Fourth of July Food Makeover

Transcript:

Melanie: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition. This week is the 4th of July holiday week, and it is always a fun time of year to get together with friends and family to celebrate. And as with most holidays, food is a main focus, wouldn't you say?

Britni: Yes. For sure.

Melanie: Everybody thinks about the food for the 4th of July. So thinking ahead, do you have your food planned out for a long weekend? Special holiday food is a way we come together and we celebrate, but oftentimes once it's over, we're left feeling drained, sluggish, guilty. And maybe our clothes feel a little bit tighter and we're, we're like, why did I do that? What was I thinking?

Britni: Not worth it.

Melanie: Well, our goal is to help you be able to enjoy your food during the holiday weekend and still feel great come Monday. Those Monday scaries will no longer be a thing after a holiday, and it's possible. So today we're going to give you all of our dietitian tips about making it through this holiday feeling good about your food choices without feeling restrictive or deprived, because we don't want that deprivation brain.

I'm Melanie Beasley. I'm a licensed and registered dietitian. I'm here with Britni Vincent, who's also a licensed and registered dietitian.

Britni: Thanks. I'm happy to be here with you today. And you know, when I think of the 4th of July. I think of fun, outdoor celebrations, lots of food, whether that be a picnic in the park or a backyard barbecue.

Melanie: And what's your favorite food of choice when you think of growing up on the 4th of July?

Britni: I'm a dip person.

Mel: Oh, chips and dip. Can we just talk about chips and dip? I, I think of popsicles, watermelon. And then I would always, you know, when I was an adult for my children, make what we called flag cake. Everybody does the thing, right? The cake with the Jell-O and the flag on top with berries. Yeah. And brats.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: You know, Bratwurst. So you know, we all have those traditional foods that we think about. But yours is pretty easy breezy.

Britni: I know. Yeah. Put me in front of chips and dip and then.

Melanie: She doesn't need anything else.

Britni: Yeah. I steer, steer away from that if they're around.

Melanie: Yes. If I get started…

Britni: I know it's hard to stop.

Melanie: It is.

Britni: It’s really hard to stop. And, you know, so for some people yeah, the chips, the creamy dips, for sure hot dogs are so popular, alcohol.

Melanie: Alcohol's a big one.

Britni: Yep. Really big for the fourth, and it definitely tends to be one of those holidays where you just kind of graze all day. The food never gets put away. Yeah, that's a whole other topic.

Melanie: We’ll do that one next time on food poisoning for the holiday.

Britni: And then you don't have regular meal times because you're just grazing.

Melanie: You’re grazing the potato salad.

Britni: Oh, yes. Can't forget about the potato salad. And yeah, people don't feel great the next day, a couple days after. Maybe they feel that sense of regret or shame about overindulging.

Melanie: Or even at night when you're watching the fireworks. You're revisiting how you know bloated you feel, how grimy you feel. You're covered in bug spray.

Britni: Yep.

Melanie: It's not a great feeling.

Britni: Maybe you're struggling to stay awake 'cause you're so tired from all the carbs.

Melanie: Getting a headache. Yep.

Britni: And you know, we don't want, as a dietitian, I don't want people to feel restricted. It's about making better choices for you. And it's all about choices, right? It's entirely up to you what you are choosing to eat that day.

Melanie: And I like what you said, making choices for you. We're really encouraging you advocate for yourself. Because a few hours of eating this way, usually you have sort of a food hangover for two or three days.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: So we want you to advocate for yourself. And that's what we're going to help you do.

Britni: And I would say stop that, easier said than done, but stopping that cycle of guilt and shame. Because that does not do anybody any good. And oftentimes just leads to eating more processed food.

Melanie: Yeah. Well, you know, I always say you're in it to win it. Like, well, yesterday was lousy, so I may as well finish up if there's leftovers. Dangerous place.

Britni: But we're going to talk about all sorts of strategies and really delicious ideas because I think if I have delicious food in front of me that is balanced and it's real food, it's so much easier to say no thanks to the other stuff.

