Healthy Picnicking

So another Holiday has come and gone, but how did your eating habits fair?

Did you succumb to the pressures of all the picnic celebrations usual suspects?

I hope the answer is no. I hope the answer is you had fun, and although the menu options may have been out of your control, you did your best with what was available. I celebrated the 4th as most Americans do, at a picnic where the menu options, usually starting with unhealthy treats (chips, dips, etc.), and a heavy constant flow of unhealthy drinks (tons of soda, and or alcohol), are topped off with something on the grill and all the side dishes that come with it. And let's not forget all the desserts.

So what do you do when you're faced with such a smorgasbord of foods well outside your normal healthy rations, and all the pier pressure that goes along with it? You do your best with what's available.

When it came to the pre-meal snacks I made sure to do the majority of my grazing on the vegetable crudites (you can usually find one at every picnic), and when it came to dips I stuck with the homemade guacamole and hummus (when made right can actually be a healthy food). When it came to the mane course I went with a burger (no bun do to the soy allergy), a homemade salad (consisting of asparagus, oranges, mixed greens, and a soy free dressing), and a homemade bean salad (beans, corn, fresh cilantro, vinegar...).

Now were the vegetables and/or fruit organic, or the meat from free grazed cows? Most likely not, but when the menu is out of your hands the best, smartest choices you can make are the healthiest ones available at that time; stay away from the soda, go easy on the alcohol (for those common sense reasons), and don't over indulge.