Strategic Eating

ctooch99

Hey MFPers - another topic I am interested in reading ideas on - this being what I call "strategic eating". So here is an example of what I mean:

Your fast food consuming, beer belching buddies invite you over for a "cookout"... the offerings on the table: a giant bowl of Doritos, a huge sub sandwich cut into sections, a giant tin of hot wings, a bowl of hard pretzels, a plate of charred-beyond-recognition hot dogs, burgers and chicken breasts, a cooler of assorted beer. Do I:

A) Get new friends
Use the "Thanks I am good - already ate" excuse unleashing a torrent of locker room insults because I turn my nose up at the junk food
C) Compromise and eat one slice of the sub sandwich and a lite beer

Typically I will go for "C", but I am interested in hearing about your similar social/eating situations and how you deal with them without blowing your regimen and pissing off your friends and family.

christinageo

I just let them know that I 'm on a diet these days - because I want to try not to get high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diebetes, age prematurely, ETC... and that I 'll see them again when I take a break from this diet. That's the only thing that works for me... and yes, I know how it sounds lol but if I don't do this and worry about what others might think I always end up cheating on my diet. Good luck!

cibilbee

I go with C in fact I am living this example Friday night. My plan is to eat low calories for the day until the party, eatting very well throughout this week, and hitting the gym everynight till Friday. I'm also taking a veggie tray and healthy cookies and my diet buddy is bring fruit and low calories cocktails. But I know I will still indulge in a bbq pork sandwich and probably some chips but I am creating a situation where I know I will have health foods to eat most the night. You cant deny yourself 100% of the time but I have found planning makes moderation easier. And if I do slip more then I planned I know that the rest the week will balance it

ninerbuff

Life is to be lived. A day of indulging won't define your overall weight loss. If you're concerned enough about the calories, do couple of things: workout before going and only eat a little of everything.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

flechero

Of your choices, I choose C and go for a run, plus eat light earlier in the day so it's no issue.

In reality, I would come early to help... and take charge of the grill.... there is no excuse for a bunch of burned up meat!

kitinboots

You can make healthy choices at a BBQ. Its not rude to bring something that you've made either.

ctooch99

You can make healthy choices at a BBQ. Its not rude to bring something that you've made either.

Very true - my "guy" BBQ scenario is just one example - would love to hear about others and the approaches people use - eg. Weddings, holiday parties, dinner parties, pushy relatives who get insulted when they have giant Thanksgiving dinners, etc.

For me personally, in the past, these things acted as a trigger event that causes me to persistently over-indulge, sometimes even the next day or 2 (or 3) after the event and at times turned into a prolonged failure affecting my workouts, etc..

vim_n_vigor

I track my deficit for the week, not the day. This week, my deficit is a little higher most days, so I can enjoy a little more of the good stuff on the fourth. I also do this so I have more calories left for my rest days so I am not hungry those days. I am eating now the way I want to eat when I am at goal. I am not ever going to cut out fun days or meals with family and friends.

tigersword

Life is to be lived. A day of indulging won't define your overall weight loss. If you're concerned enough about the calories, do couple of things: workout before going and only eat a little of everything.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

This.

Pedal_Pusher

C

Tashmayes

I was at a stagette this weekend and i knew martinis would be flowing and there would be tons of unhealthy foods. I pre-planned. Threw in a couple extra workouts the week prior, increased my water intake, and then dived in! As one poster said, it's only one day. That being said, I stayed away from some of the really unhealthy stuff. Unfortunately, one day of indulging increased my weight by 3 lbs... ha!...But I know its the sodium and I'm retaining serious water! I don't think it is humanly possible for me to gain 3lbs of fat in a day when i didn't eat 3lbs of calories!

DargoMack

I would also choose C at the BBQ. In fact, who knows what is going to happen tomorrow.....

Normally, I choose to have a couple light beers or a drink mixed with soda water and something relatively healthy. Either way, if it's pulled pork or a sandwich at a party, I do not eat the bun or the bread. I also rotate in a water or a diet pop between drinks/beers.

barnacle1225

Up until my pregnancy a year ago, I was a vegetarian. I made the choice when I was about 13 or 14 and EVERYBODY had an opinion about it. I mean EVERYBODY. I've heard the jokes, the insults, the preaching(s) about health you name it. It was tough on a preteen kid, but I stood strong in my beliefs and my choices. Even my parents had a hard time with it. Not a whole lot of support but it was important to me and maybe I had the mule headedness of a teenager going for me. My point is, you have to do what's right for you. There are always going to be the nay sayers but you have to be true to yourself. On the plus side, adult males have a pretty short memory when it comes to ribbing others, they'll lose interest in teasing you about your health conscious eating choices and move to the next victim pretty quick, I imagine.:happy: Good Luck!

Captain_Tightpants

D) bust my *kitten* at the gym in the morning and then eat what I want at the cookout.

ctooch99

All good advice - I think for me it is more a mental thing than a physical one. I see occasional over- indulging as a failure (my own personal feeling for myself). Instead of just seeing it as one of life's pleasures etc. I see it more as an annoyance or a challenge to all the hard work I have done up to that point.

Then If I do partake in the junk food I feel that I failed myself which causes me to expand it into the remainder of my week (ie - I ate a ton of crap and blew it on Saturday, why bother working out the rest of this week).