Melanie: Yep. And especially if you don't slip into that deprivation, feeling sorry for yourself because you're over there eating cherry tomatoes and broccoli. And everybody else is eating the foods we mentioned. You're not, it's not sustainable.

Britni: No, it's definitely not.

Have a game plan going into the event

Melanie: So the key isn't restriction. It’s balance. So let's talk strategy. I always like to encourage my clients to have a game plan going into an event, 'cause if you walk in hungry, you smell and see those foods. And there's three kinds of chips and four types of dip, it's dangerous. So take time to think about your game plan and if you're worried about that 4th of July holiday and how it might derail you, is to make some food decisions that you will not regret later down the road.

For example, picture this: you walk into a cookout and there's a big table of food, do a lap. Just walk a lap and see what's out there. You know, after you've greeted everybody.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: And then see what's there before you start loading up your plate. I'm always looking for protein first, because if I get that protein in my stomach, the rest of me will calm down. And then I can make a decision. Sometimes my first plateful might just be the protein, and then what is going to be my protein? What do I love the most? It might, there might be chicken, wings, hot dogs, hamburgers, bratwurst, whatever you love the most. And when I think of the 4th of July, I think grilling or barbecuing.

So there will likely be burgers and maybe kebabs and some kind of protein is what you're going to start your platter with. And that's what you put on your plate. And then you might walk through and say, alright, so what's a vegetable? 'Cause you did your lap. So you're picking out foods that you're going to feel really good about, based on the plan that you made the day before.

So I even love before you do your lap to maybe sit in the car before you get in the car and envision yourself doing this before you get there.

Britni: Ooh, that's good.

Bring a healthy dish to pass (& a few ideas)

Melanie: So this is my plan. This is what I see myself doing. Coach yourself, talk yourself through it. And then when you get there, after you've picked out your protein, you're just going to pick some sort of green salad or a vegetable that's available at a cookout. It might be the vegetables that were on a kebab. So usually when I go to a potluck, I'm going to bring something that's vegetable; based because that's, Jell-O salad and macaroni salad is usually what's available; potato salad, but it's not going to fit in my goals.

So I'm going to bring something and then that way I know I have an option. And that takes even planning even earlier for grocery shopping, prepping, or whatever. I don't want to get caught unaware and think, okay, what can I drive through and pick up at the grocery store.

Britni: For sure. Yep.

Melanie: And that way I know I have an option. And even if it's going to the grocery store and picking up a pre-made veggie tray, it's going to be better than the macaroni salad, the Jell-O salad, and the potato salad. And it can be as simple as what you don't want to prepare but is easy to pick up. What's your go-to to bring to a, don't say chips and dip.

Britni: No, no. I mean, I do the same thing. I bring some sort of, usually a salad. Whether that is a lettuce salad or, you know, we have the crunchy broccoli salad recipe on our website. That's delicious.

Melanie: I bring the cruciferous. Because it doesn't wilt.

Britni: Yep, that's great. Or, like, we have a couple cabbage, cabbage based salad recipes. I love that too.

Melanie: I do too. The Asian salad is very good.

Check Out Some of Our Recipes!

Britni: Because again, it doesn't go soggy. And then I take the shortcut. I buy the already shredded up cabbage. And then it comes together super quickly and I love it. So again, I'm filling myself with that delicious salad, the protein, and then there's not a whole lot of room for the other stuff.

Melanie: Yeah, it's great.

Britni: And if I'm hosting the event and in charge of the food, you know, there's probably grilling going on. That's easy. And then you can grill the veggies too.

Melanie: Especially if you're hosting. Grilling a bunch of veggies and those are even good. So if you grill a bunch of veggies and you throw them on a platter with an acceptable dip. We have the lil’ dipper is one of the dips that you can make from our website. Maybe have a clean hummus. A good hummus that is, you know, good with avocado oil or olive oil and doesn't have any of the other bad oils. You can bring that to dip those pre grilled.

