Hot dogs, hamburgers and baked beans. Any way you look at it, summertime equals picnic time. Although there’s no harm in sampling a little “taste” of each dish, be careful not to go up for seconds on these three seemingly innocent picnic favorites:

Potato salad:
1 cup = 360 calories; 20 grams of fat

Take a look at your fist. That’s about the size of 1 cup—not very big is it? If you enjoy potato salad, by all means leave a space for it on your plate, but only enough for a spoonful. To save on calories and fat, you might want to whip up a batch of non-mayonnaise potato salad! Try this Southwestern Potato Salad recipe for a nice change of pace. BONUS: Nearly 6 grams of fiber per cup!

Fried chicken:
1 extra crispy chicken breast = 510 calories; 33 grams of fat

All too often, we think of chicken as “healthy”—but don’t be fooled! It depends on how it’s prepared. Strip the skin off of that chicken or grill it instead and save 200 calories PLUS 22 grams of fat. Even better, for a good dose of omega 3 fatty acids, grill up a couple of salmon fillets. Impress your friends and family and try this Maple Grilled Salmon recipe.

Baked beans with bacon:
1/2 cup = 140 calories (not bad!); 1 gram of fat (not bad); 5 grams of fiber (pretty good!); 11 grams of sugar (that’s about 3 teaspoons of sugar); 620 mg sodium (yikes!)

I’m as guilty as the next person when it comes to baked beans…I swear I could eat them on ice cream! Again, a spoonful is just fine— but how about doing even better than fine? Opt for a three bean salad instead! You’ll still have a low calorie dish with oodles of fiber, but without all of that sodium and sugar. Here’s one of my favorite recipes:  Zesty Three-Bean and Roasted Corn Salad

BONUS: You get double the serving size for the same amount of calories!

Don’t think of it as “giving up” your favorite picnic foods—because you’re not! You’re just being a responsible eater. Have a spoonful if you really want it. Heck, you might even surprise yourself and find that you actually LIKE the lighter version of your all-time favs!

Did you know? A 16-oz glass of lemonade has 200 calories and 54 grams of sugar (14 teaspoons of sugar!) Why not pour yourself an 8-ounce portion and fill the rest of the glass with water or ice?

• If you would like to work with Melanie one-on-one or invite her to speak to your organization, shoot her an email or give her a call!
  melanie@melaniejatsek.com
  440.317.0387