Surviving Barbecues.

I went to a family barbecue yesterday and I've gotten pretty good at surviving them with my nutritional goals intact. Here's my secret:

Bring a dish that you know you can eat. Barbecues are all about potato salad (hello mayonnaise), chips and dip (hello fat), and some sort of delicious dessert (hello high calories), along with the meat. You can easily consume your nutritional allotment for the day in ONE barbecue meal! If you bring a dish that you controlled the health factor of, if there's nothing else you can eat you at least have that AND how can someone be mad at you for bringing a contribution for everyone to enjoy?

So with Grandma's delicious potato salad in mind, I threw together an Oriental Noodle Salad to take a long with us to the family get together (that way I could have a side dish with my hamburger and not consume copious amounts of potato salad -- which I LOVE.)



It was a big hit. I know I certainly enjoyed having a healthy serving of it along with a small bite of potato salad and keeping within my goals than gorging on potato deliciousness and gaining back the 2lbs I lost this week. I also brought my own hamburger bun (yes, an Orowheat Thin) because I knew the buns would be ginormous and not only do I not like a lot of bread with my burger it's a lot of unnecessary calories as well.

I've always been an overachiever and since it was a birthday barbecue I knew there would be a dessert involved. So I baked some Snowy Brownies to take as well. That way while everyone else was enjoying a high calorie high fat slice of pie I could munch on my brownie and still feel a part of the party but keeping it on a healthier level.

The brownies were a huge hit too. I didn't get to bring any home because they were all gobbled up.

--Previous Day Tracking --

Exercise - walking, crunches and push ups.

Healthy Lifestyle - Day 103

Only Water - Day 98

Total Pounds Lost - 40.7

Meals:
Breakfast - bowl of FiberOne Honey Clusters w/ homemade Almond Milk
Morning Snack - (didn't need)
Lunch - Cracked Pepper Turkey Sandwich, carrot sticks, and a pickle spear
Mid-Afternoon Snack -Fiber One Granola Bar
Dinner - Hamburger, Oriental Noodle Salad, Snowy Brownie

Total Day Calories - 1161