Britni: Yeah, that is so yummy.

Melanie: Those are so delicious. It's way better than a cold vegetable platter. If you can take the time to roast or grill 'em. Grilling is fabulous.

Britni: You can put 'em on a skewer. For, you know, bigger veggies like asparagus, you could put 'em directly on the grill, the grate, or you know, there's baskets. I have one of those, like a veggie basket to throw on the grill and, in addition, I would also make some sort of salad to have. Oh yeah. So there's multiple different veggie options.

Melanie: You know, and make it a little special. So if you take asparagus and you wrap it with prosciutto or you wrap it with bacon.

Britni: Yum.

Melanie: And then grill it, you know, till it is kind of crispy, those, that's even good cold. It doesn't have to be hot off the grill. Those are great to prep in advance. And they're super good if you have a, a dip and dips don't have to be too fancy. Like if you take a good mayo or you take a half mayo, half sour cream and you just add lemon juice, lemon pepper, a little garlic salt. You've got a great…

Britni: Easy. If you have fresh herbs, you could chop that up. I use my kitchen shears.

Mel: Oh yeah, to chop. Me too.

Britni: Less cleanup.

Melanie: Yes. And dill. I love getting dill and just scissoring a bunch of dill in there and, you know, everything's good with a little onion salt and Worcestershire. And you're good to go. Everyone thinks you made it fancy. My new favorite is I found at like a home goods store or something was truffle oil.

And I love to take mayo, truffle oil, garlic salt. Everyone asks, what is this dip? It's so good. And that's all it is. It's an olive oil infused truffle oil that I mix with mayo and a little garlic salt. Makes a great, unique dip.

Britni: And easy. So easy. You know, other things like you could grill peaches for your dessert. And then make homemade whipped cream. You mentioned the lil’ dipper recipe, which is great; guacamole. You could make a charcuterie board too.

Melanie: That those are always a hit.

Britni: Caprese kebabs, those are delicious. The little mozzarella balls, cherry tomato.

Melanie: The basil.

Britni: Little basil, you could drizzle with olive oil and a little balsamic.

Melanie: Yummy.

Britni: And again, those come together super quickly.

Melanie: Really colorful and beautiful. I love, I'm on a jicama kick now that it's summer.

Britni: I love jicama.

Melanie: I love jicama, and it's, I feel like it's a forgotten vegetable.

Britni: I think so too. Yeah. Most people have never had it before.

Melanie: The other thing that I love is, speaking of charcuterie board, is I'll get big fat carrots and hard zucchini and the seedless cucumbers, and you slice 'em at an angle so they're flat like a cracker.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: You just slice 'em on a diagonal and, you know, make a little snake of those on your charcuterie board so that everyone might be grabbing crackers. But you grab the vegetable to put your meat and cheese and a little olive with it. They're delicious. You feel a little self-righteous. Because you're eating vegetables. And people actually love it. We do a Super Bowl party and we, whenever I do that, the vegetables go faster than the crackers.

Britni: That's amazing.

Melanie: People want options.

Britni: Yeah, for sure. And a lot of people are trying to eat real food and limit their processed food consumption. One of my clients that I saw recently, she went to a cabin for a weekend. She brought a bunch of veggies and then when the snacks were out, she purposely put the vegetables right in front of her.

Melanie: Oh, I love that.

Britni: 'Cause we've all been there. You're standing or you're sitting in front of the food and you're just kind of mindlessly eating. She ended up eating a whole bunch of vegetables and was less tempted by all the other snacks.

Melanie: I love that she put 'em front and center. And you know, it's so true what you said about mindlessly. You don't even register and all of a sudden you've put down half a bag of chips.

Versus you're mindlessly eating with everyone else. Maybe you've got, you know, lime and raspberries in some club soda. And you're sipping and you're munching with everybody else. The hostess is not walking by going, are you not eating my dip?

Britni: Yeah. No.

