Best and Worst Cookout Foods

Did Your Favorites Make the Cut?
Summer is almost here, and that means outdoor parties and cookouts with friends and family. If you’re trying to eat healthier, it can seem hard to find good choices at the picnic table. But you don’t have to hide out until September just to resist temptation. Whether you're a host or a guest, you can enjoy the best of barbecue season without padding your waistline. Use this guide to choose food that's light, healthy and refreshing at any backyard blowout.

Burgers 'n Dogs
Hamburgers and hot dogs are a big part of summer eating but they don’t have to be a diet disaster. Start with a 100% whole wheat bun instead of white for a healthy dose of fiber and watch the fat content of the meat. The average beef and pork hot dog contains about 180 calories and 17 grams of fat before you add a bun and toppings. Turkey dogs are tasty and won’t sabotage your diet—you can have two of them for less than100 calories. If you’re going for a burger, stay away from the high-fat toppings like cheese, mayo and bacon. Choose cheese slices made with skim milk to reduce the fat content and load your burger with mustard and fresh veggies instead.
To read more.

Diet:
Problem: Eating three big meals a day.
Solution: More meals (5-6 per day), less food per meal. Most people still stick to the outdated advice of 3 big meals per day. The problem with that advice is most people stagger their meals too far apart often resulting in overeating at each meal. Whatever your body isn’t using for energy gets stored as fat. Eating this way is also metabolically inefficient for calorie burning. By eating before you’re starving at regular 2-3 hour intervals you keep your metabolism working throughout the day often resulting in more energy and more calories burned per day and less food stored as fat.

Problem: Eating processed foods and simple sugars
Solution: Don’t eat anything that comes in a box and avoid simple sugars/carbohydrates. Complex carbs such as those found in brown rice, whole wheat bread etc help regulate glycogen and insulin levels in the body leaving us with more energy for longer periods of time, and tricking the body into feeling fuller longer. Simple carbs such as those found in white bread, white rice, soda etc are processed quickly resulting in quick bursts of increased energy and the subsequent crash. Furthermore if those simple carbs are not being used for energy as you eat them your body will store it as fat! Processed foods have so many negative effects and short comings compared to their non processed counterparts it would take pages to explain. For brevity’s sake, try to only eat foods that ran on land, swam in water, or grew from the earth, minus the human additives. Organic is good.

To learn more about what to eat to fuel your workouts, please contact one of our registered dietitians.