digest state, and directly lowers cortisol. Research published in Frontiers in Psychology found that slow-paced breathing significantly reduced self-reported stress and increased feelings of calm.
Here’s a technique to try:
• Breathe in slowly through your nose for 4 counts
• Hold for 4 counts
• Breathe out slowly through your mouth for 6 to 8 counts
• Repeat four to five times
The extended exhale is the key. Breathing out for longer than you breathe in signals to your nervous system that you are safe and it’s time to calm down. It works in under two minutes and you can do it anywhere. In the car before a difficult conversation, in the kitchen while the kettle boils, in bed if your mind is racing at midnight.
Try attaching it to something you already do every day over summer, a cup of tea, before you eat lunch, when the kids are finally in bed. That way it becomes a habit rather than something you remember to do only when you are already overwhelmed.
How do you stay hydrated in perimenopause during a summer heatwave?
This one sounds basic but it matters more in summer and it is the one most people underestimate.
Dehydration affects energy levels, brain function, digestion, appetite regulation and mood. When you are mildly dehydrated you often feel it as fatigue, a headache or a vague sense of feeling not quite right. In the heat of a British summer, which apparently does happen occasionally, this compounds quickly.
The mistake most people make is waiting until they feel thirsty. By that point you are already mildly dehydrated.
A few simple things that help:
• Start the day with a full glass of water before anything else. Overnight you lose water through breathing and minor sweating and rehydrating first thing supports energy and concentration from the start of the day. Adding a small pinch of sea salt replaces minerals lost overnight.
• Keep a water bottle visible. If it is in your bag or on your desk you will drink from it. If it is in a cupboard you will forget it exists.
• In the heat, add electrolytes if you are sweating more than usual. A pinch of sea salt and a squeeze of lemon in water is a simple and effective option.
• Limit alcohol, particularly in the heat. Alcohol is dehydrating and in perimenopause it affects sleep quality significantly even in small amounts. This is not about being restrictive over summer. It is about knowing that one glass of wine on a hot evening has more impact than it used to and factoring that in.
The thread that runs through all of this
None of these tips require a perfect routine. None of them need the children to be at school or the house to be calm or your diary to be clear.
They are anchors. Small consistent things that keep you connected to your health even when everything else is unpredictable.
Pick one or two to start with and build from there. Progress over summer rather than starting from scratch in September - that is the goal.
Want personalised support this summer?
A Midlife MOT gives you a thorough 60-minute one-to-one assessment and a written plan tailored to your specific health picture. Find out more here.
Or come and join The Midlife Superhabits Club, a free community for midlife women keeping each other going through the summer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do healthy habits fall apart during the summer holidays?
Routine is the invisible scaffold that holds habits in place. When the school run stops, meal times shift and days become unpredictable, the environmental cues that trigger habits disappear. Without those cues, even well-established habits need to be actively protected rather than just followed automatically. This is why picking one or two non-negotiables and anchoring them to something that still happens every day is far more effective than trying to maintain a full routine.
What is the best breakfast for perimenopause during the summer holidays?
A protein-rich breakfast that can be prepared the night before is ideal. Berry Bircher Overnight Oats made with Greek yoghurt, oats, chia seeds and fruit provides approximately 20 to 22g of protein per serving, requires no cooking in the morning and keeps in the fridge for up to three days. A protein breakfast stabilises blood sugar from the start of the day, which reduces cravings, supports energy and helps regulate cortisol throughout the morning.
How does losing routine affect perimenopause symptoms?
Routine supports blood sugar stability, cortisol rhythm and sleep quality, all of which directly affect perimenopause symptoms. When routine disappears, blood sugar becomes less stable, cortisol can dysregulate and sleep quality often deteriorates. This is why women often notice their symptoms feel worse during the summer holidays even if nothing else appears to have changed. Maintaining one or two key habits acts as an anchor that keeps these systems more stable.
What is the easiest way to maintain healthy habits during the school holidays?
Pick one or two non-negotiable habits and protect them regardless of what else is happening. A protein-rich breakfast and a daily walk are the two with the most impact for the least effort. Everything else can flex around them. Making the healthy choice the path of least resistance, through batch prep and keeping easy ingredients available, removes the decision-making that causes habits to break down when life is unpredictable.
Does breathwork actually help perimenopause symptoms?
Yes. Breathwork activates the parasympathetic nervous system which directly lowers cortisol. In perimenopause, stress tolerance decreases as oestrogen declines because oestrogen plays a role in regulating the stress response. A simple breathing technique, breathing in for 4 counts and out for 6 to 8 counts, can reduce cortisol and calm the nervous system within minutes. Research published in Frontiers in Psychology found that slow-paced breathing significantly reduced self-reported stress and increased feelings of calm.
How do you keep blood sugar stable on holiday in perimenopause?
The most effective strategy is to ensure every meal contains protein and fibre, even when eating out or away from home. Protein slows glucose absorption and fibre supports gut health and hormone clearance. Simple choices like adding Greek yoghurt to breakfast, choosing a salad with a protein source at lunch and keeping nuts or seeds as a snack can maintain blood sugar stability without requiring elaborate meal planning. A short walk after meals also helps to blunt blood sugar spikes.
Catherine Scott is a Registered Nutritional Therapist (mBANT rCNHC) based in Leeds, specialising in perimenopause, gut health and energy. She works with women online across the UK.
This article is for educational purposes and is not intended to replace medical advice. If you have specific health concerns please consult your GP or a registered health professional.