Melanie: You know, we all think, yeah, I hear this a lot. I didn't want to hurt her feelings, or I didn't want to hurt his feelings and they were making this it. Their feelings are not going to be hurt. That's more about the noise in your head than it is your host or hostess. Otherwise, they're really not being a good hostess if they're pressuring you to eat something.

But there might be a favorite. You know, we're not saying you have to give up everything. But if you load your belly with the protein and the vegetables and the fiber, you're going to then pick what is your 10. On a scale of one to 10, what is the food that is your 10 on the holiday?

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: And if you have that on a good balanced meal and you have a small piece of flag cake or you have, you know, whatever it is your thing: ice cream sundae or something, no one's going to die.

Britni: Yeah. It's not the end of the world.

Melanie: But you have not, your stack is a healthy stack instead of a, a, a guilt laden processed food, blood sugar bomb, hangover making stack.

Britni: Yep. Absolutely. And I, you know, I recommend my clients do this and I practice this myself. If I see something I want to eat, I always just kind of pause. Do I really want to eat this? Am I going to enjoy it? How am I going to feel afterwards?

Melanie: Mindful.

Britni: Because oftentimes people just want to eat something 'cause it's staring at them.

Melanie: Yes.

Britni: You know, and I've grabbed a cookie just 'cause it's staring at me and it doesn't even taste that good. So if you just pause, a lot of times it's like, ah. I'm not even that hungry. I don't need it. But again, if it is something you really want, don't feel like you have to say no.

Melanie: But you can delay gratification till you get all the great food to nourish your body first.

Britni: Yep.

Melanie: And so you're full. So then literally, instead of saying, well, I'm full, I'll wait till later. We want you to have a smaller piece on a, with your full stomach so that your blood sugar doesn't take the hit. I think it is, the glucose goddess, she always says, never eat a naked carb.

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: This is what we're talking about. Yeah.

Britni: Yeah. And you and I did a podcast on food sequencing where we dived into this concept a little bit more. When we get back, we're going to talk about what are you going to drink over the 4th of July?

-----

Welcome back. Before the break, we gave you all sorts of yummy ideas of things to bring to 4th of July, or if you're hosting and just thinking about creating a strategy and a plan for yourself is, it's really important. Even though this is what we do, I do that for myself.

Melanie: I have to.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: You know, another thing that works out really well is chicken drummies.

Britni: Mm. Great idea.

Melanie: You know, and then you just, you get one of those containers that you can put ice in the bottom and then set yours on top. But, chicken drumsticks, meatballs with toothpicks. These are all healthy real foods that feel a little, they feel a little special.

Hydration & beverage ideas

Britni: Yeah. A little something special. Yeah, well let's talk about hydration. I mean, when it's hot out, especially like you're out at the lake, you're running around maybe playing yard games, it's hot. You might be sweating. You can boost hydration by mixing in electrolyte powder in your water bottle.

Melanie: It tastes good too.

Britni: Yeah. Yeah. And there are, I can't even keep up with all the different ones out there nowadays, but basically look for avoiding ones with a lot of sugar, avoiding ones with artificial sweeteners. So that would be sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame potassium.

Melanie: Food dyes.

Britni: Food dyes; those are going to be the big things to try to avoid. We have one called Synerplex. And It comes in a little tub. It's not flavored, but I've had clients add that to the Key Greens powder.

Melanie: I've had 'em add it to the hydration.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: I like the idea of you adding it to Fruits and Greens so that there's some flavor in there. That's delicious. And the other thing that you can do is, you know, half water, half coconut water.

Britni: Yes. I, I give that to my kids in the summer. Because it has naturally occurring electrolytes in it. It also has naturally occurring sugar so I wouldn't just be…

Melanie: Drinking it full bore on all the time. But if you mix a little in with your water and then squeeze some lemon lime in there, delicious.

Britni: Yeah. It tastes good. At first, it's maybe not what you think it's going to taste like.

