The BBQ Strategy

Living in North Carolina means you attend a lot of Barbecues.  When someone says BBQ here it more often than not means a pig pickin’ – or a meal that centers around all things yummy and uber caloric.  It’s not just the slow roasted pork slathered with any form of sauce, but the mayonnaise laden Cole slaw and deep fried hush puppies that make up a normal BBQ here.

Delicious as all those things and any number of other traditional sides, think Mac and cheese and banana pudding, are, but none of them represent diet type food.  What is someone who is trying to fit into a smaller size pant to do in these situations?

Begging off every invitation is just no fun.  Why should you miss the camaraderie of good friends just because they are people who are can enjoy that food and you are not.  I have found the best answer is to eat before I go to one of these festivities.  The secret is to eat something filling and very low calorie like some vegetable soup or a giant green apple right before I get to the party.  This will fill my stomach and keep me from feeling deprived when mealtime comes around.

I’m not good at taking small portions of everything.  One hush puppy leads to ten for me.  I am much better at skipping my most tempting foods, the cheesiest or most carbohydrate full ones, and eating just a little protein.  I drink a ton of water or if it is not too late at night unsweet-tea and keep talking.  Thank goodness it is rude to talk with your mouth full.  If there is not much offered in the diet category, and why should there be at a BBQ, I pray there are some new friends to be made who have not heard all my stories, that way I can talk rather than eat through the dinner hour.

The real trick is to not eat when I get home. The best of all worlds would be to be able to go right to sleep when I got home from a party.  My dilemma comes from my extrovertedness keeping me awake long after I have left a party.  I just have to stay out of the kitchen and be thankful that there is no leftover pork or pudding in my house.