What’s more fun in the warm months than grilling?

Grilling with friends.

Host your own backyard barbeque and invite all your buddies over for a tasty meal and some backyard fun.

Here are some tips to get your party started right.

The number one complaint most people have about throwing a party is that they have to do so much preparation and cooking that by the time the company arrives, they are exhausted.

People often underestimate the time it takes to prepare, and so leaving things to the last minute means that the food is not ready when the guests arrive.

It is hard to entertain and fix the food at the same time. A sit down meal can be a real ordeal. Multiple courses can be an issue as well.

Avoid this nonsense and have a BBQ instead. If you are going to have a barbeque get-together, plan ahead so that it is easy on the guests and the hosts. Know your menu.

Decide the week before what you will serve for the meal. Appetizers or finger foods, plus an array of salads, will allow guests to eat all sorts of things while they wait for the main course to finish on the grill.

Appetizers should be small, especially if you plan on serving a variety of grilled meats and vegetables. Try a veggie or fruit tray with some low calorie dip.

This is easy to make—you go to the store and pick one up! The name of the game here is to have fun and to do as much as you can ahead of time.

These appetizer trays have no preservatives so it’s okay to buy them pre-packaged from the store.

Tinfoil is your friend, especially if you use a good quality one and remember to prick it slightly to give you the grilled taste, but without your food being blackened, or made to taste like other things that you have cooked on the grill.

 One thing is for sure, now that summer is here, that is no excuse not to eat right. In fact, you’ll want to stay slim and fab looking throughout the summer, so get grilling now!

This series will include the following articles, and a variety of recipes for you to try this summer.

1. Backyard Barbeque Party
2. Quick Tips For Optimal Grilling
3. Healthy Grilling Ideas
4. Grilling Beef
5. Grilling Chicken
6. Grilling Vegetables
7. Corn on the Grill
8. Shish Kebobs
9. Marinade Ideas

10.Condiments Perfect for Grilled Foods

Grilling is a fast and healthy way to cook provided that you do not overcook or char the food, particularly the meat.

 Grilled recipes, rather than those swimming in sauces, tend to have fewer calories, and can be dressed up with condiments.

 A variety of marinades can lend satisfying flavors, without a lot of additional calories, and can be inspired by any cuisine, from Italian to Indian, French to Japanese. 

 In this series of articles we will give you some suggestions as to how to make the most of grilling this summer, and will also provide some mouthwatering recipes you can really sink your teeth into.

 
When grilling meat, just remember, resting the meat by letting it stand is just as important as cooking the meat on the grill. Never char your meat, since it has been proven to release cancer-causing substances.

 
Be flexible about what you think you can grill. Veggies, fish, chicken are all great if done right.

Macronutrients in our diet:
Macronutrients are the big ones, the large food we can see go into our mouths. Micronutrients, which we will talk about later in this series, are the vitamins and minerals contained in the food we eat.

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are starches and sugars obtained from plants.

Sugars like raw sugar, and that found in candy, cake and cookies are known as simple carbohydrates, and starches like potatoes, pasta, rice, and whole grains are known as complex carbohydrates.

All carbohydrates are broken down in the intestine and converted in the liver to glucose, a sugar that is carried through the bloodstream to cells where it is used for energy.

Some glucose is converted into glycogen, which is stored in limited amounts in the liver and muscles to meet future energy needs.

Carbohydrates are converted into fat when your calorie intake exceeds your immediate needs and your body’s capacity to store glycogen.

Put more simply, whatever calories you consume but don’t burn, get stored on your body as fat.

It takes only 2,000 surplus calories to gain a pound, but 3,500 to lose one.

Many low carb diets try to stop you from piling on the pounds through the comfort eating which causes us to be drawn towards carbs.

What are calories, exactly?

Calories measure the amount of energy in a food.

The food you eat has different calories, with some foods more caloric than others.

Depending on the type of calories, your body will also use and absorb them differently.

Carbohydrates and proteins contain four calories per gram, fats contain nine calories per gram, and alcohol contains seven calories per gram.

All calories consumed in excess of what your body needs for energy— whether in the form of carbohydrates, proteins, fats, or alcohol—get stored as fat.

Fat tends to make you feel full for a long amount of time, but its effect on overall health is to clog arteries and cause weight gain. The former problem is a big issue because heart disease can often be a silent killer. Being overweight is more obvious, but also tough to deal with, since it only takes 2,000 calories to gain a pound, but 3,500 to lose one.

Carbohydrates, also referred to as carbs, can give you a fast fix of energy, but sugary foods can lead to insulin resistance and diabetes, and tend to leave you prone to all sorts of food cravings and bad eating habits.

In our next article we will look at carbs more closely.

Food is your fuel

Food is your life support system
Food provides not only the energy you need to function every day, but also the nutrients required to build all of your body’s tissues (from your bones to your muscles, fat, and blood).

Nutrients in food are also used to produce substances involved in all the chemical processes that take place in your body millions of times a day.

We take in calories, energy, with our food, and different kinds of nutrients.

There are two broad categories of nutrients:

• Macronutrients, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, which supply energy and are needed in large amounts to maintain and repair body structures

• Micronutrients, vitamins and minerals, which help regulate chemical processes and build strong bones and are needed only in small amounts.

Fiber, while technically not a nutrient, also is part of a healthy diet due to the way it aids in helping to keep your digestive tract healthy, so you can absorb your nutrients from your food well.

We will look at calories, and then each of these categories in turn in our next installments of Food for Life.

We’re reviewing more of the latest diets at Weight Loss Goddess this month. Why not visit us?