Melanie: Trial it before you go. But I always encourage people, bring your own water bottle. You know, and you can put your electrolytes in your water bottle, even if you're not just drinking only that and you're running and drinking the water they're supplying. If you're sipping on that, that's going to help keep you hydrated.

Britni: Yep.

Melanie: But instead of like punch or Kool-Aid, make a big picture of like Key Greens and Fruits powder.

Shop Key Greens & Fruits Powder!

They come with delicious flavors, which is made from whole food Concentrate, has antioxidant equivalent of over 20 servings of fruits and vegetables. So it's not all the flavor of a sweet powdered drink with none of the added sugar.

It's sweetened with stevia, so it's not going to, or monk fruit. They have both. And then depending upon the flavor you choose, you can trial 'em. They've got, you know, little sample packs that you can come in and get for like a dollar something and trial the ones that you want.

But I've u we use those a lot and I like to use the berry or the pink lemonade flavor on a hot summer day. Especially, everyone loves it. Children love it. But if you take the pink lemonade and you, you have to mix slowly because it will bubble with club soda.

Britni: Oh.

Melanie: And you put it over ice. It's very refreshing.

Britni: Yum.

Melanie: And, yeah. It tastes delicious. You have to go slow because it bubbles when it hits that club soda. So, warning.

Britni: I, the lemonade is my favorite too. And then I add some lemon juice to it.

Melanie: There is another one I love, which is the Tangerine, Blackberry Tangerine.

Britni: Yes. That's a great one too.

Melanie: That's another really good one.

Britni: And you can make homemade popsicles using the Key Greens and Fruits powder. We have a recipe on our website if you want, want to check that out. That would be a really great idea to make ahead of time for the fourth especially. Of course, adults like popsicles too.

Melanie: Yeah, we do.

Britni: But the kids will particularly, enjoy them.

Melanie: And you know, if you take a can of full fat canned coconut milk and you mix in the chocolate or the chocolate mint Key Greens, I just throw it in the blender 'cause I'm lazy. And those make amazing popsicles.

Britni: Oh, I bet.

Melanie: Creamy.

Britni: Yeah. Like a fudgesicle.

Melanie: Like a fudgesicle.

Britni: Good idea. And then for adults, like we talked about earlier, it's a big weekend for alcohol consumption. So if you are choosing to partake in that, make sure to keep yourself hydrated. Drink water. For every beverage, drink a glass of water as well. And if you don't want to partake, there's lots of other delicious options.

Melanie: We’ve got mocktails on our website.

Britni: Yes we do. I mean, just the lemonade with club soda.

Mel: Mm-hmm. Slice of lemon or lime in there.

Britni: Yeah. Because let's be real. Alcohol does not benefit you in any way.

Melanie: No.

Britni: It can create some blood sugar dysregulation. It can cause some cravings. You might get the munchies, might get into the chips and dip.

Melanie: You can go in with the best of intentions.

Britni: Yes.

Melanie: And then you have a cocktail or two. And then you're like, oh, I'm having that chips and dip.

Britni: Yes. Yep.

Melanie: So the other thing I ask my clients is what's the conversation before you indulge? There's always a conversation in your head that happens before you indulge in something you wish you hadn't. So tapping into that prior to going, to an event like the 4th of July is a great strategy. So it might sound like, well, it's the 4th of July. I had a rough week. This is my only day off this week. I deserve, fill in the blank.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: So I always ask them, it's how you frame the food. So if you are framing the indulgence food with a treat or a deserved something because you've had a rough day, you have to ask yourself what is, what is your gain? So are you going to gain weight? Are you going to gain bloating? Are you going to gain a headache? Are you going to, so the, you need to reframe the food that has always been your favorite; been your comfort. And you reframe it as, I've had a bad, a long week, this is my only day off. I deserve weight gain, bloating, inflammation, regrets on Monday. That's what nobody deserves.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: So it's how you frame your food is really impactful before you get there.

