The version of summer we imagined in April looked quite different, didn’t it.

Long evenings, easy meals, time to finally get on top of things. A relaxed, sun-drenched version of ourselves who somehow sleeps better, eats well, and moves more because – well – it’s summer.

And then July arrives.

The kids are off school and the routine has gone. Social plans multiply. The evenings are long but somehow you’re still tired. The barbecues are fun but they’re relentless. It’s too hot to cook, too hot to sleep and every occasion seems to come with a drink in hand. Everyone seems to be on holiday – maybe you even have time booked off work – but you don’t feel particularly… restored.

If that sounds familiar, you are not alone. 

Summer is genuinely disruptive. It is one of the most routine-scrambling seasons of the year,  and yet it is the one we expect to breeze through.

Here’s what actually happens for a lot of people this time of year:

• Sleep gets later and lighter (hello, light evenings and warm rooms followed by early sunlight blazing through the curtains)
• Eating patterns become less predictable – more grazing, more social eating, more ‘I’ll just have what everyone else is having’
• Just a little rosé in the garden or a glass of bubbles
• Movement routines that worked in spring quietly fall away in the heat
• Energy dips, but there is a pressure to feel good because – it’s summer

The gap between the idea of summer and the reality of it is where a lot of people lose their footing. It happens so gradually it can be hard to spot.  A little more tired than usual. A little less in control than they’d like. A vague sense that they should be enjoying this more. Questioning whether you should just let it happen or stop the downhills slide.

That feeling is worth paying attention to because when clients come to me in September saying “I need to get back on track,” what they often mean is: summer pulled me sideways and I never quite found my feet again.

Even if you have a holiday planned, there’s still scope to have the holiday you want and not abandon what you want for your health altogether. 

First, we need to acknowledge that we all have a holiday mode. And whether you’re holidaying at home or abroad, that mental switch gets flicked into the ‘on’ position, and with it goes everything else. The morning walk, the water bottle, the rough sense of when you’re eating and when you’re stopping. The things that, back home, make you feel like yourself.

It feels like full suspension of normal life; a break from everything, health habits included.

For a lot of people, the full-suspension approach doesn’t land as rest. It lands as sluggish. A little foggy. Heavier than expected. 

Here’s a reframe worth trying.

Holidays aren’t the enemy of your health habits. A lack of intention is.

Here’s what’s actually true: some of the things you do at home are genuinely non-negotiable, they’re the things that make you feel well, energised, like you. And some of them are just… habit. Things you do because it’s Tuesday and that’s when you do them. Not because they matter deeply, just because that’s the routine.

Holiday is actually a brilliant opportunity to find out which is which.

So before you go – or if you’re already away – it’s worth asking yourself a simple question:

Which habits, if I kept them loosely, would make me feel noticeably better on this holiday?

Not all of them. Not perfectly. Just the ones that move the needle for you.

For most people, that list is shorter than they think. It might be:

• Getting outside and moving in the morning, even briefly
• Eating something substantial at breakfast rather than running on coffee until 2pm
• Drinking water consistently, especially in the heat
• Getting to bed within an hour of your usual time, most nights

That’s not a regime; that’s four loose anchors. And kept roughly rather than rigidly and they make an enormous difference to how you feel and how easily you slide back into your normal rhythm when you return.

The goal isn’t to be the person tracking meals on a sun lounger. It’s to feel good while you’re away, and to come home feeling like yourself rather than in recovery.

The good news is that summer is actually the perfect moment to pause and recalibrate – before the back-to-school rush hits and September arrives with its own demands. Some of my clients even get the best results without the pressure of the school run, and the change of structure over the summer period can give them the break from routine to allow them to focus on themselves – even if the juggle looks different.