Total Gym

Introducing New Nutrition Contributor – Tara Coleman: 4th of July Diet Tips

Hello! I’m Tara Coleman and I’m excited to start blogging for Total Gym. I am a Clinical Nutritionist in San Diego specializing in sports nutrition, healthy weight loss and increasing energy.

Hot dogs, potato salad, nacho chips, red-white-and-blue colored deserts…for many of us the 4^th of July is not only a celebration of our national independence but also our personal independence from healthy eating!  I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be…and I don’t mean you have to stay at home doing sit-ups and eating broccoli.  If you follow these simple tips you can have some fun, enjoy the food and not spend all of July paying for it:

1. Don’t Skip the Gym – I know we are all anxious to get to the beach but be sure to make time to exercise in first thing in the morning. This will burn a few extra calories and you are more likely to crave healthier foods.
2. Eat Before You Go - Always make sure to eat a little something before you head out for 4^th of July festivities.  If you are starving when you get there you are much more likely to over eat.
3. Step Away From the Food Table – Your physical location (i.e., bellied up to the chip bowl) is the biggest culprit when it comes to mindless eating.  It’s one thing to indulge in one of your favorite foods, but most of the extra holiday calories come from food we hardly enjoy and barely remember.  We simply eat it because it’s there.  Prepare a small plate of your favorite foods and then head to the other side of the party.  This holds true for the bar as well.  This trick may not only save your waistline but also a little face!
4. Don’t be Afraid of Seconds – When you prepare your first plate take about half as much food as you think you want.  Enjoy this plate, wait a couple of minutes, and if you are still hungry go back for seconds.  This will allow some time for your body to determine if it is really still hungry and allow you to remain a member of the Clean Plate Club!
5. It’s Just One Day – I know 4th of July falls on Sunday this year, but that should not be a justification to kick off over-indulgence on Friday and keep it going strong through Monday!  A little extra on a single day is something your body can handle but a four day binge is going to be much tougher to recover from.  So pick one of the days of the long weekend to treat yourself and stick to your normal routine the rest of the days.  I promise that heading into this summer lean, strong and healthy is going to feel so much better than that third helping of potato salad!

Happy 4th of July!

Tara Coleman is a Clinical Nutritionist in San Diego, CA. She’ll be guest blogging twice a month with “Tara’s Friday Bite.” Subscribe to receive our RSS Feed and/or Email Updates (see CONNECT WITH US) so you’re always in the loop on Tara’s posts! Leave us your comments with ideas for future topics or email Tara directly at tara@taracoleman.com.

Tara Coleman, Clinical Nutritionist www.taracoleman.com