Oh No! Summer's coming!

Don't get me wrong, I love, no I LOVE summer, but I seem to lose all will power :o(

Those impromtu BBQ's and bonfires accompanied by snack foods, smokies, smores, bevies and the list goes on and on. Mmmmm

Does anyone else have a harder time with this "healthy" lifestyle in the summer? And if so, have you found any alternatives to your favorites that help keep you on track? Mine is a lower fat/cal version of guacamole and pita chips.

Guacamole- 1 cup mashed avacado, 1 cup fat free cottage cheese blended smooth, 1 cup salsa. mix it all together and it's only 45 cals and 1.5 g fat for 1/4 cup. 

Pita Chips- seperate a pita into it's 2 halves then tear into pieces, spritz lightly with Becel/Parkay butter topping spray, then sprinkle with seasoning (I like garlic salt ) bake at 400 degrees until crunchy.  

I'd love to hear your favorite summer food alternatives!

I can't wait for summer because all the local fruits are in season! I stock up on berries, cherries, apricots, peaches, etc. So good.

BBQ's can so easily be turned into a healthy meal. Just bring your own lean meat or veggie burger, grill some veggies and you're good!

When at someone elses it will be harder but usually these days there is variety of things. Just watch portion sizes and try to add lots of fruits and veggies if offered. So you don't feel deprived allow yourself a small portion of dessert or your fav item.

At home turkey burgers,whole grain buns,bbq chicken. I make roasted potatoes and vegetables where you slice idaho potatoes and add carrots,onions,what ever alse you like squash sprinkle some seasoning and grill. It is super good with bbq sauce. Corn on the cob,baked chips,veggies and lf dip or salsa

Dessert light pound cake or angel food cake spread with cool whip and top with berries

Light ice cream

Fruit kabobs and yogurt dip

I make a spinach dip that is lf and I serve it in a bread bowl. The inside of the bread is what you dip it in

LOVE grilled veggies at a BBQ! I don't even feel like I'm missing out if my plate is filled with the following: 

Basically any veggie you can think of (onions, mushrooms, variety of bell peppers, asparagus, zuchinni are a few of my staples) cut up -  marinaded with Light Zesty Italian salad dressing and some Club House (or other brand) Vegetable Seasoning - dump it all in a grill basket on the bbq for about 20-30 minutes. It is so good that I'm willing to cut back on whatever meat offerings are being offered (smaller portion of burgers or steak is key)

I'll mix just a few tbsp of salsa with half a smushed avacado for a wonderful easy guac substitute as well! I won't lie - sometimes I just eat it with a spoon... but using cucumbers as my dipping tool works too.

Light cool whip mixed in with fat free jello chocolate pudding topped with raspberries is a great summer patio "mousse" - perhaps a s'more substitute for you?

The problem with summer is that everyone is more social and social events = eating. So I see where the problems arise! But try to use the warm weather to get more active and hopefully you'll be able to counter act the effects!

- Bring frisbees to outdoor daytime events and get some games going!
- Pool party? Get in and Swim and play!

Original Post by abbi333:

When at someone elses it will be harder but usually these days there is variety of things.

I make a spinach dip that is lf and I serve it in a bread bowl. The inside of the bread is what you dip it in

 Yah, I find the issue is eating at someone elses place. I've got all the fixings for wonderful healthy BBQ meals at home, your potato idea is a staple side dish in our house, even in the middle of winter at -40 C, lol.

Can I please get your recipe for a low fat spinach dip? If I brought that along, I would feel comfortable knowing that there was a dip I could indulge in because I knew what was in it.

Jef9up- I always to the cool whip/pudding thing, I'll have to try adding fruit, fresh strawberries would be amazing!

And as for getting more active, you're right, everyone always laughs as I'm usually the only adult playing soccer with a dozen kids, but that also means that I can indulge in a Diet Cranberry/7up/vodka without any guilty feelings.

