Summer is synonymous with barbecuing for most of us, and often it’s a time when all that’s on offer are a few old fat-laden sausages and burgers.

But, barbecuing doesn’t have to equal unhealthy food! 

So, before you dust off your barbecue this summer, here are 7 tips to help you enjoy the BBQ season while still eating healthy…

1. Go for lean or extra lean meats
If your barbeque normally consists of fatty, processed meats why not try healthier options such as chicken, turkey or soy hot dogs?

When purchasing meat look out for those marked “lean” or “extra lean” at the supermarket, and remember to trim any visible fat prior to cooking.

Another delicious option is to serve fish of some description. You could go for monkfish cubes, with alternate chunks of mango, then drizzle with a little olive oil to cook, and served with wedges of lime.

Or, if salmon’s more your thing, place salmon fillets into separate sheets of foil to make individual parcels, squeeze some lemon juice over, wrap up and pop on the barbeque for around 10 minutes.

2. Add flavour with marinades
Try marinading meats for a few hours before you begin cooking to add delicious flavours without hiking up the calories too much.

Worcestershire sauce (2 tablespoons contain 30 calories), low sodium soy sauce (2  tablespoons contain 120 calories), lime juice, and tomato paste (2 tablespoons contain 40 calories), work really well.

3. Serve a vegetarian option
Why not break away from the not-so-exciting veggie burger vegetarian option, and do something a little different?

You could try grilling extra-firm tofu - it will work really well on a skewer with some vegetables.

Another option is to serve barbecued halloumi - this cheese is firm so it won’t melt when cooked, meaning you can slice or cube it to cook over the barbecue until browned on the outside, and soft on the inside.

4. Go for barbecued veggies
Barbecued vegetables are delicious, and it’s a great way to add more variation and colour to your party food.

Go for vegetable kebabs, or try wrapping different vegetables in foil and then popping straight onto the grill.

Whole mushrooms, corn on the cob, and asparagus spears barbecue really well. Or, if you’re making up kebabs try layering onion slices with aubergine, bell peppers, and zucchini, or any combination of your favourite veggies.

5. Serve wholegrains on the side
Rather than opting for the traditional white breads, rice and pasta on the side, go for wholegrain options instead.

Look out for wholegrain, seeded breads and baps at the supermarket, and make your own wholemeal pasta, brown rice, or buckwheat salads with lots of extra vegetables, rather than serving creamy store-bought coleslaw’s and potato salads.

Another wonderful side option for barbecuing is jacket potatoes. Again, wrap them in foil, and simply place directly onto the coals, then leave to cook for approximately one hour while you wait for everything else.

6. Control your portion size
Choosing healthier portions at the barbecue will obviously help you keep the calories at bay. Encourage everyone to eat healthier by serving smaller portions:

• Go for extra-lean 1/4 pound burgers, rather than 1/2 pound patties
• Choose quality over quantity - for example fillet steaks, lean chicken breasts and lean pork chops
• Serve plenty of vegetables and salads with your meats
• Slice larger cuts of meat, such whole pork tenderloin or roast meats thinly before serving

7. Go for healthy munchies
It’s really easy to put all your calorie counting out of sink by overdoing it with unhealthy snacks.

To make sure that doesn’t happen, serve nuts in their shells rather than potato chips or salted nuts. Pistachios are a great option with only 100 calories for about 30.

Also remember the fibre and protein content in nuts will help curb your appetite too.

You could also make up a large bowl of fresh fruit salad and serve with low fat yoghurt for everyone to snack on.

Or, to finish off your meal with a healthy sweet treat, serve barbecued bananas - when the charcoal starts to die down, wrap bananas in foil in their skins and pop on the shelf, leave for about 10 minutes then unwrap and enjoy!

What healthy foods do you serve at your barbeque?

Photo credit: biewoef

In winter most of us complain it’s too cold to exercise outdoors, then when summer comes round we find ourselves moaning it’s too hot!

If your motivation to exercise gets a bit flat-lined at this time of year, here are 8 of my best tips to help you stick with your workout routine, despite the hot weather:

1. Adjust your priorities
The simple fact is, if you truly value something, you’ll do it.

So, rather than putting working out as the last thing on your to-do list, make it one of your top priorities - this way you’ll find the time somehow.

2. Set specific goals
If you normally say to yourself, “I’m going to exercise more,” but find you struggle to do just that, instead say to yourself, “I’m going to get up at 7.30 am every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to walk for 30 minutes before work.”

