Super Bowl Party ... help me avoid going bananas!
allieeveryday
Posts: 85 Member
I guess this goes for all socializing with lots of snacky things around, not just super bowl time. What's the best way to tackle this? I generally do a good job of logging everything even if I have to estimate, but put some bowls of chips and some dips and a bunch of desserts in front of me (or on the counter), and I lose track quickly. Total grazer. How do you keep it reasonable and trackable?
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overeaters anonymous addresses our inability to not control ourselves in regards to our food behaviors.8
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allieeveryday wrote: »I guess this goes for all socializing with lots of snacky things around, not just super bowl time. What's the best way to tackle this? I generally do a good job of logging everything even if I have to estimate, but put some bowls of chips and some dips and a bunch of desserts in front of me (or on the counter), and I lose track quickly. Total grazer. How do you keep it reasonable and trackable?
If it's not practical to track I go by how full I feel. I now have a good sense of what 400, 600, or 800 calories feels like and could Quick Add that.
As far as keeping it reasonable - will you also have high volume/low calorie options like celery and carrot sticks?
Also - are you hosting? I don't log ordinary cooking and cleaning, but I do log out of the ordinary amounts of this, which would happen if I were hosting at home or at Mom's. If neither, then I would do some extra exercise earlier in the day.0 -
kshama2001 wrote: »
If it's not practical to track I go by how full I feel. I now have a good sense of what 400, 600, or 800 calories feels like and could Quick Add that.
As far as keeping it reasonable - will you also have high volume/low calorie options like celery and carrot sticks?
Also - are you hosting? I don't log ordinary cooking and cleaning, but I do log out of the ordinary amounts of this, which would happen if I were hosting at home or at Mom's. If neither, then I would do some extra exercise earlier in the day.
I’m not hosting, it’s at a friend’s. I think there probably should be some veggie type things!0 -
Drink a glass of water for every drink, and just log 3500 cals and be done with it.
One day blah blah blah.
Overeaters anonymous HAH.10 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »Drink a glass of water for every drink, and just log 3500 cals and be done with it.
One day blah blah blah.
Overeaters anonymous HAH.
LOL 😂0 -
allieeveryday wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Drink a glass of water for every drink, and just log 3500 cals and be done with it.
One day blah blah blah.
Overeaters anonymous HAH.
LOL 😂
Honestly, I'm probably not watching this year (sick of the Pats winning), but in the past I've just logged the Super Bowl entry. It's only 800 cals so I logged 3 or 4 (can't remember). I do the glass of water for every drink when I'm out and not in the mood to count.2 -
Omg I didn’t know there was a super bowl entry. That’s amazing.1
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I try to eyeball "1 serving" "1/2 serving" as best I can, and when I check my phone for texts next time sneak onto MFP and log as best I can. Or I just make a brain teaser out of it and try to remember when I get home
As long as it's something that doesn't happen too frequently, it's fine. Just do your best to make smart choices and check in to see how you feel before taking another handful of something out of the bowl.
For me, monitoring alcohol intake and trying to take one of everything rather than going to town on the first plate out of the kitchen is key.2 -
I try to eyeball "1 serving" "1/2 serving" as best I can, and when I check my phone for texts next time sneak onto MFP and log as best I can. Or I just make a brain teaser out of it and try to remember when I get home
As long as it's something that doesn't happen too frequently, it's fine. Just do your best to make smart choices and check in to see how you feel before taking another handful of something out of the bowl.
For me, monitoring alcohol intake and trying to take one of everything rather than going to town on the first plate out of the kitchen is key.
Last year on of the folks brought veggie Indian food.
I had a tough time moderating that. It was really good.2 -
I've had at least 4 big family/work get togethers over the past 1.5 months so I feel your pain. You could just guesstimate as has been said, or ask a friend to poke you in the ribs if he or she see's you with 8 brownies in your hand. You just just sit back and enjoy another Pats win
and enjoy.
I know for a fact I over ate my daily calories at each get together and am still losing weight slowly and steadily. Go, have some fun, get back on board the next day.
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I pretty much eat wings once per year...on Superbowl...I'm eating all of the wings and not worrying about a singular day...I will also eat a bunch of meatballs. I'll probably be good and have a couple of carrot sticks too, but mostly so it doesn't look like I just have piles of meat on my plate.
