That's Fit

This is one of those long weekends of summer that I truly look forward to. The county I live in has a fantastic fireworks show (the second largest display in our state, in fact). Plus it's just a great time to get together with family and friends. If you've got a 4th of July party to go to this weekend, consider bringing along a healthy and festive dish to pass. Some ideas:

• Blue corn chips and fresh salsa.
• A red, white, and blue veggie tray -- radishes, cauliflower, red pepper, purple pepper (it's close to blue anyway), cherry tomatoes, and so forth.
• Blueberries, strawberries, and star fruit make an all-American fruit salad
• Wrap turkey, tomato slices, low-fat cheese, and sprouts in blue corn tortillas -- cut them into small wedges for a tasty appetizer.

Lifescript has more ideas for healthy 4th of July foods.

Tomorrow is the Fourth of July and chances are you'll be celebrating with family, friends and a big ole' plate of food. But Independence Day doesn't have to mean diet disaster!

Ah, the 4th of the July. Fireworks, patriotism, and hot dog eating contests. I have no idea what consuming mass quantities of ballpark franks has to do with the birth of the United States, but nevertheless, it's become quite the tradition this time of year. By far the most-famous eating contest -- the one in which the world's top eaters take part -- is the July 4th annual Coney Island hotdog eating competition.

This year there was some considerable drama, as the defending champion, 28-year-old Takeru Kobayashi had a jaw problem -- but persevered, and still managed to eat 63 hot dogs in spite of his injury. It was a valiant effort, but he couldn't beat Joey Chestnut, an American from San Jose, who managed to down 66 hot dogs -- and in doing so, set a new world record.

"It just feels awesome," Chestnut told Reuters.

Just to put that in perspective:

66 hot dogs with no buns = 7,260 calories of awesome
66 hot dogs with the average bun = 13,860 calories of awesome

In 12 minutes.

Happy fourth of July everyone! Frequent readers of That's Fit probably know that I'm not American, but that doesn't mean I can't wish my neighbours to the south a very happy independence day. Plus Canada's version of independence day (Canada Day) was just a few days ago (July 1) so I'm still a bit high on the national-pride kick.

When I think of independence day, I think of fireworks, parades and outdoor barbecues -- complete with burgers topped off with little flags, plenty of cold beer, yummy treats and ... potato salad. Seriously, potato salad seems to be a fixture of summer barbecues. I don't think I ever been to a barbecue where someone didn't bring some potato salad, so in honour of Fourth if July Picnics, I ask you: How many calories and fat in a serving (one cup) of homemade potato salad?

A) 120 cal, 10 g of fat
B) 256 cal, 18g of fat
C) 358 cal, 21 g of fat
D) 567 cal, 36 g of fat