10 Cool Ways to Beat the Heat this Summer

“Ugh! This heat is unbearable!” “It’s so hot!”

Sound familiar? Let’s face it guys we blinked and missed Spring now Summer is here! It’s a given, we all love summer, but how many of us love the heat that comes with it? And with the slow but sure effects of global warming, summers are only going to get hotter. One would think that after living in a tropical country where “Every day is summer” I’d be used to the heat but trust and believe that the heat of summer just cannot be compared. After battling the heat for technically all my life I’ve decided to share 10 cool ways you can beat the heat this summer. See what I did there?

Here are 10 cool ways to beat the heat this summer:

1. Stay Hydrated
2. Dress for the Weather
3. Stock up on Ice
4. Avoid using the stove
5. Chill at the beach/river
6. Avoid the Sun
7. Cool down your house
8. Hit the showers
9. Wet your face and pulse points
10. Get creative with your fan

1. Stay Hydrated

While this is possibly the most important tip for staying cool, it is also the most overlooked. Excessive heat can lead to dehydration as your body loses water through sweating. Sweating is actually one of the body’s ways of cooling down. Dehydration can lead to headaches, fatigue and in extreme cases even fainting. In order to avoid this, fill up on your fluids. Ensure that you drink a lot of water. When your body is hydrated you will stay cooler. For those of us who struggle to drink water, you can infuse your water with lime or other fruits. Coconut water is also a great substitute. #washoffyuheart

2. Dress for the Weather

What you wear has a major impact on how you feel in the summertime. If at home some people might opt to wear as little clothing as possible. When going out try to wear loose-fitting, natural fibres such as cotton as it breathes. Colours that are darker tend to absorb heat more so go for lighter coloured clothes. You can also wear hats as they protect your head from the sun as well as provide shade for your face.

3. Stock up on Ice *music* ‘Ice, ice baby’

Ice should definitely be your new bestie on those hot summer days. Whether you are popping a few cubes in your drink to give it that extra cold edge or putting it in an ice pack, you’ll find that ice is very useful for beating the heat. The best part is you don’t have to buy ice as you can make your own at home. There are also tons of icy treats that you can enjoy such as Popsicles, ice pops, snow cones as well as the Jamaican favourite, sky juice, otherwise called ‘suck suck’. Most of these treats can even be made at home.

4. Avoid Using the Stove

If you are trying to stay cool you should try to avoid using the stove as much as possible. This means no midday baking and no late evening five-course meal preparation. The heat from the stove will only increase the temperature in your house making you feel hotter, especially if the space isn’t well ventilated. This tip for beating the heat will require some planning on your part as you’ll have to create meal plans which require little to no stove time to prepare. In the end, however, the lack of this added heat will keep you and your house cooler.

5. Chill at the Beach/River

When the heat gets unbearable it’s the perfect time to pack a bag, grab your bathing suits and head to the beach. A trip to the beach is a great way to cool down on a hot day. Even if you’re not a water lover you can relax in the shade of trees or a beach umbrella as the cool sea breeze washes over you. Some people may live closer to a river than the sea. A day chilling at the river is a great alternative. As an added bonus, rivers are usually surrounded by lush vegetation and as a result, the area is naturally cooler than at the seaside. More importantly, don’t forget to bring sunscreen.

6. Avoid the Sun

If you don’t need to go outside, don’t. The sun is the ultimate source of heat so of course, being directly in the sunlight will make you hotter. If you must go outdoors you should avoid the peak hours of the sunlight which is usually between 10 a.m. & 3 p.m. One way to avoid the sun is by starting earlier. When you go out for your morning run ensure that you start before sunrise. That way it will be bright enough for you to see and you may finish just when the sun comes up. As it relates to running errands during the day you can avoid the sun by sticking to the shade. Shade in this instance can be the shadow of tall buildings or from trees.

7. Cool Down Your House

No AC? No problem. There are many ways to keep your house cool. You may start by planning ahead. This can be done by planting trees that create shade on the eastern and western sides of your house. This will prevent the access of the hot sun rays. If you had no control over the planting of the trees around your house you are still able to keep your house cool. You can open windows when it’s cool and keep them closed when it gets warmer. The temperature outside is reduced in the evening and so the best time to open the windows is early morning or late evening. Another way you can cool down your house is by turning off the lights when they are not being used. Incandescent lightbulbs tend to emit a lot of heat so by turning them off or switching to fluorescent lamps you’ll not only lower the temperature but you also lower your electricity bill.

8. Hit the Showers

No one likes to sweat, and one way to avoid the icky after-effects of sweating is to take a bath. A cold shower helps to reduce your body temperature. You are also less likely to sweat if you frequently take baths on a hot day. Taking a bath before bed will not only leave you refreshed but you will go to bed feeling cool and clean. One important point to remember is that you should never take a bath when you are sweating heavily. You should always get dry first before hopping into the shower.

9. Wet Your Face and Pulse Points

There will always be a situation in which you feel hot and icky but is unable to get a shower. For this reason, it is good to have a spray bottle filled with cool water you can use to spritz your face when you start to overheat. It is also important to identify your pulse points as you can cool your body by keeping these areas wet. The points to note are your wrists, ankles, elbows, neck and feet. You can choose to run water over your wrist, use an ice pack for your neck or just dipping your feet in water will really help to cool you down.

10. Get Creative with Your Fan

Last and by no means least, making use of ‘old faithful’ i.e. your fan. Your fan is must when it comes to keeping cool in the summer. Fans help to circulate air and make you cooler. The issue with fans is that if the temperature indoors is too hot the fan may just circulate the hot air which definitely makes you hotter. It is for this reason that you must get creative. There are so many simple hacks that you can try with fans to make you feel cooler on those hot days. These are just a few:

• You can create a cross-breeze by positioning a fan across from a window.
  This will allow the wind from outside and the air from the fan to
  combine.

• If you place a bowl of ice or two frozen water bottles in front of a fan the air from the fan will feel cooler as the ice melts. This usually works best with a table fan and is perfect if you are cooking or doing work at a desk.
• By turning your box fan outwards by a window the hot air can be pushed out.
• Adjusting ceiling fans to spin counter-clockwise allows cool air to be pushed downwards. The cooling effect occurs when the air evaporates sweat.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that summer is awesome but the heat it brings can sometimes be unbearable. It is extremely important to keep cool because heat strokes are no joke. I hope you found these tips helpful.

How many have you tried and what do you do to beat the heat? Let me know in the comments below. Thank you for reading.

See you next post!