With the arrival of summer, heading outdoors to enjoy a picnic is a must in order to make the most of the good weather. Picnics are a wonderful opportunity to tuck into a range of finger food and snacks and eating outdoors tends to stimulate the appetite, so that it could be easy to overdo things. Traditional picnics can wreak havoc on a careful diet, but there are lots of ways around this and some simple opportunities to pick up a quick win on the health front.
As with so many dining contexts, it’s only too easy to overdo the refined carbohydrate that has a direct impact on your waistline, as well as robbing you of the rich nutrient profile found in the wholegrain. A careful choice of bread or pastry can make all the difference to both your waistline and your wellbeing. In this chapter, we’ll examine the various options available and guide you through the minefield of starch that the picnic can become so that you don’t end up feeling bloated and uncomfortable.
Avoid a minefield of starch that can leave you feeling bloated and uncomfortable
With a picnic, fatty meats and snacks are often on the menu so it’s easy to fall into the habit of tucking into the types of food that you’d normally avoid because they’re processed. As in so many cases, a little of what you fancy won’t do you too much harm, so portion control is the order of the day with some of the more indulgent offerings and a focus on protein-rich snacks featuring eggs, houmous, lean meat or fish can help to make sure you don’t overdo things.
Picking one or two indulgences and playing it safe with the other foods is one way to make sure that you’re able to avoid being a party pooper, while ensuring that you limit the damage and optimize the potential health benefits. And there are quite a few – houmous, guacamole, soft cheese, focaccia and tomato tarts to name but a few. Read on to find out how to transform your picnics into a nutritional powerhouse.