Why Summer Eating Feels So Hard for Physicians (Even When It Feels Like it “Should Be” Easy)

For years, I thought summer would fix my eating.

I’m Canadian. I grew up with long, cold winters. So every year, the moment the snow melted and the sun came back, my brain lit up: This is the easy season. Fresh vegetables everywhere. Lighter meals. Long evenings. I’d even try to lose a little weight right before summer so I could feel good in a swimsuit — and then I’d sit back and wait for the rest to just… happen.

It never did.

It took me years to see the pattern. Summer wasn’t my easy season. It was one of my hardest. And most summers, I actually gained weight.

If you’ve felt the same thing — like summer eating should be simple, so why does it keep getting away from you? — this one’s for you. Let’s talk about why it happens, and what actually helps.

Your Brain Paints a Picture Over the Whole Season

Here’s the first thing I want you to know: this is not a willpower problem.

Our brains are really good at painting one big picture over a whole chunk of the year. Summer gets painted as “relaxing” and “easy” and “I’ll have so much time.” Then real life shows up, and it doesn’t match the picture at all. That gap — between how you think it’ll go and how it actually goes — is where a lot of summer eating comes from.

So don’t believe the “it’ll just be fine” version your brain hands you. If summer has been hard for you before, plan like it might be hard again. Not from fear. Just from honesty.

There are four spots where this shows up the most.

1. Disrupted Schedules (You’re Busier Than You Think)

Summer turns your normal schedule upside down. If you have kids, school is out and suddenly there are people in your house every time you turn around, or brand-new camp drop-off times to figure out.

And for us as physicians, there’s a hidden one: colleagues take vacation in the summer. So the weeks you’re back, you’re often covering for people who are away. Higher volume. More on your plate.

I’m living this right now. Our whole office is “off” this week. I still spent the first few hours of my morning going through paperwork and lab work and calling patients about results that couldn’t wait until next week. The work doesn’t vanish. It rarely does.

Here’s why that matters for eating: if your brain expects a slow, spacious summer and you get a packed one instead, that mismatch creates stress and even resentment. I was supposed to have time off. Where did my day go? And that frustration is often what triggers the eating — not real hunger.

So keep the planning routines that already work for you. Modify them for summer, sure, but don’t toss them just because it’s July. At the same time, let food be easy. Buy more pre-made stuff. Grab things you can throw on the grill with no prep. Easy and good can live together.

One more piece: having your kids home is wonderful and it’s a real stressor. You don’t have to be in parenting mode 100% of the time. Plan a few breaks for yourself. Same goes for vacations with little ones — being the cruise director on your own family trip is tiring, not relaxing. Build in some rest so exhaustion doesn’t do the eating for you.

2. Camping and Lake Time

Camping and lake time are their own thing, because what you can eat depends so much on where you are and what you’ve got.

I used to eat really consistently at home, and then we’d head to the lake and I felt like all of that went out the window. Chips on the dock was just… part of being at the lake. I’d eat way more than I wanted, not feel great, and then wonder how on earth to eat healthier out there.

What helped was brainstorming — taking the way I like to eat and finding versions that fit lake life AND felt fun. Because a lot of summer eating is about fun, and that’s completely legit.

A few things that became go-tos for me:

• A midday charcuterie board — cheese, meats, pickles, veggie sticks and dip. Easy, no cooking.
• Cream cheese stuffed into little sweet peppers, so there’s a grab-and-eat snack.
• Hot dogs and smokies cut down the middle so they become their own “bun,” with cheese, hot sauce and ketchup. (I know it sounds weird. It’s delicious.)
• Flavored nuts and flavored pork rinds instead of chips.
• Good-tasting low carb candies, so when the kids have junk food, I’ve got something too.

Two things to know. First, food you can eat with your hands wins at the lake (nobody wants extra dishes). Second, this is a learning curve. Your lake or camping menu won’t appear all at once. You try a few things, get more ideas, try again. Let it be an evolving list.

And watch the alcohol. At the lake or while camping, drinks tend to flow more. It’s worth thinking ahead about how you make food decisions after a drink or two — maybe turning things into lighter spritzers, and keeping a healthier snack as easy to reach as the chips.

3. Vacation Eating Is a Skill (And Almost Nobody Teaches It)

Enjoying a vacation and eating in a way that feels good is a real skill. Most of us were never taught it.

So we default to one of two extremes: be perfect the whole time, or let everything go and “deal with it when I get home.” Then we feel like we blew it, spend two weeks trying to recover, and dread the next trip.

There’s a huge middle ground. Before your trip, actually sit down and ask: How do I want this vacation to go? What food do I truly want to enjoy and not miss out on? And which foods do I usually eat just because they’re there, or because everyone else is — the ones I don’t even care that much about?

Then support your future self. That might mean bringing food, ordering groceries when you arrive, looking at restaurant menus ahead of time, or having a quick chat with the people you’re traveling with.

This is a harm-reduction approach, not a perfection one. You look at the menu, make your best choice, and you don’t stress about whether it was flawless. You follow your plan loosely. And you plan for the obstacles you can already see coming — the nightly ice cream run, the family member who pushes food. Decide ahead of time what you’ll do and what you’ll say. You’ll follow through so much better than if you just hope it works out.

4. Parties, Barbecues, and Patios

Summer is one long stretch of get-togethers. And there’s this feeling of celebration running under all of it — the sun, the patio, the long evenings. It feels like something to celebrate, especially if you live somewhere the warm weather doesn’t last long.

The trouble is when your brain paints “celebration” across the entire season, so every single barbecue becomes a reason to eat all the things. One barbecue where you eat everything? Totally fine. A whole summer of it, feeling out of control and wishing you’d chosen differently? That’s the pattern worth looking at.

So question it a little. Which events do you actually want to go all-in on? Which ones don’t matter that much to you? Then support yourself at the ones you pick: bring a dish that works for you, eat a little beforehand, stand somewhere other than right next to the food, and keep a sparkling water in hand so you’re not reaching for another drink on autopilot. (Social nerves plus a couple of drinks is a big driver of overeating — it’s usually the restless energy talking.)

Make a plan like you would for a vacation. Just a shorter one.

The Real Goal

The biggest thing I’ve learned about summer is this: there’s a disconnect between how you think it’ll go and how it actually goes, and that’s just your brain editing reality. Don’t buy the “it’ll be fine” story without checking it.

You don’t have to be perfect. You never did. Do a little planning and bring a little curiosity, and give yourself full permission to enjoy the party, laugh, and let a little loose — while still feeling good in your body at the end of the day.

You really can have both.

If you want the full walk-through, I recorded this as an episode of the Thriving As A Physician podcast — go have a listen below while you’re packing the cooler.