The summer is quickly closing in and if you live in Arizona, it’s already here. With the warm weather come barbecues, food and a virtual minefield for the health conscious person, especially those of us trying to maintain a low-carb lifestyle. The American picnic table is carb laden to say the least. Macarroni salad, potato salad, potato chips, burgers, hot dogs, fresh melons and fried chicken. It is our heritage in this country and probably why we are all fat.

I found myself struggling through the weekend and last couple of days after a weekend get together that ended with many, many leftovers that don’t fit the Medifast plan or healthy living in general. Sure, the bags of chips say “Zero Trans-fats” but who cares? It still contains a ton of grease, empty calories and salt! Between summer coming and a very, very stressful work environment, I’m finding my weight loss a daily struggle again after I was able to coast worry free for so long. This just re-enforces for me the fact I’m an emotional eater and I’m heavily influenced by my environment.

It isn’t enough to recognize it, but it certainly is a good start.