Britni: Yep. Yeah. Our whole mindset is, is so powerful. And I think if you don't want to drink alcohol, again, having that plan of what are you going to bring so you don't feel deprived, you have something fun to kind of sip on. There's those prebiotic drinks out there. I don't really think they do much for your gut, but they’re something different.

Melanie: Yes, there’s probiotic drinks that you're talking about, like kombucha?

Britni: Or like they're, they call them sodas.

Melanie: Prebiotic sodas, and they're low in sugar.

Britni: Yup, sweetened with stevia. Or just a sparkling water.

Melanie: A sparkling water. They also have, sort of a low sugar stevia sweetened adaptogen drinks that some of my clients, when they're transitioning off their wine at, at at night habit, they'll, they'll get those and put 'em in their wine glass.

Britni: Yeah, I've had clients do that too. Great recommendation.

Healthy dessert ideas

Melanie: So what about dessert? If you've got a sweet tooth, 4th of July desserts can be hard to pass up. You've got flag decorated cakes, you've got homemade pie or cobbler with ice cream. You've got red, white, and blue, everything. So here's an idea.

Take some simple water glasses or mason jars and layer up different colored berries with real whipped cream. In between each layer, you can drizzle some nuts on top for some, or berries or even, a drizzle of peanut butter. So there's a beautiful infested looking dessert using all real food.

Real whipped cream is so easy to make at home and it's such a treat. I will also take full fat cream cheese and blend it with whipped cream. And I put a little stevia and almond extract and it tastes like fruit dip, and then you layer it with your fruit. That's really, really delicious and nobody's suffering. And then you’re eating real food.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: Everybody loves it. So it can be almond extract or you know, whatever your favorites are.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: But I find the almond extract was the biggest hit. So that's what I always do. And if you are dairy free, you can always use a coconut whip with a dairy free cream cheese. So you've got options for those of us who have to eat dairy free. It's so nice when someone has done a real food treat for us.

Britni: Good ideas.

Mel: Those are some options.

Britni: Delicious. Yeah. I've also made a watermelon bowl. Cut a watermelon in half. Scoop it out.

Melanie: Those are so cute.

Britni: Fill it up with mixed fruit. Looks super festive. Everybody loves it. Especially the kids.

Melanie: I also love fruit kebabs.

Britni: Oh yeah.

Melanie: Those are fun to do. And you know, they're a little “putsy”. The watermelon doesn't last that long on there. So I don't recommend the watermelon, but if you're doing, you know, pineapple, grapes, strawberries, apple.

The apple, if you just, once it's chopped, if you sort of toss it with lemon juice, it's not going to get that browning. But yeah, those fruit kabobs are fun. Just don't let children run around with them in their hand or their mouth. Or the adults, I guess.

Britni: Yeah, that's true.

Melanie: Especially the ones that are cocktailing. So give them a bowl of fruit. So we want you to celebrate the holiday with joy, not guilt. Just go in mindfully with a plan, and check in with how you're feeling, how you're doing throughout the day. Sometimes it's going to the restroom.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

More strategies to stay on track

Melanie: And having a moment alone. How am I doing? How's my strategy? And that's the time to say, literally say to yourself, you are doing a good job. You know yourself and use your first name. Melanie, you are doing a great job. You're going to feel so much better on Monday. And then the other thing is you can tell yourself, if I feel deprived after this 4th of July, maybe I will never eat real food again on the next holiday. Like it's not forever. Just use it as one holiday. You're experimenting. How do I feel? Go to the restroom. Check in with yourself. And praise yourself.

Britni: And you know, when people bring something delicious, there's yummy options. They never regret eating real food.

Melanie: No. And if you, if you find an activity also to get you away from those tempting foods.

Britni: Yeah, that's true.

Melanie: You know, it might be cornhole, it might be badminton, it might be volleyball. It might be, I'm going to sit over here under the shade and get away from that darn table of food. Because if you're unable to stay away from those foods, the best thing is to remove yourself.

