Yep, the 4th of July is right around the corner, and we are all looking forward to this day to celebrate our country’s birthday. And how do we celebrate it, well with Fireworks and Food of course! Now the fireworks part is always a crowd pleaser and I don’t know anyone who’s not a fan of great cookout food like barbeque, hot dogs, steaks on the grill and don’t forget the corn on the cob, slathered with butter, salt and other condiments of your choosing. But after all that food has been passed around and maybe passed around, again and again, you just might be feeling more than a little guilty and not looking forward to jumping on that bathroom scale in the morning.

Anyone that is trying to get a little leaner by watching what they eat, how much they eat and trying to stay away from those sweets and extra carbs that can put a whammy on your weight loss and fitness goals, know that a holiday like the 4th of July needs to be handled with some restraints. Now, by no means are we suggesting that you forgo those cook-out treats, but again, moderation is the key and knowing when to politely say NO to that extra helping of baked beans and that second slice of cheesecake.

Since trying to live a healthier lifestyle revolves around exercising and counting your calories based upon your daily activity levels, we thought you might want to know just how many calories you consume when eating that holiday or just plain backyard cookout fare. And the kicker is, just how much more you would need to exercise on top of what you're already doing in trying to become fitter and leaner!

For example:
A Cheeseburger can pack a lot of calories -- especially when they're topped with all the trimmings: cheese, bacon, ketchup, mayonnaise, etc. In analyzing the caloric makeup, it was found that a 6-ounce burger with a bun and all the toppings adds up to 700 calories. To burn this off, pick up a racquet -- because you'll need a marathon badminton session lasting nearly 133 nonstop minutes to shed that weight.

Or eating a Hot Dog: now how many of us think nothing of eating two, three or more during the course of a holiday gettogether? But, would you grab that extra hot dog if you knew you'd have to swim for more than a half hour to burn it off?

One Chicken Breast with #BBQ Sauce
Calories: 253
Exercise Equivalent (Cost to Burn Off the Calories): 61.7 minutes of canoeing
Fit Tip: Go skinless, and you could try lemon and pepper instead of barbecue sauce to lower the calories. Or, at the very least, compare barbecue sauces and pick the lowest-calorie brand (that is still tasty).
FYI: One chicken drumstick with barbecue sauce has 242 calories and will cost you 34.4 minutes of swimming.

Coleslaw
(1 cup)
Calories: 350
Exercise Equivalent (Cost to Burn Off the Calories): Mowing the lawn (walking with a power mower) for 59.7 minutes
Fit Tip: Use light or nonfat mayonnaise and add some green and red peppers to increase the yield while cutting calories per cup. To make it simple, you can find coleslaw mixes in the vegetable section at the grocery store.

Homemade Baked Beans
(1 cup)
Calories: 392
Exercise Equivalent (Cost to Burn Off the Calories): Golf (walking and carrying clubs) 74.3 minutes
Note: The problem is, baked beans are made with added sugar and/or molasses.
Fit Tip: You can try using less sugar (or molasses) in your recipe. You’re probably adding too much anyway. Try making your own bean salad instead. Choose your favorite beans, chop up an onion and some peppers, add a little lemon juice and vinegar for flavor, and you’ve got a nutrient-packed side dish.

Grilled Sweet Corn I’m good for two to three ears of corn at any time!
(One ear)
Calories: 90
Exercise Equivalent (Cost to Burn Off the Calories): Kayaking for 5.4 minutes
Note: With a moderate glycemic index of 56 (compared with 100 for white bread), corn provides carbohydrates for energy without excessively raising blood sugar.
Fit Tip: You don’t need to drench good sweet corn in butter. Grilled corn tastes great without any toppings.

Potato Chips
(2 handfuls)
Calories: 300
Exercise Equivalent (Cost to Burn Off the Calories): Jumping rope for 32 minutes. Now tell me! Who hasn’t had more than 2 handfuls of chips at any holiday gathering, see what I’m getting at!
Fit Tip: Slice your potatoes and put them on the grill with garlic, pepper and other spices for seasoning. Also, you can try grilling a sweet potato, which has only 112 calories.

And who isn’t imbibing in a few alcoholic beverages?
Two Beers
(12 ounces each)
Calories: 300
Exercise Equivalent (Cost to Burn Off the Calories): Taking a run at a nice pace of 4.7 mph for about 40 minutes, will have those calories put to rest
Fit Tip: Try ultra-light beer ­ do a taste test.

Seeing what you need to do in order to burn off that delicious holiday food can be a little daunting. One thing that can help you keep track of just what you need to do, how well you’re doing in accomplishing those various activities is a good activity monitor. And since your looking at using the sport of running as the main activity in your quest for becoming a healthier you a good activity monitor to consider is the Garmin Vivosmart HR+GPS Activity Tracker  The Garmin Vívosmart HR+ Smart Activity Tracker; is able to track distance, time and pace for indoor or outdoor activities. With GPS, you can get even more accurate distance and pace stats as well as a map of your activity when running or walking outdoors. In addition to tracking your runs, steps, and calories, and the Vívosmart HR+ also measures the floors climbed and intensity minutes.

Now while a good activity tracker like the Garmin Vivosmart watch can keep you aware of just how much you are doing in reaching your fitness goals. It can’t stop you from excessive eating! That is something you need to work on in order to gain control of your eating habits.

But it can be done and with a commitment to consuming just what you need in order to live a healthier life. Its really up to YOU to keep that portion size in line and stick your fork into healthier food choices. You can eat just about anything you want as long as you remember that moderation is the key!

Oh Yeah, Happy 4th of July from All the gang here at HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com