Avoid the 5 biggest fat traps when barbecuing and come through the summer slim

The typical barbecue plate: a juicy steak, a few crispy sausages, the various favorite sauces, a large scoop of potato salad, and a few pieces of garlic bread. Add a cold beer and you’re ready to go. Yum! Unfortunately, we all know that such a plate can harm your summer figure. But where exactly do the nasty fat traps hide while grilling?And how can we handle this? Good news for barbecue lovers: Grilling can also be delicious and healthy!

Ironically, the most important ingredient at a bbq party can be the most harmful to your figure. Crunchy sausages and juicy steaks are delicious, but also very fattening. Sausages often contain not only meat, but also fat and sugar and modified starch. At an average weight of 100 grams, a single sausage contains about 200-350 calories. Pork and beef steaks are equally high calorie. However, low calorie alternatives are available, these include: fish & lean meats

Of course for non-vegetarians, meat on the grill is an absolute must. And luckily there are some lean and low-calorie meats that you can safely eat without feeling guilty. These include chicken breasts and certain lean fillets. In addition, fish such as salmon, tuna, and trout are also very good for the grill : fish is not only delicious, but are also very healthy due to its valuable omega fatty acids. Whether in aluminum foil or placed directly on the grill, the advantage of these low-calorie alternatives: they contain many proteins. Low carb grilling is therefore the keyword: go for the lean chicken or fish with low fat content.

Our advice:

• For fatty meats, cut off the fatty edges
• Stay away from processed meat
• Go for the low-calorie alternative “fish and lean meats”

Caution! The beloved barbecue sauces and condiments are among the treacherous fat traps. The classic sauces include aioli, cocktail sauce, BBQ sauce, garlic sauce, mayonnaise, and ketchup. Unfortunately, all have a lot of calories and sugar. Although the calorie content can vary depending on the manufacturer and type, even a tablespoon of sauce can contain up to 70 calories. Don’t think it’s a good idea to go for the “light” sauces, as these often contain artificial sweeteners such as aspartame and sucralose, which can be harmful to health and lead to further food cravings. The low calorie alternative is: DIY (Do it Yourself).

By making your favorite sauce yourself, you can save a lot of calories. The advantage: you know what’s inside. This means sauces made from low calorie, low fat alternatives like tomato and yogurt. It is also advisable to marinate fish and meat yourself, as there are also many hidden calories in store-bought marinades. For example, a homemade herbal marinade is ideal because it is low in fat yet tastes intense. Again, there is an advantage: fresh herbs are available in the summer in almost every supermarket, or perhaps even your own herb garden. You can also easily make rubs for meat and fish yourself.

Our advice:

• Keep your fingers away from light sauces
• The best option is to “Make the sauces yourself”
• Leave home-made marinades in the refrigerator overnight to intensify their herbal aromas and taste

Pasta salad, garlic bread, and grilled cheese. While reading, many of our mouths started watering. But behind these goodies hide nasty fat traps. Noodle and potato salad should be healthy because it contains the word “salad”, right? It would be nice. The reality is that a lot of mayonnaise, oil, or similar calorie bombs are added to this type of “salad”. In addition, pasta and potatoes contain significantly more carbohydrates and calories than leafy lettuce. Even the beloved garlic bread is, with about 60 calories and about 3 grams of fat per slice (about 20 g), at the top of the fat trap list, because let’s face it: often it is not possible to eat just one piece. Halloumi-Grilled cheese serves as a delicious, but not necessarily as a lighter, alternative to grilled meats. One pack (250 g) has a whopping total of 800 kcal. If you’re following a low carb diet, you should be particularly careful with the side dishes. The low-calorie alternatives here: grilled vegetables and salads. Go for the veggies instead, then you can barbecue without a guilty conscience.

It is advisable, to go for the fresh salads with healthy greens, instead of rich noodle and potato salads. A tasty salad has the advantage: it has fewer calories and can be prepared to your own taste. Go for colorful vegetables. They’re low in calories, with many vitamins (micronutrients), and on top of that, colorful veggies help make a beautiful plate. Grilled vegetables are therefore a perfect side to the main meat dish. Try grilling zucchinis, eggplants, mushrooms, peppers, potatoes and corn on the cob. Perfect for vegan and vegetarians also.

Our advice:

• Avoid calorie bombs like pasta and potato salads (too much mayonnaise and oil)
• The best low-calorie alternatives are grilled vegetables and fresh salad.

Where there is hunger, there is thirst. When grilling, beer, wine, and sugary drinks such as coke are popular thirst quenchers. The problem: you drink them without being aware of the nutritional values, calories, and consequences. Alcohol is indispensable for many people at a barbecue, but unfortunately, it’s also a true weight loss killer. Alcohol contains as much as 7 kcal per gram and has strong effects on blood sugar, and therefore on insulin levels, resulting in increased appetite. This in turn causes you to grab extra portions of grilled meat and side dishes, even though you are already full. Unfortunately, there are many other negative effects of alcohol on the body, such as nutrient utilization (which slows down fat burning) and water balance. Drinks like juices and soda pop are also high calorie. Again, “light” drinks are definitely not better! The true low-calorie alternatives are: alcohol / sugar-free drinks and fruit juice diluted with seltzer water.

If your fluid requirement is largely covered by high-sugar and high-calorie drinks, numerous extra calories quickly accumulate. It is therefore important to know that the lower the alcohol content of a drink, the lower the calorie content. It is best, of course, to abstain from alcohol altogether and to resort to non-alcoholic alternatives, such as fruit juice diluted with sparkling water, unsweetened teas and “fruit infused water”. The latter is water mixed with fresh lemon, lime, mint, raspberry, ginger, ect.. There are no limits to your creativity. Besides, these drinks are not only healthy, but also delicious!

Our advice:

• If you do drink juice, then mix it in a 1: 1 ratio with sparkling water.
• Quench your thirst with water before you reach for the drinks that are primarily for pleasure.
• Avoid alcohol. If you must drink alcohol then do so in moderation.

Everybody knows this situation: after a long day, you are looking forward to having a barbecue with family and friends and you skipped breakfast to “save” the calories for the barbecue. The stomach growls, it’s 4 pm and the food’s finally ready: the finished grill plate is in front of you and the smell of the numerous delicacies makes your mouth water. Since you are so hungry, you start wolfing down your food faster than intended. The problem: by eating food to quickly you end up eating significantly more, because the feeling of being full occurs only a few minutes later. To counter this, it is advisable to eat slowly, to chew well and consciously and to concentrate on the taste. Furthermore, you should sit and not stand or walk about. This causes satiety to occur more quickly and stimulates saliva production and digestive enzymes.

Our advices:

• Drink a glass of water before eating to fill your stomach and cushion your hunger
• Eat more consciously: eat more slowly, chew well, and enjoy the food
• Eat while sitting and take small bites

Stick to our tips at the next barbecue party as much as you can and you’ll see that grilling can be fun and even delicious in a healthy, low-calorie way. You’d still like to get rid of all the extra weight you put on at the last barbecues? Then let our nutrition experts create an individual diet Plan for weight loss now.