During the week leading up to the 4th of July, approximately 700 million pounds of chicken and 190 million pounds of red meat/pork are purchased. On July 4th itself, 150 million hot dogs are consumed.

Are you stocked up and ready?

In order to help with your 4th of July celebration this year, we wanted to provide you with some healthy tips to keep your celebration healthy but memorable.

1. Include Vegetables with Your Meat Preparations.
Cut up some Zucchini, Bell Peppers, Squash, Onions, Tomatoes or any other vegetable that you would like to have and place the slices on the grill for a quick addition to the grilled meat. Use smaller slices of the vegetables and make Kabobs with meat and vegetables, that way each person gets a healthy serving.

2. Choose a Meat that is Lower in Fat.
A BBQ is never complete without hot dogs, right? Well...Hot Dogs contain a lot of sodium and fat inside the meat. There are healthy alternatives that are lower in fat, but still taste like the well-known and loved Hot Dog Taste. Throw some more chicken on the grill and take off some of those large hamburgers. Choose a lower in fat ground meat. They sell 85/15 and 95/5 ground meat that can be extremely healthy compared to the full fat meat. By adding some seasonings and getting creative, the lack of grease may be replaced with a sense of enjoyment for your taste-buds. If you are not looking to cut out the fat in the hamburgers, consider making smaller hamburgers or "sliders" for a portion controlled meal.

3. Skip the High Fat Desserts and Go for the Healthy Treats.
Instead of something that will make your already full stomach, a bit more full, consider having something that is light and festive but filling.

Red White and Blue healthy desserts.
- A Mixture of Strawberries, Blueberries and Marshmallows all together.
- Dip Strawberries in White Chocolate and then in Blue Sprinkles
- Watermelon - A Very Healthy Dessert or Snack

Take watermelon slices and a star cookie cutter to make star shaped watermelon chunks. These can then be put on the left over Kabob sticks and stuck into 1/2 of a watermelon to hold up the stars. Watermelon is very healthy and beneficial to someone who has been out in the sun all day. This is because Watermelon is high in water content and helps to hydrate the body. Watermelon also contains a high level of all-natural lycopene which is shown in early research to help possibly help reduce incidence of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

4. Stay Hydrated and Remember Sunscreen!!
Being out in the sun, sometimes, we tend to forget how long we have been outside when we are enjoying ourselves. Remember to stay safe by drinking a lot of water so that you do not dehydrate your body. We also recommended Sunscreen so you will not need Aloe to the Rescue when the day of celebration is over.

Everyone Have a Safe and Fun 4th of July Celebration!

Source for Statistics:
Dickson, Andrea. "Some 4th of July Numbers." WiseBread. 3 July 2007. Web. 28 June 2010. http://www.wisebread.com/some-4th-of-july-numbers