4 Tips to enjoy a fun and healthy 4th of July BBQ
Parades, BBQ, rodeos, swimming, fireworks: the 4th of July is the epitome of summer! In the past, you may have used the 4th of July as a “cheat day” or a day to not worry about your health goals. I want to challenge you to make a change this year. This year, you’re showing yourself that you are a healthy person - even on a holiday. You’re going to have a fun and healthy 4th of July this year with these four tips!
Every time you make a healthy decision, you prove that you’re a healthy person - not just an unhealthy person trying to be healthy. When a holiday or celebration comes up an unhealthy person will use it as an excuse to make choices that don’t align with their goals. Whereas, a healthy person will make choices that allow them to have fun, enjoy the party and stick to their goals.
It’s 100% possible to enjoy all of the summery goodness without feeling deprived and I’m going to show you how! These four tips will help you step into that healthy identity while still having a ton of fun at your 4th of July BBQ!
Prepare your favorite foods in a slightly healthier way
One of the best things about summer food is that it’s generally pretty good for you! Fresh fruits and veggies are everywhere. Lighter foods reign because it’s too hot to cook anything heavy.
However, BBQs can be a little more difficult because you’re usually getting fattier cuts of meat. Hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs, pulled pork are all higher in fat than things like chicken breast, fish or even sirlion steak.
One of the easiest ways to make healthier choices at a BBQ without feeling like you’re missing out is to swap out those fattier cuts of meat for leaner ones.
For example, instead of the regular 80/20 beef that burgers are usually made with, you can grab some 90/10 or 93/7 beef. It’s going to keep your fat a lot lower so you can still enjoy a burger and maybe even have enough fat left over for dessert!
Grilled chicken is another easy way to keep your protein lean but delicious! BBQ chicken is great on its own or you can throw it on a bun for a chicken sandwich. You can also swap pulled pork for pulled chicken!
There are so many ways to enjoy leaner cuts of beef without losing the flavor and atmosphere of a BBQ! This is how healthy people find ways to enjoy their favorite foods without having the scale go up after a holiday or celebration!
Add movement to the plans for the day
One thing that healthy people do - even on holidays - is move their bodies! Any movement you can add to your 4th of July plans will help you out. I’m not an advocate of “burning off what you eat” but if you’re planning to eat more than normal, then try to increase your movement to match it!
You don’t need to hit the gym for an extra hour to include more movement in your day! Instead think of ideas that you can do that will increase your movement throughout the day, like walking to the 4th of July parade rather than driving.
I live in Arizona and it is beyond hot by the 4th of July, so my family likes to go swimming on the 4th! It’s an easy way to stay cool and move your body!
If you’re going to a BBQ these games are all great to keep you moving and enjoying time with friends and family.
Croquet
Corn hole or a bean bag toss
Yard Yahtzee
Spike Ball
Kickball
Water balloon or water gun fight
Freeze tag
Be createive and make movement fun for the whole family!
Prepare your favorite dish
One of my top BBQ tips is to prepare a dish that you love! That way no matter if you’re just hanging out at home or going to a potluck you have something to eat that you’re excited about!
The key to this isn’t just to bring a healthy dish to eat, but to bring something you love to eat. We all know that holidays bring out some of the yummiest foods. If you bring a plate of veggies to a party and then are so tempted by the red, white, and blue potato salad that your neighbor brought that you don’t touch your veggies, it’s useless!
You want your dish to be the focus of your plate with all the other goodies as small sides!
If you don’t have a favorite side dish, head over to my free Facebook group, Busy Mom Simple Nutrition, where I’m sharing some of my favorite, healthy 4th of July side dishes, desserts and drinks!
If you’re going to a 4th of July potluck and you know the host is planning to serve a high-fat protein at the BBQ, ask if it would be ok for you to bring your own protein to throw on the grill so you can enjoy that too!
Healthy people make their health a priority, which means it’s ok to eat something different than everyone else, if it makes you feel your best.
If just the idea of asking someone to make an exceptions for you makes you uncomfortable, that’s ok! You’re new to making healthy choices - especially on a holiday. But at the end of the day, you’re the one who has to live with the food you put in your mouth. It’s ok to be a little extra to preserve your health!
Enjoy a drink
Healthy people drink alcohol. If you love having a drink with friends, don’t let that stop you from becoming the healthy person you want to be! Healthy people drink - they just are smart about it!
To drink and be healthy, you need to understand a little more about how alcohol is processed by the body and what other systems are interrupted by alcohol.
Alcohol is a toxin, that’s why you get intoxicated when you drink. When a toxin enters the body, the main goal is to flush it out as quickly as possible. To push alcohol out, the liver has to stop breaking down fat. This is why you may seen an increase on the scale for a day or two after drinking.
A drink or two isn’t going to cause a huge disruption in fat metabolism. However, if you drink and lose your inhibitions, that’s where you’re going to see more weight gain. When you drink to the point where you lose your inhibitions, you’re not just slowing down you fat metabolism, but you’re going to make choices that you wouldn’t normally make. Most of those choices will include hangover foods that aren’t in line with your health goals.
Over drinking leads to overeating and when combined it will cause weight gain. If you want to drink on the 4th of July, have a plan for it! Know what you’re going to drink and how much you’re going to drink. Then stick to it!
If you don’t want to feel left out after one or two drinks, have a plan for some low-calorie, non-alcoholic drinks. I love having La Criox, cranberry juice or even diet or no-sugar sodas on hand so after I’ve had my Moscow Mule I switch over to soda and still have a great time while everyone else enjoys their drinks.
Mama, you deserve to be the healthy person of your dreams. You also deserve to enjoy holidays like the 4th of July! I hope that you realize that those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. Healthy living isn’t something you do for a while and then give up when it’s too hard. It’s a choice you make every day.
If you’re ready to learn how to be healthy for a lifetime then schedule a free discovery call with me. I’ll give you the tools you need to be healthy and enjoy everything that life has to offer.
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