5 must do's for Bbq's

With summer here it can bring a mixed emotions of excitement and stress.

We will be out of our routine going to peoples houses or going out and not knowing what to expect for food. We can approach summer excited and motivated to hit our goals. But quickly “fall off the wagon “ ending up disappointed when September comes around.

Or we can set realistic expectations and have a few tools in our back pocket to help us still stay on track. While enjoying all the aspects of summer, including food! Let me also emphasize that fitness and being healthy is not meant to be miserable. It’s meant to make your life better. When you are physically feeling good it positively affects every area of your life.

Fitness is not selfish. Taking care of yourself is not selfish. It benefits your life in so many ways like helping you show up better for friends and family. Also, with an increase of confidence it makes your work life, home life and everything better. So we don’t do these things to make ourselves crazy or for no reason. I know for me I stick to these certain things because it makes me feel better. Which allows me to enjoy myself more and be better for everybody else.

I don’t wrestle with insecurities at the beach anymore so I’m able to be present when I’m there. I don’t battle the guilt of eating “bad “ food anymore so I’m able to be present at the barbecues that I’m invited to. You see, I'm enjoying my life more.

I don’t do these things to torture myself. But these things make me feel better and it makes my life better. So know that I’m not giving you a bunch of random tips. But these things have helped transform my relationship with summer. Giving me positive results at the end of summer and throughout. So I hope these five tips help you to crush this summer and help you continue to hit your goals!

So, the five tips I would encourage you to incorporate are..

A protein heavy breakfast. Often there are burgers and pasta salads and chips at bbq's which means a lot of fat and carbs. Which is not a bad thing by any means but it will leave you quite imbalanced at the end of the day. I know for myself I would feel ravenous when I don't get enough protein (because protein is the most satiating macro). Something you can do is before you head out is drink a protein shake. Yes, even on days you don't workout. This one is my favorite. Or have some egg whites with your eggs before your day starts. This will also help you curb the cravings so you don't eat all the chips on the table. There are so many benefits to protein so making sure you get enough on days you're out and about is ideal.

Don't go there hungry. One of the worst things you could do is starve yourself for the morning to save up calories for later. There are so many reasons to not do this but to highlight a few. Once you start eating at a bbq after starving yourself you are more than likely to overeat. You may start to eat things you don't even want. This will ruin your time there rather than allow you to enjoy it. Also, what could happen is because the food there is so imbalanced you will not be satisfied. Again causing you to overeat. Starving yourself beforehand can lead to obsessing over the food at these events. Don't let food have that kind of control.

Drink water all throughout the day. If your bbq's are anything like the ones I attend you are playing games. With that you are distracted and breaking a sweat. That can lead to dehydration and our bodies can trick us into thinking we're hungry when in fact we are thirsty. To prevent that? Make sure you are drinking water all throughout the day. Bring your own water bottle so you don't have to rely on the host for adequate water amounts. Also, if you're drinking alcohol or seltzer or iced tea its easy to forget about water and then want to snack. Drink your water!

Continue to track if you know that will give you more freedom. This is a big one for me. If you were a client of mine and we had just started together I would encourage you to track. So you can see what your natural tendencies are and so we can work on them. When I first started it helped me to track when out because it taught me I could have the burger and the pasta salad. So for me it gave me more freedom rather than restriction. Now, after tracking for years I know what I can eat to hit my goals at bbq's. Now for someone who has been tracking for some time it will be easier to be more intuitive. BUT, what I would encourage everyone to consider is what would you rather. Would it cause more freedom or lack of it to track while out for the day? If it brings more freedom, great track away. You could also track the beginning part of the day and the guesstimate the rest. Do what serves YOU best.

Allow yourself to eat whats there. Please if the next bbq you attend has taco salad and you pass that up. Don't tell me because I will cry. Not only is that food so good but its FREE. I know for me it's sooo nice to not have to cook for me and my bottomless pit husband. 😆 Food is a way to bring people together. Don't let it be the thing that separates you or keeps you from enjoying your summer.

I hope these five tips help you enjoy every part of summer a little more. Happy summer!

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