Football season has descended upon Ann Arbor and with it, a favorite fall tradition that everyone loves … tailgating! To me, tailgating is sort of like a barbecue with footballs, Frisbees and an added "party" element that makes everything more fun.

In May, I offered tips for a healthy barbecue, and since a tailgate presents similar healthy lifestyle challenges, I’ll thought I would suggest some healthy tailgating tips that keeps the fun while losing some of the calories and fat.

Of course, everyone has certain favorite tailgate dishes they just don’t want to give up. When I host a tailgate, I usually keep a few of my favorite ‘less than healthy’ dishes on the menu, ones I know people love, and then adjust the rest of the items as I’ll describe below. Your favorites might range anywhere from sweets, to chili, to Irish Coffee…keep them on the menu and enjoy a sensible amount. Just be sure to supplement your appetite with the other healthy alternatives you’ve also included in the spread.

I’ve taken the main courses, appetizers, snacks, and drinks I’ve seen most often and offered healthy alternatives in and attempt to reduce total calories and improve the overall healthfulness your tailgate.

Traditional Main Dishes
Doughnuts and Muffins
Subs
Beef Chili
Hot dogs, Burgers, & Brats

Appetizers
Swedish Meatballs

Snacks
Peanut butter and Chocolate Rice Crispy Treats
Guacamole and Chips

Drinks
Coffee
Hot Cocoa
Beer
Bloody Mary
Irish coffee

For early games, instead of doughnuts and muffins, try a breakfast burrito (egg whites and veggies) with salsa or serve whole wheat bagels with light cream cheese. Sub sandwiches are generally pretty healthy, but, to improve their overall health content, opt for turkey or veggies subs instead of salami or roast beef ,and substitute mustard for mayo. If you’re a chili connoisseur, try making white bean and chicken chili or turkey chili with extra veggies instead of traditional beef.

The healthy version of hot dogs, burgers and brats is a cinch. All beef hot dogs, sirloin burgers, and turkey brats with whole wheat buns are tasty and healthy alternatives. Instead of Swedish meatballs drenched in fattening gravy, you can improve the overall healthfulness of them by using whole wheat bread crumbs, using ground sirloin or turkey and serving them with a light marinara sauce.

As far as snacks and dessert, it’s going to be tough to replace peanut butter rice crispie treats or even guacamole and chips with anything…I would focus on substituting traditional nacho chips with the baked version and using natural organic peanut butter for the crispie treats.

When it comes to alcohol, replace regular beer with light versions, make hot cocoa with skim milk and use light half and half in your coffee. If you could consider an alcoholic drink ‘healthy’ a Bloody Mary is a good choice. But remember to be careful and stay hydrated. Try to drink one glass of water for each alcoholic drink you consume.

Jes Reynolds is an Ann Arbor Personal Trainer and the author of her own blog focused on teaching people how to get fitness results. Jes just started a new group training class: How to lose 100 pounds. Want to hear more about what Jes has to say about fitness? (YES, YOU DO!) Subscribe to Jes Reynolds by e-mail or contact Jes directly at Jes@JesReynolds.com.