Just move away. It's advocating for yourself. Take yourself by the hand and walk away. So you can put the snacks and desserts away when everyone's done eating. So you don't take nibble after nibble, after nibble. You know, people go through a phase and they’re pretty much done.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: You know, wrapping up the food and carting it away is going to prevent anyone from getting food poisoning certainly. But there's simple little tricks and solutions that can make a big difference.

Britni: And I also want to say, you do not need to earn your food with either excessive exercise or skipping meals the day before or after. That is, that never works out.  

Melanie No, you really can't out-exercise food.

Britni: No. No. And personally, what I find working with clients is we tend to make the best food decisions when we eat in balance and have balanced blood sugars leading up to the event. So that means making sure you're having a big balanced protein rich breakfast and lunch if lunch is before the event. And if you become inconsistent with your balanced eating that day during a big holiday, we always say you are just one meal or snack away from getting back into eating real food, back into your regular eating routine, so it does not have to derail you for a week or two weeks or anything like that.

Melanie: Certainly, because if you're having, you know, your 10 or what your treat is, maybe it's a little bowl of ice cream or something instead of, if you've buffered yourself with all this real food and you have that, and then you stop at that, you're basically telling yourself, I can do this event.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: I can have a little something.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: And I don't have to feel like I, I'm in this season of poor eating. And then the next holiday does not loom, 'cause you've successfully met your goals.

Britni: That's great.

Melanie: You can just repeat.

Britni: Yeah. And the other thing I find very helpful for clients is not going into it saying, I can't have the chips, I can't have the dessert. Because you tell yourself you can't, human nature, you want to rebel from that.

Melanie: We do.

Britni: So I'm choosing not to.

Melanie: That's a great strategy.

Britni: Because X, Y, Z, it's not supporting my goals. I'm not going to feel well afterwards, whatever that is for you personally. And then again, if you choose to, that's all right. You just move on from it.

Melanie: Yeah. I love that. Yeah, I choose not to.

Britni: Mm-hmm.

Melanie: I'm choosing. That way, you're the boss of you.

Britni: Yeah. You're, you're in power.

Recap

Melanie: Yeah. So, to recap our discussion today, first you want to make a mental plan ahead of the holiday weekend. Visualize yourself how you're going to do it, what your strategy is, and then what are you going to do to support yourself? If you foresee a roadblock, how will you overcome it? You know, I want to touch on when you see a roadblock, it might be aunt so and so always hosts, these are the foods everyone always brings. And so you feel a little pigeonholed by what's available and that's when you put on your cooking shoes and you make some things that are going to be okay for you.

Britni: Yeah.

Melanie: So next survey before you serve. Take a look at all the available food options once you get there. And make sure you've eaten in balance earlier in the day so you're not overly hungry when you get there. Once you smell all the foods, it's very hard if you're hungry.

Britni: Yeah, it is. And once you get there, fill your plate, fill half your plate with protein, load it up with veggies, and remember to hydrate throughout the day. If you choose to eat a dessert outside of your normal eating habits, savor it and make sure, like you said, it's going to be a 10. Are you actually going to really enjoy this? Or if you're tempted by something, just pause and ask yourself if you really want it and how you might feel the next day.

Melanie: You know, I remember a 4th of July, someone else had the flag cake, got the flag cake, and realized the cake itself wasn't the thing. It was the whipped cream and the berry. So I just take the top off two pieces.

Britni: Yeah, there you go. That's great.

Melanie: Secretly I threw the little cake away, but you know, we do what we have to.

Britni: It works. Yeah.

Melanie: So, and finally, we want you to enjoy the holiday. Focus on the people, not just the plate. If you get off track over the holiday and need some support, we are here to help. Whether you're interested in a group class or one-on-one counseling appointment, give us a call.

Schedule Nutrition Counseling or Take a Class!

There's no shame in our game. We're just here to support you at 651-699-3438 to discuss your options so that we can help you feel your best this summer and beyond. We at Nutritional Weight & Wellness wish you a wonderful 4th of July.

Britni: Thanks for listening.