How to Have A Healthy 4th of July BBQ!

by | Jul 1, 2015

23fa605b9232a4fa1bd9e6f96e4fd75d-1Are you excited for your 4th of July BBQ this weekend? Warm, sunny weather, good food and good company is the recipe for an enjoyable weekend celebration.

Speaking of recipes, we have a few tips to keep your snacking, eating and drinking on the healthier side this weekend. Many of us tend to indulge during 4th of July celebrations, but it is possible to eat healthy, whole foods at your weekend gatherings and not feel deprived.

Here are our healthy twists on BBQ favorites!

  1. Eat your hamburger without a bun or use a “lettuce bun” (take two big leaves of lettuce and wrap it around the hamburger)
  2. Stick to meats that have been grilled or baked and avoid meat that has been fried
  3. If you want a veggie burger, here are a few healthy patties you can make from scratch: Quinoa Veggie Burger and a Red Lentil Burger. Many of the store-bought burgers contain corn, soy, canola oil and other processed ingredients.
  4. If you are wanting to snack on finger food it’s a good idea to avoid:
    • Fried foods
    • Frozen, pre-made foods
    • Pre-packaged foods from the store. These kinds of snacks usually contain large amounts of sugar, HFCS, hydrogenated oils, GM ingredients, added gluten and lots of other unnatural chemicals.
  5. Instead, snack on these…
    • Salad and veggies
    • Fruit salad
    • Homemade potato salad (one made without the hydrogenated oils usually found in store-bought brands) We LOVE this recipe: Sweet Potato Salad with Bacon.
    • Dips that are made from fresh, lighter ingredients (like salsa, guacamole and hummus) and not full of low-quality dairy products.

Another healthy eating tip we recommend is mindfulness, or to be mindful and present with your body when you are eating. When practicing mindfulness with eating it is important to focus on eating slowly, chewing, savoring the texture and flavor of your foods and checking in with you body every once in a while to recognize if you are full or not.

When you are full, engage with other people at the BBQ and savor communication and conversation until you are hungry again.

Follow these simple eating suggestions during your 4th of July BBQ and you will feel more at ease in your body and energized through the day.

Happy Fourth of July!

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