Maintaining a social life?!

I save calories for the weekend so I can eat around maintenance or above and still be in a deficit for the week. It doesn't mean I can go ALL out though. I could have a pretty indulgent dinner and a glass of wine. Or a light dinner but numerous drinks.

I would log it. It does two things, you are mindful of not being way over indulgent and you can see how it affects you later on. My family and friends celebrate with food too and lots of it so I feel your pain. For me I log what I eat with them and allow myself some slack when I'm social. I also suggest doing stuff that wont involve food. I live out in the sticks, but when I go into the city to see friends I love getting together for that paint and wine thing, or we go to a group salsa dance class it's a blast. Anywho good luck

katiestenton wrote: »

So you still log your drinks and if you went out for dinner you would log that too?x

Of course...I don't understand the question lol.

You should definitely log everything, it all counts to your weight loss goal. We all over indulge sometimes, but by logging, it lets us know by how much, and maybe will help us make better choices in the future, or at least help plan the next couple days of eating and exercise.

What I do is eat less during the week so I can eat more on week ends (or Tuesdays if I feel like it, lol). Basically I keep a bigger deficit than I should to make up for those days. It's worked for 2 years (I'm maintaining though... I tried much harder to stick to my goal before that).

But logging the ugly helps me... Ok so I was 1200 calories over on Tuesday, it just means I have to make sure that I have a 800 deficit the rest of the week to make up for it (my goal is 400 under maintenance). If I didn't log it, I would probably end up gaining because I wouldn't know how much exactly I have to make up for.

But my best advice is not to drink just because everyone's doing it. If I'm going to have to go to bed hungry 3 days this week, I'm NOT wasting calories on something I don't really want. In my case, alcohol is the first thing I stopped drinking when I decided to lose weight, because it's not worth the calories to me. If people go drinking, I'll have some seltzer or an iced tea.

I am getting back on the bandwagon myself, but this has worked for me in the past and will work for me again. I stopped logging for about a year, and I have learned I can't maintain without continuing to log.

LOG it, because then you are still going to hold yourself accountable for anything extra you consume, and if you can try and find out where you are going ahead of time. I like to look at the menu if I can and make my decision based on what will fit within or near my calorie goal ahead of time...that way I am not faced with making a last minute decision and I am not surprised by just how many calories were in what I ate later. Additionally, if I know ahead of time I am going somewhere I am going to go over my calories...I can get in an extra workout to give myself some additional room.

I try to allow myself at least one social day per week. That day I will make sure to really watch what I am eating and cut back a little on my portions at breakfast and lunch. I will also switch over to seltzer water with lime juice or a iced tea with lemon after I have the drinks I have allotted myself...usually only 1 and no more than 2. Then you still feel social with what looks like a drink in your hand...just minus the extra alcohol calories.

I haven't found this tough at all. I pre-plan what drinks and food I will enjoy and keep under my deficit.

I eat well most of the time and then I train hard and play hard.

katiestenton wrote: »

hi guys im so nearly at my goal but my question to you all is how do you manage to keep a social life whilst trying to get healthy/lose weight?! Meeting up with friends always seems to me involve eating out or drinking (i'm 24) which is a sure way to undo all my hard work! None of my friends are into fitness or nutrition so they just think im sad for not wanting to eat out/drink and try and tempt me! And if you guys do have a cheat day/meal, do you still count the calories? If i'm gonna eat a whole dominos by myself i just feel like i'm guilt tripping myself but logging it

Here was a phone call I had recently.

Me: "Hey, man, let's go hiking this weekend."
Friend: "Sounds great. Sloan Peak?"
Me: "I was thinking North Lake. We'll bring inflatable boats."
Friend: "My wife hates that area."
Me: "Don't bring your wife, I can't stand her."

So that's one option: keep your friends, but make some new ones that will be active and do fun things with you. And then insult them.

Another option: do some exercise so you have more calories to work with.

Still another option: moderation in all things. Eat less going into it, don't have quite as much on the night out.

I do intermittent fasting. So i eat slash drink all my calories in a 4 hour window. So its not really a problem here. My food choices when i go out are pretty dank though

Find other activities to do with your friends. If they're not down, make friends at the gym. If your friends can't support your healthy lifestyle, are they really your friends?

Some ideas for social but active outings:
(Kind of dependent upon where you live/season)
Simply go for a walk in the neighborhood
Take a bike ride together
Rock climbing (I have an indoor facility nearby)
Roller skating... not just for middle schoolers! Lol
Ice skating
Pick up game of basketball
Join a rec volleyball team
SkyZone or the like (in my area... kind of like an indoor gymnasium, trampolines, etc. Again, not just for kids!)
Sign up for a 5k as a team and train together