Not too sure why I miss the smokies/hotdogs though... I don't even like them any other time of year, but there is just something about a smokie cooked over a fire pit. Maybe I should try some low fat/cal ham sausage that I found at the grocery store last week, it's so lean, and tasty! Mmmm, now I can't wait!

Thanks for the great ideas guys!

You can get smokies/brats/sausage made from turkey you won't even notice the difference and they contain like 1/3 of the calories of the regular pork versions.  It's actually suprising how similar they taste

i actually find it much easier in summer: first, i'm just not as hungry when it's warm.  but also, i tend to crave salads and lean meats (i bbq pretty much every day) rather than cheesy pasta and casseroles and other winter comfort foods.  i unintentionally go low-carb (and i don't buy into the low-carb BS, but eliminating the pasta, potatoes, and rice has the welcome side effect of lessening the number of calories on my plate!).

beer is a major weakness for me, so if i'm going to indulge, i try to go with vodka/soda with lime.

I find it so much easier in the summer!  I want to work out more, I usually don't miss a day from April through September!  I also love all the fruits and veggies that start appearing on menus.  We grill quite a bit and when I first began my weight loss I was really worried about life with out the BBQ but we began grilling fruits and veggies with the meat and traded the high fat pasta and potato salads for fresh green leafy salads, especially greek salads.  Recently we have converted to an organic/all-natural hormone and anti-biotic free lifestyle.  Through that we have discovered Buffalo.  I highly recommend a buffalo burger.  It has almost half the fat of ground beef and the taste is actually quite similar.  It's a great lean alternative.  You can find it at most health food stores or depending on where you live your local grocer may even carry it. As for the smores, I treat myself to low sugar graham crackers, sugar free dark chocolate and a regular marshmallow, it reduces the sugar and calories significantly and is a nice treat on a summer night.  Just think alternatively and you'll be amazed!

I adore grilling!!!! But I never ever eat junk food that comes off the grill or the foods associated with grilling - instead I grill fish fillets, grass-fed red meat burgers, and thick/hold together vegetables like egg plant, zucchini, onions, etc! I adore these foods so I never crave any of that other high fat stuff... You have to cook vegetables and rub them down in olive oil, salt & pepper... experiment with some healthy foods and then when these BBQs come around, BYOF! (bring your own food)... It's not rude and it keeps you with your diet. 

Oh man, summer usually means ice cream, ice cream, and more ice cream!

Fortunately, where I live, they're very forgiving of the waistlines of people who want something cold and sweet. Instead of ice cream, try halo-halo.

Gelatin cubes, sweet garbanzo and adzuki beans, slivered almonds, tapioca pearls, corn, shredded coconut, plus any tropical fruit you may want to add into the mix.

Add a bit of vanilla-flavored milk (or maybe yogurt), drizzled liberally with (preferably sugar free) syrup and you should have something that resembles a beautifully distorted sweet monstrosity (although there are those rare times they're arranged quite attractively, such as this sample of a halo-halo)

Also, guacamole with only mashed avocados and juice straight from a lemon is better, in my opinion, but sometimes we like to add a bit of tequila to rouse things up. You could always cut calories by dipping cucumbers/celery/carrots instead.

And then there's also the healthier dip alternatives: salsa or hummus. Mmmmm, hummus.

It's midnight and now I'm jonesing for some hummus. Damn you.

I love summer too, more activities at home cus the kids stay at home in summer. We got use to cook more and stock more foods at home during summer which means more cost for foods. I have more snacks to made with less cost from Kraft such as; cream cheese dips or berry cheese cake parfait with Cool Whip.. yum... Oh, I love grilled veggies too, I used to grill lots of them and keep some in fridge for latter :)

If you guys visit www.KraftFoods.com/SummerSavings right now you can get lots of great coupons of Kraft products like Philadelphia cream cheese, Kraft Deli Deluxe, Cool Whip, Crystal Light and more.. the coupons are limited, so you better be hurry..:)

Happy Summer!!