Taste Life Blog

To wrap up this healthy summer eating series here are my last two favorite tips you should keep in mind.

• Eat your summertime calories don’t drink them unless it’s water.

Cabins, deck parties and get togethers usually involve alcohol. Alcohol calories add up fast and even faster when someone is putting another beer in your hand or filling up your wine glass.  Calorie counts to remember:  regular beer –   150 calories, light beer – 100 calories, 4 ounces of wine – 100 calories.  Alcohol does not fill you up like real food.  The average 150 pound person has to walk 15 minutes to burn 100 calories. To keep your cancer and heart disease risk down, remember the 2005 Dietary Guidelines recommend one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men.

Water hydrates you and also can fill your need to hold something in your hand while everyone else is holding their beer or wine cooler. Add a lemon or lime wedge, or a splash of cherry or orange juice and serve on the rocks. Brew your favorite tea and serve it over ice with a dollop of honey if you need something sweeter.

• Plan ahead and don’t go to a party ravenously hungry.

Once you get hungry it is a lot harder to make healthy choices. And to notice when you’re full. Eat something before you go to your BBQ or day at the beach.  Great choices include a source of protein and fat like peanut butter on either high fiber toast or celery. Or try a hard cooked egg and slice of high fiber toast.

Make the decision to predict your future this summer by creating a healthy happy one.  Remember every day is a new choice. Summer is delightful and nothing tastes as good as feeling confident and in charge of your life. You only have one life; imagine if it was one you loved! Start to create it today!