What is it about the lake that triggers our "eat everything in site" mode?

One of our family has a lake house and the lake puts on a great fireworks display every year. It's as good as any city fireworks I've seen. It's usually the long weekend, 3-5 days of family and usually eating.

If I wasn't at the lake I would be completely mortafied to have eaten a bag of chips, at the lake it's more like "That's ok, we've got plenty. We stocked up at the warehouse store and here is 3 other kinds to choose from. We also have the 5 pound block of Velveeta to make Rotel dip, so eat up. Save room for the the s'mores at the campfire tonight"

Our family reunion at the lake typically becomes a sit around the campfire or the fishing poles, talking and eating and eating and eating.

I'm not the one supplying the junk food. I'm trying to reel them in, "No, we really don't need that. I can bring this instead. Please we don't need rotel dip, salsa is really good."

My brother was ready to stone me when I told him that I was bringing 10 pounds of baby carrots and other veggies for dipping, and different low point snacks, instead of my typical large cooler full of yummy baked goods. "It's the only time I see you and you're not bringing your brownies and bread?" I didn't mention that I'm on WW, just that I needed to watch what I eat because of health issues.

So what are your favorite picnic/camping/family reunion foods that are healthy and pp friendly? Please post recipes. We do have a kitchen so it's not too rustic.

that sounds really fun! I know what you mean about triggers though, I feel like that when I'm home visiting my parents.

Here are a couple suggestions for you:

SNACKS:
Won ton crisps (I've made these, they are yummy and hold up to dipping well!)

Pickle rolls

MAIN:
Any type of burger, you can pass on the bread or only eat one half of your bun OR make sure you bring some romaine lettuce and wrap your burger in that!

Veggie kebabs (mushrooms, peppers, zucchini....)

Fresh grilled fish!

What about watermelon?

Sounds like my family reunion

Veggies and dip is always good -- I like low fat sour cream with the dry ranch dressing packet. Fruit is always good and different kinds of lettuce or veggie based salad.

Is there anyway to make your desserts a little more WW friendly? Or bring new ones? If you check the WW website or blogs like Skinnytaste you can find a bunch.

Edited b/c that last bit I wrote sounded way snarkier than I meant it to. I'm feeling kinda blah today and it's clearly showing in some of my posts.

How about burgers? I love buffalo turkey burgers, turkey/zucchini burgers (this is my go-to recipe for family and friends), or veggie burgers.

Grilled veggies, grilled corn on the cob, grilled pizzas, 3 bean salad, grilled potatoes - I did these with sweet potatoes last weekend, baked beans, Grilled glazed chicken wings/thighs/breasts, pasta salad, caprese salad, potato salad, kebobs, etc.

To snack on - veggies or chips with dip, fruit salad or fruit kebobs with yogurt to dip in, hummus with pita chips, popcorn, nuts/seeds/dried fruit, or jerky.

Almost everything can be made ahead of time too, ie - marinades, dips, glazes, chips, and even the burgers. The salads, fruit, crudites, etc can be prepped before going.

I didn't see it before you edited so didn't notice snarky. I don't think I can adjust my traditional recipes. Mine were loaded with butter, sugar and more sugar. I'm working on training my taste buds to appreciate fresh fruit and not as much sugar filled things.

I will check the WW site and see if there are any good desserts that are easy to tranport. I'm not good with sweets, I nibble until it's all gone. I don't know why I think think that just one bite at a time all day long is so much better then a complete piece once a day.

I just had a thought although it may not apply. At our family reunions there is always tons of food like yours but then there is usually a group or two that get together to play games, volley ball, frisbee, and other games. This would be a perfect way to get a little exercise and stay away from all the food. If they don't play group games how about get a small gathering with just a deck of cards to play rummy or poker anything to keep your hands busy while you gab?..just some thoughts

Like Tudor Rose said, I'd check www.skinnytaste.com for dessert recipes.

I am going on a family trip next week to the river and I am completely worried as well.

My family is supportive about my journey and my boyfriend is even trying to lose weight as well so we will have each other.

Definitely stock up on the fruit!

One tip for desserts: If you MUST bring desserts, I would bring any of the frozen Skinny Cow desserts (the ice cream sandwiches or popsicles), they don't taste low-fat at all and it makes it easier for me to have desserts or snacks around that are all single-servings. Instead of having a big bag of potato chips, you have single-serving sized potato chips of your choosing (you can finish a whole bag!).

The single-serving type things will be a lot easier to track and you don't have to tell anyone about your weight loss journey. But honestly, I would let your family know that you are trying really hard and that you would appreciate some support.

I've thought about that, but some people in my family are pigs and would love to go through a box of skinny cow ice creams before they polished off their carton, just to see if tasted as good as the "real" stuff....I'd have to keep it 1) frozen and 2) hidden. So, it's just easier not to have it at all.

My sister is ok with going healthy this time so we'll see. If I can just stay away from snack foods between meals because of boredom I'll be ok.
"I am in controll of what I put into my mouth, I am in control of what I put into my mouth. I will eat mindfully, I will eat mindfully....."

This weeks meeting program, and online program, is all about it.

http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/a...id=41291&sc=66

Oh I sympathize! Our family reunion is at the end of the month and I really don't know what I'm going to do. Especially with the long car trip and living in a hotel for 4 days. Definitely a challenge.

The 4th vacation is over. 15 hours total in the car.
I had grand plans but the big storm that blew through Ohio to the East Coast knocked out the electicity all over the place.

We got to the lake house and they had no electricity, my sister had just bought everything and had a full refrigerator when the power went out.

The storm didn't dump much water into the lake so they had algae bloom and ecoli warnings in the beach areas of the lake so we didn't get in to play.

We had an eclectic assortment of foods over the last few days. She tried to stuff as much as she could in her home fridge and freezer but we were still stuck with 2 coolers full. She tried to do a mix of healthy and junk food and I tried to keep to the healthier choses.

All in all, I think by the time I drink a ton of water to wash the sodium out of my sytem I don't think it did too much damage. Definately didn't lose any weight, but didn't completely destroy the process.

Good luck to all of you who are attempting family reunions.