Planning ahead is just as important when it comes to eating, whether traveling or just enjoying the days of summer with friends and family at the beach or a back yard barbeque.
Keeping up with your healthy lifestyle habits like regular physical activity, meal planning, glucose monitoring, and taking medication will help keep you on track. When invited to a summer picnic or barbeque consider offering to bring a dish to share. This will assure a healthy option. Don’t skip meals and snacks. Depending on your meal plan and medication needs, it may be possible to eat a smaller meal earlier in the day to leave a little more room for the party. Care should be taken to plan wisely for carb and insulin needs and maintain a balance throughout the day. Spacing carbohydrate intake evenly through out the day helps keep blood glucose stable. Consider the following to enjoy the flavors of the season and keep glucose controlled:
- Don’t forget hidden ingredients. Brown sugar added to barbeque sauce or baked beans are sometimes overlooked when counting carbs. Although mayonnaise, sour cream or cream cheese don’t add carbs, they add lots of calories. Think about taking a smaller serving of baked beans or potato salad and an extra serving of grilled veggies to keep carb intake balanced.
- Make substitutions. Instead of adding a lot of mayo to that grilled chicken sandwich, experiment with different mustards and load it up with lettuce, tomato, avocado, spinach, or even grilled onions and peppers.
- Stick with lean, grilled meat, poultry, or fish. There are many delicious grilled options from chicken kabobs, grilled salmon to turkey burgers.
- Load up on veggies! Cut up your favorite raw veggies and enjoy with hummus, or a dip made from non-fat Greek yogurt. A green salad, vegetable kabobs, or a variety of grilled vegetables are great ways to round out a meal.
- Alcohol in moderation. It’s easy to lose track of what you are eating after a few drinks. Not to mention, there is carbohydrate in beer, dessert wines, and regular soda if used in cocktails. Moderation is considered one alcoholic beverage per day for women and two for men.
- Stay hydrated and drink plenty of water! Add a slice of lemon or lime or try out sparkling or mineral water for a change. Sugar-free lemonade or unsweetened iced tea are also great thirst quenchers on a hot summer day.
- Enjoy fresh fruit. Nothing says summer like sliced watermelon or strawberries. Sometimes these sweet treats are enough to satisfy that yearning to reach for a brownie.