How to Stay Slim at Summertime Cookouts

With hot summer days comes hot summer barbeques. Here are some quick tips to help you keep your hot summer body while still enjoying yourself at all of the tasty cookouts.

1.Balance Your Plate
Try to make half your plate veggies and fruit. Pick produce with the brightest colors for the biggest nutrient kick. Most barbeques are potlucks, so make it super easy by picking up vegetable skewers at the store to throw on the grill. Split the other half of your plate into quarters – making a quarter protein and a quarter grains or starches. Carb conscious tip: although corn and potatoes are veggies, they actually count as a starch!

2.Portion Control
Most of the time, we don’t think about portion sizes, especially at an eat-as-you-go event like a barbeque or buffet. The easiest way to control this is to make a plate and sit down to enjoy your food. Make your protein portion the size of your palm, your grain or starch the size of a computer mouse, and veggies should amount to two baseballs.

3.Mind the Mayo
Typical side dishes served at a cookout are usually chocked-full of mayonnaise. This adds on a ton of additional fat and calories to your meal. Things like coleslaw, broccoli salad, and pasta or potato salad are typically mayonnaise-based items that should be eaten in moderation. Try to stick with salads that are dressed in oil and vinegar, fresh fruit salad, and grilled veggies.

4.Be Picky with your Protein
Barbequed meats are typically fatty in nature, such as ribs, certain cuts of steaks, burgers and sausages. Try to choose leaner types of meats to save calories like chicken breast, lean turkey burgers, or seafood. Although tasty, barbeque sauce is high in calories and sugar. Try to limit the amount you use, or lean towards a vinegar-based barbeque sauce.

5.Hydrate Wisely
In hot and humid weather, it’s very important to keep your body hydrated. The best way to do this is to consume water often. Sugary beverages like soda and juice add a lot of empty calories to our diets and can even dehydrate us when caffeinated. Also, keep in mind that one serving of an adult beverage is equivalent to five ounces of wine or twelve ounces of beer. For a refreshing and hydrating beverage, add chopped strawberries, cucumbers and mint to a cold glass of H20.

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