This is much better because it’s specific, clear, and achievable.

3. Check the map
If your usual workout route leaves you boiling in the hot sun or soaking wet because of the rain (if you live in the UK!!), find an alternative route, or place to workout - perhaps indoors would be better, or maybe earlier/later in the day?

4. Try a different surface
Working out on asphalt or concrete can be tough in summer because these surfaces tend to radiate heat and reflect the sun’s rays, making you feel hotter. As an alternative you could try a dirt or gravel path, or perhaps grass or sand. 

Another great idea is to take advantage of any lakes or sea nearby - the surroundings can be so refreshing, not to mention the advantage of a breeze to keep you cooler.

5. Cover your head
When your head gets too hot it can be extremely difficult to keep up with a strenuous exercise routine. A good solution is to wear a mesh visor to keep the sun off your face, but at the same time allow the heat to escape from your head.

6. Use essential oils
I have to say this is one I’ve never tried, but I think it could be worth giving a go. 

Minna Lessig, creator of the Tank Top Arms, Bikini Belly, Boy Shorts Bottom DVD, says putting a few drops of peppermint or eucalyptus oil on the back of your neck and at your temples, just before you head out for a workout provides a cooling effect, and it also opens up your nasal passages, helping you to breathe a little easier.

In fact, research has found that athletes who sniffed peppermint during their workout ran faster, had greater grip strength, and could do more push-ups than those who didn’t.

7. Include some intervals
When it’s really hot outside it can be difficult to keep up with your regular routine.

So, do whatever you normally do at a slightly slower pace, with the addition of 30-second bursts every 5 minutes to keep the intensity high enough to be beneficial.

8. Make other activities count
Even though the temperature’s soaring outside you probably still have a ton of other things to get done.

Remember, activities such as washing the car, gardening, mowing the lawn, or walking the dog are burning calories too, so put as much energy into them as you can muster and make sure they count as well.

It’s also extremely important to keep well hydrated in the hot weather, so do fill up with fluids before you head out into the sun, and take some water with you as well.

What are your tips for working out in the summer?

Photo credit: Glumus

Personally I’m of the opinion that it’s a great source of nutrition, and packed to the brim with essential nutrients - it’s a pretty awesome choice. 

Lately I’ve come across a few interesting studies about dairy, and so I thought I’d share them with you here…

Milk Increases Satiety

One study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that drinking fat free milk in the morning helped increase the feeling of fullness, and subsequently led to decreased calorie intake at the next meal in comparison to a fruit drink.

The study showed that those who drank milk ate around 50 fewer calories at lunchtime. Possible reasons for this were the:

• Milk’s protein content
• Natural sugar in milk, called lactose
• Thickness of the milk

Dairy Calcium Leads to Fat Excretion

Another study published in Obesity Reviews, reported that diets higher in dairy calcium caused greater excretion of fat in the feces, than diets which were lower in calcium.

This study is pretty exciting, suggesting a reduced amount of fat may be absorbed by the body when your diet is higher in calcium, and therefore weight loss could be achieved.

Researchers found that the calcium effect was most pronounced when dairy calcium foods were given to people who didn’t normally have a high calcium intake, and less pronounced in those who were already eating a calcium-rich diet.

They found that adding 1241mg of calcium to the diet each day caused an additional 5.2g of fat to be excreted in the feces.

Here in UK we have a facinating TV programme called “The Truth About Food,” and each week they put studies and theories to the test. Last week they decided to put this study in the hot seat, and achieved some very interesting results.

Here’s what they did:

• Week one was a diet high in calcium (2000mg). 
• Week two was a diet low in calcium (500mg). 
• Crucially, both diets had an identical calorie content and were calculated to have the same fat content. 
• What they discovered: In the high dairy calcium group, twice the percentage of fat eaten came out in their stools, in comparison to when they ate a low calcium diet. 

So, what does this mean for you and I?

Well, it seems that adding a glass of milk to your breakfast could be a great way to reduce your calorie intake later in the day. These studies are also particularly good news if you don’t eat much dairy already - it seems you could benefit most.

Again, I must stress this isn’t an excuse to start munching on cheese morning, noon, and night - a high fat intake can still lead to obesity.

The important thing to notice with this second study is that the overall calorie content of subjects diets remained the same - they weren’t simply piling dairy on top of what they were already eating.

The current RDA/RNI for calcium is 1000mg/day for those 19 to 50 years, and 1200mg/day for those 51 years and above. To get this you should aim for 2-3 servings of dairy foods each day.

