The 4th of July is upon us. This week will be a short work-week for many and you might be preparing foods for your celebration. I have a few small tips to keep in mind for this weekend and every BBQ and picnic in your future.
While prepping for your parties keep healthy snacks, drinks and foods in mind and at hand.

Healthy means lower fats, more fruits and veggies, less sugar laden goodies (yes, have dessert, just don’t over-do it). Just because it’s diet does NOT mean it’s healthy! Many diet food and drink options are sweetened with chemicals and are no better for you than the regular choice. Soda and diet soda isn’t exempt from this list! Diet soda doesn’t help you lose weight, and it doesn’t necessarily help if you are a diabetic. The best choice is no soda.

Choose water and unsweetened tea over soda. You can easily flavor water with lemon, mint, cucumber, lime, basil, lemon balm, oranges, apple, pear, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and many other fruit and herbs.

Choose regular salad dressings over low-fat or reduced fat options including mayonnaise…why? Low-fat and reduced fat foods add sugar, sodium, and chemicals to compensate for removed fats, often the good fats like omega 3’s and many people end up taking more because it seems healthier so they too overcompensate. You don’t need extra sugar to feed fat cells, or added salt for increased blood pressure. Go with as close to natural/nature as possible.

To sum it up:

1 – more veggies and fruit as close to their natural state as possible

2 – healthy vegetable proteins, smaller portions of meat and choose lean over fatty

3 – less sweets

4 – less soda, more water, tea, and natural juices

5 – portion control, smaller servings of healthy choices

These tips will help you get on track and stay on track. You can still have fun while you eat healthy and lose or maintain a healthy weight at the same time!

Celebrate, have fun, just eat smart while you’re out enjoying life so that you can enjoy life in a healthy, happy, energetic way for many more years!