Are you a social butterfly who loves to party? Do you get together with friends often for coffee or brunch or dinner parties? Have you ever wondered if your social life is affecting your diet? Well, here’s the good news - it doesn’t have to! You can enjoy the company of good friends and tasty treats without gaining a pound! Here’s a list of 7 ways to party on without ruining your diet or your waistline!
If you have a dinner party at 7 p.m., eat a light, healthy meal with vegetables, a whole wheat bread and a salad around 5 p.m. This will fill you up enough that you will still be hungry for a meal by the time 7 p.m. rolls around, but yet you won’t be so hungry that you over-eat! By doing it this way, you get the good company, the good food, and a well-balanced dinner with a low calorie count.
Photo Credit: mindibartell
Instead of ordering sodas or wine mixers with your dinner, opt for water instead. You can add lemon to it for an extra zing! Drinking a lot of sodas and pops over time adds up and you will have packed on a few extra pounds! Plus water hydrates you and can help fill you up so you’re less likely to over-eat. And water is so beneficial for you health wise, you win either way!
Photo Credit: -Sunny-
If you only heed this one little tip, you could be good to go without any of the rest. Self-control is a powerful tool, so use it to your advantage! You won’t gain 25 pounds for having one cookie a couple nights a week all year if you balance it out well with exercise and other healthy foods, but you will if you have 5 cookies each night plus a brownie and a milkshake and 3 servings of pie. Enjoy the food, but don’t let it enjoy you!
You may be surprised by how much you could slash calories and fat intake just by passing on the pre-dinner snacks! Most appetizers are loaded with cheese or dripping in grease from being fried. Besides, appetizers don’t fill you up, they just give you something to do while you wait for the food to get there, so sip a glass of water and chat with an old pal instead of feeding your face and watch your waistline start to shrink!
During dinnertime, eat slowly. Chew each bite thoroughly and savour the taste of your food. Don’t rush through your meal, gobbling everything on your plate as fast as you can get it into your mouth. Eating so quickly often doesn’t give you brain time to process the fact that you are starting to feel full thus results in overeating. Take your time and pay attention to your body signals. Stop as soon as you feel full, even if you still have half a plate. If you are worri-ed about offending your host, take smaller portions. You can always go back for seconds if need be.
When a party is in full swing, wine glasses are often topped up abundantly. Drink in moderation, taking small sips so it will last longer. It’s okay to pass on the refill; one glass of wine with dinner is more than sufficient. You can drink water if you’re still thirsty. Water has no calories so drink all the water you want!
Photo Credit: { Shuaa / ????
Remember, it’s okay to turn down some party invitations sometimes. You can pick and choose which ones you attend and which ones you don’t. Cut down to one or two nights a week. Another idea is to be selective on where you go. If you and your friends like to have lunch several times a week, choose a little café where they serve soups and salads. Then you can indulge the healthy way! It’s all about making the right decisions!
You see? You can keep your social life and still lose weight! Social engagements can wreak havoc on your weight loss and set you back weeks of disciplined dieting, but you can take control and refuse to let that happen! And now you know how. Did my tips and hints give you any great advice today?
Top Photo Credit: red`star