I guess I need a shrink - ha. I think I am dealing better with it now, but in general I am rewarded more by the results of my efforts and my regimen than I am by pigging out at a BBQ...

FitToBeFab

I'm totally a social eater and get easily pressured by my friends and family to over indulge. And then we sit around for hours after our big meal complaining about being fat.

Depending on the group I'm with (my friends versus my boyfriends friends versus his family versus my family), I do different things. With my friends I go ahead and eat less, or only grab healthy things and just endure the comments because I know they're making them because they're uncomfortable with their own choices.

The other groups are a more difficult problem and in those situations I try to work out ahead of time, or sneakily only eat a small portion.

And I just realized I've rambled on for awhile and may or may not have even answered your question! :grumble:

iuew

when i go, i eat before or eat something small there.

i do admit that most of the time, i skip the bbq because there simply won't be anything healthy there, and the fattening food won't be good enough to warrant the extra exercise and meal adjustments i'll have to make later. the best strategy, though, seems to be to go to the bbq and just have something small.

Dreester

I would eat the snack with the least calories, and try not to over do it. It would be hard for me, because I love grilled food, no so much the beer.:)

TexanThom

D. Bring your own bag of celery and carrots, Nancy.

lesliev523

You should bring a salad to the barbeque as another food choice!


I would say C

jus_in_bello

I actually find myself to be (on occasion) very grateful that I have serious food intolerances that prevent me from eating 90% of food/snacks people bring to work, so I bring my own food or I don't eat at all.

ctooch99

D. Bring your own bag of celery and carrots, Nancy.

Hahahahaha - awesome!

cibilbee

Then If I do partake in the junk food I feel that I failed myself which causes me to expand it into the remainder of my week (ie - I ate a ton of crap and blew it on Saturday, why bother working out the rest of this week).

I use to be the same way (and sometime I still am) but if you shrink your veiw to "well it was only one bad day" then that will slowly become "well it was only one bad meal, I'll make sure I am good the rest the day". It is a hard and consistent battle to retrain your brain to think this way but you'll get there and then the occasional indulgence doesn't get you down so much.

aquapup

I bring fruit to parties, drink lots of water and eat slowly.

I picked these tricks up from my size 0 brother-in-law's girlfriend. It helped me a lot to witness her doing this while the rest of us were pigging out on cheesecake and candy like we were getting ready for the hunger games or something (every single family gathering).

I also plan ahead, eg - I will eat one hot dog, one serving of chips, etc and stick to it. Everything in moderation and good luck.

Flixie00

As I am regularly confronted by similar scenarios, I try to plan ahead. I will make sure I get a good work out before the event, so have calories to spare and can weigh my food / drink options up on the day dependent on what I have burnt off and what I have left in the locker.

Some days though (birthdays, Christmas etc), I just go with it and eat and drink what I like. It helps me poo poo friends and family suggestions that I am getting too skinny and am no fun any more, and so what if it takes me a few weeks extra to reach my goal weight?

ctooch99

Then If I do partake in the junk food I feel that I failed myself which causes me to expand it into the remainder of my week (ie - I ate a ton of crap and blew it on Saturday, why bother working out the rest of this week).

I use to be the same way (and sometime I still am) but if you shrink your veiw to "well it was only one bad day" then that will slowly become "well it was only one bad meal, I'll make sure I am good the rest the day". It is a hard and consistent battle to retrain your brain to think this way but you'll get there and then the occasional indulgence doesn't get you down so much.

Yeah, I have definitely been doing that better now days - good advice!

yoovie

piece of the sandwich, pull the cheese out when no one is looking, have some of the pretzels and three beers. next time bring a plate of shish kabobs to donate to the bbq.

fill them up with stuff like pearl onions, hunks of chicken, bell peppers, mushrooms, etc. dont saturate in any sauce - the grill adds flavor anyways

ctooch99

piece of the sandwich, pull the cheese out when no one is looking, have some of the pretzels and three beers. next time bring a plate of shish kabobs to donate to the bbq.

fill them up with stuff like pearl onions, hunks of chicken, bell peppers, mushrooms, etc. dont saturate in any sauce - the grill adds flavor anyways

Why 3 beers? Ha

yoovie

piece of the sandwich, pull the cheese out when no one is looking, have some of the pretzels and three beers. next time bring a plate of shish kabobs to donate to the bbq.

fill them up with stuff like pearl onions, hunks of chicken, bell peppers, mushrooms, etc. dont saturate in any sauce - the grill adds flavor anyways

Why 3 beers? Ha

socially acceptable norm, plus you can nurse three beers over a couple of hours without your homeboys giving you any sht.

UsedToBeHusky

Life is to be lived. A day of indulging won't define your overall weight loss. If you're concerned enough about the calories, do couple of things: workout before going and only eat a little of everything.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

This

ctooch99

piece of the sandwich, pull the cheese out when no one is looking, have some of the pretzels and three beers. next time bring a plate of shish kabobs to donate to the bbq.

fill them up with stuff like pearl onions, hunks of chicken, bell peppers, mushrooms, etc. dont saturate in any sauce - the grill adds flavor anyways

Why 3 beers? Ha

socially acceptable norm, plus you can nurse three beers over a couple of hours without your homeboys giving you any sht.

Good points!