Most of our social gatherings are more of a cocktail and dinner kind of thing...Superbowl is the only social event that I attend or host that has a bunch of grazing food. For the most part, I just enjoy myself on social occasions because they aren't everyday events. I never got fat because of Superbowl or any other social occasion...I got fat eating a lot of food everyday and not moving much.6 -
You can improve your skill at eyeballing portions by weighing something similar and learning what, say, an ounce of chips looks like. Or two tablespoons of dip. If you log something similar it should be close enough for one day.0
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As much as possible, I try to guess in advance what's likely to be there and log what I mean to have. I'm not into sports, so Superbowl parties aren't my thing. (My synagogue is hosting one and hubby's going.) But, for example, when my nephews have birthdays, I know my sister is going to have a cake, likely from a bakery, and it will be cut into 2" squares. There will be fruit, veg and dip, and some snack food (usually, jellybeans, veggie straws, jujubes and/or popcorn). So I might log one piece of cake in advance and count on 20 jellybeans and 30 veggie straws. Probably set me back about 450 calories. I decide to see how to make it fit.
Sometimes the party venue is a good long walk away. So, 90 minutes there, 90 minutes back... that's over 600 calories right there. Maybe I decide to have a vegetable omelet for lunch and skip the oven fries I'd normally make to accompany it. Whatever. It fits.
Now. I get to the party and discover that, instead of serving jellybeans, my sister opted for red Twizzlers. Okay. So I'll have 2 Twizzlers and adjust my diary when I get home; it's in the right ballpark. She's also got Baskin Robbins Gold Medal Ribbon—one of my all-time favorite flavors. I don't know the calories offhand, but I do know that most of their premium flavors are 250-300 calories to the 4oz scoop. And I'd budgeted 330 for the cake. So, if I pass up the cake and have the ice cream, again, same ballpark.
Basically, I come to a social event with a certain number of calories to spend. If, when I get there, my planned purchase is either unavailable or less appealing than something else, I try to be aware enough of the price to know that I've got the 'funds' available when it's time to cash out.
(And yeah, there are times when it can be, "I have no clue what this is worth, but 300 calories ought to cover it," only to discover it was more like 700. If so, I guess I become a healthy weight one day later. It's not like I eat this way all the time.)3 -
I think a "sneak" day is fine. Just log what you can, take it easy on breakfast and lunch, have a great pre game work out and just enjoy the game. I am hosting this year and will try and provide some healthy alternatives and push myself to take it easy on food I don't really need. I haven't had any alcohol since new year's so I will have a couple as a treat. Want to make it fun and the rest of the family can eat as they please. No one will even notice if you aren't the one munching out.0
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Most potato-style chips are 6-7 to a serving. I’ll put X servings in a cup (or on a playe) if possible, then multiply servings per cup by number of cups. I’m pretty good at eyeballing a tablespoon of condiment / dip, so I estimate those. Pizza “party slices” are usually 1/2 of a standard slice. As for the rest, I find the best entries I can and drink lots of water to offset the massive amount of salt that’s likely involved. It won’t be perfect, but it’s better than not logging at all.0
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Sorry for disappearing. This is great advice. I think I'm going to try to "budget" for what I can (I'm not a big drinker, but will probably have a glass of wine or a beer; a dessert or two; and probably a few other small appeteezer type things) and will try to be reasonable earlier in the day and try to get a workout in. I don't really even have to sneak off to log, since I'm only there for the commercials and socializing plenty of time when I don't care what's happening in the game. Thanks, and good luck to ya'll too! 4
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Fortunately this year I have zero interest in this game so it won't be an issue. That said the best thing I was able to do in the past is to fill up on healthy foods before I headed out to watch it. If i was full then I wouldn't be as tempted to graze on snacks or drink as much beer.1
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Days like that (as they don't happen too often) I won't plan to track everything. I'll also be grazing throughout the day on Sunday, too hard to log "3 tortilla chips and 1 scoop of spinach dip" then "2 chicken wings and 4 bites of pizza" etc I'll log my regular breakfast and then the rest of the day just enjoy myself. I'm totally there for the snacks, couldn't care less about the game
Then I'll get back to normal on Monday. 2 -
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Tacklewasher wrote: »allieeveryday wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »Drink a glass of water for every drink, and just log 3500 cals and be done with it.
One day blah blah blah.
Overeaters anonymous HAH.
LOL 😂
Honestly, I'm probably not watching this year (sick of the Pats winning), but in the past I've just logged the Super Bowl entry. It's only 800 cals so I logged 3 or 4 (can't remember). I do the glass of water for every drink when I'm out and not in the mood to count.