A serving is equal to:

• 1 cup (8 fl oz) of milk 
• 1 cup of yogurt 
• 1.5 oz of cheese (such as Cheddar) 

What are your thoughts on this research? 

Photo credit: Sunfox

What is it? A jump rope of course!

What I love about skipping is you can burn an amazing amount of calories in just 15 to 20 minutes. Depending on how fast you jump, you could potentially burn off 5 to 15 calories per minute.

Rope jumping is also great for improving agility, balance and coordination.

If you’ve tried using a jump rope lately you may have discovered it’s not as easy as it looks. How many minutes can you do before giving up?

Most people find that in the beginning it’s pretty difficult to keep up for long enough to be effective, and it’s also easy to lose your rhythm.

So, here are 10 tips to improve your rope jumping success:

1. A beaded rope is easier to control than a lightweight cloth or vinyl rope.

2. Wear a supportive training shoe to minimize the impact on your feet and joints.

3. Use flat surface, such as a wooden floor.

4. Shorten the rope so the handles reach your armpits.

5. Look straight ahead rather than down while jumping.

6. Maintain good posture by pulling your shoulders slightly back, bracing your abdomen and keeping your shoulders pulled down away from your ears.

7. Relax your arms by your sides, and turn the rope by making small circles with your wrists, rather than big circles with your shoulders.

8. Stay high on the toes - these are your body’s natural shock absorbers.

9. You don’t need to come more than an inch off the ground with each jump.

10. Remember to warm up, stretch and cool down to help prevent injury.

In the initial stages you may find it helpful to alternate rope jumping with power walking to help build your stamina.

Start by doing 30 seconds of each, then increasing to 1 minute, and so on. As you get more comfortable, begin continuous jumping for as long as you can.

Target Heart Rate

While using the jump rope you should pay attention to your heart rate to make sure you’re exercising with enough intensity to benefit from the exercise, but not so vigorously that you’re at risk of injury.

Your maximal heart rate is 220 minus your age. At the high end of your target zone it’s 85% of that number, the low end is 70%.

For example, if you’re 27 years old, your maximal heart rate is 193, and your target zone is 135 - 164 beats per minute.

JumpSnap: Ropeless Jump Rope

If you find yourself constantly getting tangled up in the rope, how about giving the Ropeless Jump Rope a go?

The JumpSnap Rope is made with two weighted handles, rather than the traditional rope. It also has a nifty little function which will inform you how many calories you’ve burned, the number of rotations, and the total time you’ve been working out, and it’s perfect if you have limited space to work out.

You can purchase the JumpSnap for $39.95.

Something that strikes me as I listen to people talking about eating, is the sheer indoctrination about dieting.

There’s this idea that to be thin we must avoid all “bad” foods and replace them with so-called “good” foods. Last time I checked, there was no such thing as a good or bad food!

There’s also an extremely frustrating idea that to lose weight successfully you must follow some kind of stupid diet plan - clearly I’m not a fan!

I really struggle with this kind of thinking.

On the one hand, I want people to be able to enjoy the pleasures of eating. So I’d love to say, “You can have a piece of chocolate cake once in a while.” But, on the other hand I know that for some that’s the very thing which will set them off on a bad bout of eating again.

This concerns me, because eating is supposed to be enjoyable!

I’d love to hear from you guys - how do you deal with these issues? Are you in favour of complete abstinence from any food that appears “bad,” or do you allow yourself to indulge once in a while?

I’m also wondering if guilt is a major factor for any of you?

For me, a piece of homemade chocolate gâteau or cheesecake now and then does the trick. And, I don’t feel guilty about it because I know it’s an occasional treat. Is it like that for you?

Unfortunately, shame and guilt are two things many people have associated with food for years.

The fear of getting “fat” can actually be quite gripping. And, when you do give in to having a treat, you can end up feeling utterly tortured because you think you’ve “blown it” once again.

Can you imagine what it would be like if food wasn’t the enemy, but rather something you have complete control over, and most of all something you enjoyed?

What would that look like for you? No more counting calories or avoiding parties, just in case!

Remember, none of us eat perfectly all of the time. So, if you feel like you’ve slipped up, rather than entertaining thoughts of guilt, put it down to experience and move on. Guilt doesn’t do any good, in fact it’s probably more harmful than anything else.

Again, this isn’t a license to eat poorly and not care. But, I believe we need to get out of the mentality that certain foods are “good” or “bad.”

What are your thoughts on this? Do you struggle to eat without guilt?

Photo source: Lusi