Healthy Recipes - Tips to Survive Summer BBQ Season

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Tips to Survive Summer BBQ Season

By EatingWell, EatingWell.com

When the weather is fab and the days are long, the thing to do is this: fire up the grill, round up your family and friends, and feast. Everybody loves a barbecue. But if you’re trying to watch your weight, big food spreads may actually induce stress—and that’s a problem. Fortunately, we’ve got fixes.

Fix #1: Pay attention to portions. Use these 3 memorable points of reference:

• A tennis ball or baseball = about 1 cup (or use your clenched fist as a rough estimate). This measure is useful for scoopable sides (think: potato, pasta and bean salads). If you’re trying to keep a cap on calories, aim for 1 cup total of these starchy side dishes.

• Your cell phone (provided you’ve upgraded since 1999) = about 3 ounces meat. (The other oft-cited reference for 3 ounces of meat is a deck of cards.) This measure comes is useful for steak, chicken and fish.

• Your thumb = about 1 tablespoon. This measure comes in handy when you’re trying to estimate dressing or a spread. Most full-fat salad dressings have 50 to 100 calories per tablespoon (creamy ones fall toward the higher end); mayo (at 100 calories per tablespoon) is another one to watch. Choose reduced-fat varieties, which usually have half the calories, whenever you can.

Fix #2: Fill up on vegetables first.

• Eat loads of green salad—with a couple of tablespoons of dressing, preferably one that’s lower in fat.

• Crunch on the crudités—go easy on dips—instead of chips.

Fix #3: "Prioritize" your favorite food—like this.

• If you’re dying for a big cheeseburger, get in line at the grill. Stick with a green salad or grilled vegetables and fruit as sides.

• Not so big on buns? Go for grilled chicken, fish or tofu on top of greens and spend that starch serving on a scoop of the creamy potato salad you truly love.

• Have a piece of lean protein (chicken, fish), grilled vegetables and a healthy side (1/2 cup or so of baked beans or a bean salad) so you can indulge on dessert.

Fix #4: When you’re finished, go play.

• Start tossing a ball with the kids.

• Rally the adults to play horseshoes or some other outdoor game. No need to jump around like a fool to "burn off" dinner; the point is to pull yourself away from the chips and salsa.

Related Links:

• Healthy Grilling Recipes, Menus and Tips
• Healthy Father's Day Recipes and Menus

This news arrived on: 06/10/2008

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