Ya, my OH is a hater and is going to pass this year as well.0 -
I generally try to fill up on something low-calorie prior to an event, and then eat what I want at the event. I usually go over anyway, but it greatly helps with my portions sizes so I don't go crazy over. I'm not super social so this is a lot easier for me than others who socialize with food more!0
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I just had to look up the other team too, I didn’t even know Pats were playing until y’all started talking about them! 😆1
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This has been difficult for me as our house is always very well stocked for the Super Bowl. This year? Not too interested in the game but everyone is coming over so I have to do something for a spread. Stromboli perhaps with low cal turkey & chicken within a lower cal/carb homemade dough is what I'm thinking. I've made these for years, for the Super Bowl but cannot even fathom the amount of calories I had stuffed in each one. Perhaps popcorn in lieu of chips. I'm really struggling with this one. I'm not a huge fan of cheat days so I'll follow this post close.0
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williamgowjr wrote: »This has been difficult for me as our house is always very well stocked for the Super Bowl. This year? Not too interested in the game but everyone is coming over so I have to do something for a spread. Stromboli perhaps with low cal turkey & chicken within a lower cal/carb homemade dough is what I'm thinking. I've made these for years, for the Super Bowl but cannot even fathom the amount of calories I had stuffed in each one. Perhaps popcorn in lieu of chips. I'm really struggling with this one. I'm not a huge fan of cheat days so I'll follow this post close.
Please share the stromboli recipe and let us know how it came out! I have finally learned how to roll dough thanks to this https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HK2DNA/
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My strategy for social gatherings of any kind where I'm not confident in the food choices available is as follows:
- Exercise earlier that day, often for more than my usual workout. This usually works really well for holidays when I have free time that day and can plan my workout/rest days for the week to hit it hard on that given day. Thanksgiving week, for instance, I take Wednesday as a rest day and do both Wednesday and Thursday workouts on Thursday, maybe find a 5/10k to run in the morning. That really seems to mitigate any potential damage done at dinner. For Super Bowl Sunday (were I attending a gathering, which I'm not, I hate most other people but I digress) I would make sure to take it easy Saturday and start my workout week early on Sunday afternoon, probably early afternoon.
- Eat light for the rest of the day and prioritize protein. I usually find party spreads bereft of protein-rich options so I'll make sure I'm already close to my daily target before I leave the house. I wouldn't shy away from a very light breakfast (or skipping out entirely depending on tolerance for that sort of thing) and plan to eat close to the start of the gathering to ensure I'm not too hungry, making it easier to control oneself around junk foods, desserts, and/or other culinary vices.
Other hot tips:
- It's a single meal, or day at most. Don't let any excursions carry over into the next day or week. Back to regularly scheduled programming right away.
- Make a plate rather than just loitering by the snacks or wherever the food is
- try to log the best you can as you go to try and keep an eye on your limits or take pictures of you plate to log after the fact
- Give yourself some leeway, especially if your deficit has been large. It's easier to moderate with more calories, if the occasion is something that's important to you and you want to indulge a little, set a goal to eat to a smaller deficit or at maintenance instead of trying to stick to a large deficit. One day isn't going to kill all your progress, though manage expectations if you weigh yourself the next day, especially if you've been keto or low-carb. Excess carbs and sodium will spike the scale and dissipate over the following few days.1 -
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Yeah I’m having party, not gonna be good. All I can do is not totally blow it out of the water either. I feel your pain.1
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Yeah I’m having party, not gonna be good. All I can do is not totally blow it out of the water either. I feel your pain.
@ryando
There is no such thing as blowing a weight loss effort out of the water no matter how much you eat in a single day. Days like that can't hurt us unless do them too often. It is important if you are going to eat more than you enjoy yourself. No reason to feel guilty or feel like you have cheated in some way.
Success is not dependent on you losing weight every day. It is only dependent on you losing weight most days. For some people, myself included, taking a day off can be the healthiest thing to do while losing weight.
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All you Rams fans are going to be comfort eating Monday as well
Pizza, Wings, And Nachos, Oh My! The Science of Super Bowl Eating
...“Special occasions are when people feel like they can give themselves license to ill,” according to Herz. “There’s kind of an acknowledged, ‘We’re gonna be bad today, and that’s okay.’”
For fans of the winning team, that may be true. Those people are more likely to make up for their sins by eating extra healthfully the day after the game. But not those mourning a Super Bowl loss.
“On Monday, if by rare, possible chance the Patriots lose, it’s more likely that people will binge on high-fat foods,” Herz said. “People feeling that loss of their home team are going to be eating more pizza, eating more nachos, drowning their sorrows in comfort foods.”
Read more: https://www.wgbh.org/news/science-and-technology/2019/02/01/pizza-wings-and-nachos-oh-my-the-science-of-super-bowl-eating0
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