Summer is approaching, meaning more and more weekends are going to be filled with barbecues, parties, and bonfires. While this time is exciting, it can get stressful when these events are often filled with tasty tempting foods like s'mores, burgers, creamy potato salad, chips, dips, cookies, ice cream……..where was I going with this?

It can be difficult not to back peddle on all of the fitness progress you may or may not have made over the winter months, but to avoid weight gain this grad season and in the summer months, here are a few tips to keep yourself in check:

Stay active

No I don’t mean skip the barbecue and hit the gym. What I mean is to have fun and stay moving! I went to a barbecue yesterday and instead of sitting in the reclining chairs in the sun the entire day while sipping a beer or spiked lemonade, I played lots of outdoor games (and got pretty competitive) like Can Jam and Giant Jenga! Not only did this make me laugh almost the entire day, but I got to run around my friend’s backyard barefoot, get a nice little tan for the first time in months, and avoid guilt from straying from my fitness routine.

Choose your food wisely

This one might be a little easier said than done, but an easy rule of thumb for outdoor summer events is to make a plate and step away from the food table. I always make fun of my boyfriend because he is extremely fit and active, but he has such a hard time with the food. He eats until he feels sick and regrets it after, and although he never gains weight from it, we can’t all be that blessed. Yesterday (because I was so busy playing games with friends) I only had a cheeseburger, a few Tostitos, a pickle and 2 M&M cookies. Mac & Cheese, potato salad, drumsticks, wings, more cookies, and more burgers could have tempted me, but because I wasn’t hovering around the food, I wasn’t as tempted to pick and eat more food. When I finished my plate, I was done eating until the next meal. Don’t feel bad enjoying yourself, but remember that these calories matter as much as they would any other day, regardless of the occasion. If you are going to a potluck, bring a food that you know would be a healthy choice to eat so that you can use that as a base or bulk meal and eat small portions of the other foods.

Drinking Smart

Drinking alcohol is always a hard topic when you’re trying to reach various fitness goals. I don’t agree that drinking should be completely eliminated because I don’t believe your social life should be changed too drastically to reach a certain physique. I do, however, know that you can make smarter choices with your drinks. I usually stick to wine or beer, or sometimes vodka or tequila alone, or with a low-calorie mixer, to keep my calorie consumption low while drinking. Remember, alcohol has calories from fats and carbohydrates and should be treated like any other food or drink with calories; however, alcohol delays the rate at which our bodies metabolize food, because we burn the calories from the alcohol before the calories from the food, so it is put aside and sometimes stored as fat. So you may hold onto more fat from the calories you ate while drinking alcohol than you would if you had consumed the same amount of calories total without the alcohol.

Drink WATER

I am very lucky to love water. I don’t have a hard time remembering to drink enough of it – I always want it. In the summer you can get easily dehydrated, and we often mistake thirst for hunger. Keep a water bottle in hand at all times to sip on in between bites of your burger, spikes in volleyball, or sips of your beer.

Now get outside and enjoy the weather!