How do you maintain your social life?

marissalea93

Hey everyone!

So I've noticed that I do really amazing during the week with my nutrition and workouts. However, when the weekend comes, a little social drinking, or a meal out with friends can completely blow my diet. How do you balance your calorie intake on the weekends, without staying at home and spending your Saturday night on the treadmill?

jacksonpt

I don't have friends, so it's not a huge deal for me. But generally speaking...

1) self control. Don't drink as much, drink diet soda or water, etc Choose healthier meals, half orders, etc.
2) plan your day around your activities... ie save your calories so you can enjoy yourself when you do go out.
3) do some extra cardio to give yourself some extra calories for you night out with friends.

BlueBombers

I have two young kids, a husband, a dog and a house to take care of and I work full-time.

That is my social life.

wheird

I just don't have friends.

Hornsby

Well, I am very socially active. I go out to eat a lot and drink plenty.

I look at my diet on a weekly basis. I try to create a large enough deficit through out the week that one or two weekend days won't kill me.

sjayleen

just dont drink. lol i rather eat my calories than drink empty calories.

love2read1220

Great question - I have a similar problem. There are a lot of great local restaurants where I live so IDK the calorie count. A friend wanted to go out to lunch today and I hesitantly agreed.. and then was glad she cancelled!
My plan for today's lunch was to eat at my desk and have tea with her... not the best plan but that's what it was.

wolverine66

Hey everyone!

So I've noticed that I do really amazing during the week with my nutrition and workouts. However, when the weekend comes, a little social drinking, or a meal out with friends can completely blow my diet. How do you balance your calorie intake on the weekends, without staying at home and spending your Saturday night on the treadmill?

Really?

That shouldn't blow your diet (i don't really like the word "diet" either, but that's a topic for another day).

There are two easy ways to go here - 1) account for future calories ahead of time. eat a little less on Friday morning to give you extra that night. or 2) don't worry about it because 1 day of slipping up when you've nailed it 6 other days, is probably not going to hurt that much.

andrewj87

Exercising self control and having friends who are also fitness/health concious and not raging alcoholics has helped.

Confuzzled4ever

I just don't have friends.

:laugh: this.

well I have a few now.. and I just say no to the stuff they try to feed me. I'm dating and I just have guys take me to restaurants with healthy options. And I will ask where we're going ahead of time so I can scope out the menu if possible. It's a lot of will power though. Honestly I do worse with the cookies in the break room, then I do going out to eat. As for drinks.. I'm too broke to drink.. problem solved. LMAO

ganzelly

I defintely stress some about going out with friends or my husband, but I try to plan ahead as much as possible. I"m a beer drinker, but honestly one good beer can last me a night, I like it room temp so I drink it slowly. So I don't usually drink too many calories. Then I try to always know the restaurant, try to skip appetizers and dessert, eat half my meal (take the other half home for later) or choose a healthy meal when I want to eat a whole meal. I eat very healthy early in the day if I need to (cereal for lunch, etc) and try to have a larger deficit early in the week so that the week evens out. I also usually double up workouts on saturdays just because I want to and that gives me a larger amount of calories to work with. And I try to go out only one time a week, it gets stickier if I go out more than once. Hope this helps.

AlongCame_Molly

I don't.

I'm serious about body recomp, so if friends want to hang out, we go hiking or running. I don't go out to eat anymore, and If it would be super rude to not go (like a brother's birthday dinner or something) I bring an option that is good for me and my goals to share, or I just eat beforehand and go just for the company. Sure I get weird looks, but idgaf. I'm doing this for me, not for the approval of anyone else. :flowerforyou:

cwolfman13

I have a 16 m.o. and a 3.5 y.o....I know not of this "social life" you speak of. Sometimes my buddy brings his kids over to play and we have a couple of beers...that's about the extent of it.

WhiteRabbit1313

Well, I have learned to eat light during the day and plan ahead for EXACTLY what I will eat/drink when out with friends. I used to drink a lot more, but on just 1350 calories/day, one glass of wine gets me tipsy these days. Two has me hammered. Haha!

But yeah, you CAN have a social life and stay within your budget; you just have to plan for it.

cuinboston2014

I have a similar problem. There are a few things I try to do to counteract it:

1. Try to find places to hang out/get together that don't revolve around food/drink. I feel like this is a struggle in Wisconsin in winter btu it can be done. You can also try to go to a tapas place and just eat a little less that everyone else is. YOu can try so much and have a massive amount of portion control if your self control is there!
2. If I know I'm going out, I preplan depending on where we go. I also will eat a super light breakfast and lunch. Then I'll typically try to have one higher protein snack before we go (i.e. peanuts) to help fill me up before we go.
3. If we're going to be out all night I switch drinks between one glass of water and one alcoholic drink. I stick strictly to rum and diet coke or wine.
4. I try to workout a LOT more on the days that I am going to be going out, although this doesn't always happen.

I realized that if I eat a deficit all week and on the weekends I'm at maintenance I am perfectly fine with that because I can sustain it.

ItsCasey

I avoid social interaction like the plague unless it's with people I like and know really well, and that's a short list. But I can't avoid family dinners, work lunches, travel, etc., so my strategy is intermittent fasting. It works like a charm when you know you're going to use an entire day's worth of calories in one meal. And since I do it every day anyway, it's not a big deal at all for me.

Beyond that, I think just have to establish your priorities and don't give in to pressure from other people (whether it's actual pressure or merely perceived on your part). It doesn't have to be an either/or proposition. One meal and a drink or two are not going to sabotage your goals if you are truly working hard during the week. But you also can't make bad decisions all weekend long and blame it on having a social life. It is possible to spend quality time with your friends and family without stuffing your faces with crap and getting wasted.

BeanCounter3

Your looking at my social life.......
Seriously, though I tend to stay away from friends until I'm comfortable being able to execute some self control. I do let them know about it though, so they don't think I'm blowing them off. And then by the time I start hanging out again, they're all aware of it and it isn't a big deal

jacksonpt

I avoid social interaction like the plague unless it's with people I like and know really well, and that's a short list. But I can't avoid family dinners, work lunches, travel, etc., so my strategy is intermittent fasting. It works like a charm when you know you're going to use an entire day's worth of calories in one meal. And since I do it every day anyway, it's not a big deal at all for me.

Beyond that, I think just have to establish your priorities and don't give in to pressure from other people (whether it's actual pressure or merely perceived on your part). It doesn't have to be an either/or proposition. One meal and a drink or two are not going to sabotage your goals if you are truly working hard during the week. But you also can't make bad decisions all weekend long and blame it on having a social life. It is possible to spend quality time with your friends and family without stuffing your faces with crap and getting wasted.

Agreed on all accounts.

Hornsby

I should add that I try to burn a ridiculous amount of calories (1500-2000) to start off my weekend usually (Saturday morning cycling). That way I don't feel like I am doing "as bad".

Iron_Lotus

What's a social life?

LifeItself

I start with a light beer or two, and pretty much forget or don't feel like eating after that. So i keep like a 1 beer=1 wing ratio and it works out great :bigsmile: