Dinner party FAIL

Womona
Womona Posts: 1,776 Member
edited September 30 in Health and Weight Loss
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions.....

How do you manage food and drink intake at a dinner party? Also, how do you estimate calories for the little tidbits and appetizers that are on the table?

I had every intention of being selective about what I chose to eat, I even exercised yesterday knowing that I'd be going to a party, and wore a fab new outfit.

Delicious healthy dinner at a good friend's last night - grilled chicken and shrimp with grilled veggies. Easy!

The apps that I was sucking down like they were going out of style however..... liver pate being my biggest weakness.... insane. I did make a nice fresh bruschetta, so at least that was healthy and low cal. The salted nuts, the cheese and meats.... yummers and bad for me! No control.

The drinks.... well, I've always said never drink your calories. I normally have one at home, 2 at a dinner party. Last night I had four!!!!! Came home wasted and felt like hell. Why why why??

I was good regarding dessert - had only a very small slice of homemade blueberry pie.

I think the rule for me is control the alcohol, because inhibitions regarding food choices go out the window. I'm really mad at myself for drinking so much, and not asking for a little plate to put my appetizer portions and then be done.

I guess in the end, I know exactly what to do, and I just didn't do it. Grrr!

Replies

  • abalicious
    abalicious Posts: 361 Member
    Honestly, I probably wouldn't even worry about it. From the sound of it, you don't go to dinner parties every night causing you to splurge. I'd say just count it as a night off and move on because it's so difficult to count those calories and just because everyone needs a "treat" night every once in a while.
  • audram420
    audram420 Posts: 838 Member
    Ok so you've had a bad night...let's turn it into some sort of positive...

    You've now discovered what your weaknesses are...now you can try to come up with a better game plan for the next party!! Maybe tell someone that you know will be at the party to HELP you and remind you of your goals!!

    Another thing that may make you feel better is that one night of bad eating can sometimes trick your body and boost your metabolism...you may not lose anything, but you may not gain as much as you think. I find that when I do really good all week, I can usually splurge once on the weekend and still lose weight!!

    Good luck and don't let it get ya down!
  • katie_on_a_mission
    katie_on_a_mission Posts: 112
    I don't even bother trying to estimate my calories when I don't have a way of verifying them. I just try to make good decisions and I make sure I stop eating when I'm full.
  • DTRTinAZ
    DTRTinAZ Posts: 29
    Don't beat yourself over a night of social eating...we all do it. It's what you do now that counts. I went on vacy not too long ago and ate high calories including drinks, and I gained over 2 pounds...not a shocker. But when I came back...I went straight back to eating healthy carbs and protiens and lost the 2 pounds and then some. Reflect back on your night as having fun and enjoying yourself...not on what you ate.
  • lerschen
    lerschen Posts: 8 Member
    You've been working hard and then turn around and binge- pretty normal! I've been contemplating a similar scenario: we're supposed to be going to dinner tonight with friends at one of my favorite restaurants where I usually pig out on all the awesome appetizers. I'm thinking that I work better with very strict rules, so therefore, I'm going to allow myself a certain number of beers and maybe eat before I go and just make the overall rule not to eat there. I've eaten there plenty of times so I'm not really depriving myself of anything, especially as this strictness isn't forever. But I know myself and if I have a little, what's to stop me from having a lot?

    So, maybe next time, you could set some clear boundaries for yourself about the food part (remind yourself this isn't forever, portion control is harder with your favorite foods, you don't want to blow your hard work, etc.). The good thing with counting calories is that you can leave yourself the calorie room for a night out with 4/5 drinks. I went to a wedding last week and had 4 glasses of wine and a few beers. Too many drinks, yes, but it's gonna happen from time to time, so don't give yourself too much grief. Now that you've binged though, pick yourself up and start again. But don't lose faith! I'm right there with ya. It's hard. You can do it- just be more strict with yourself next time, cause you're right, it's not worth the mental and physical headache compared to the ultimate goal: shedding those pounds and feeling great! I'll keep you in mind when I'm out tonight and try to live my own advice- thanks for the added inspiration...
  • trigrrl
    trigrrl Posts: 104 Member
    we all make bad choices now and again ( i had cake and a bag of chips last night for dinner ) but its the next step that matters, for me it was getting up and doing 6.5-7 km before i did anything else today...and i managed a personal best for 1 mile of that...i agree with the comment "learn from this"....and make today a great one...you can do it!
  • Lolyballs
    Lolyballs Posts: 180 Member
    sounds almost like what I did last night! I was beating myself up too but, there is some good advice here and we do deserve to let go and have some fun sometimes. I was drinking Mango daiquris last night... I had 4. I did look at the calorie counts when I got home and nearly cried. I drank 4 days worth of calories! I was pretty good with the food though. I had a few shrimp and one piece of fish. This was a birthday/high school reunion sort of get together. When they came around with cake I turned it down, got up to mingle a bit and returned to find a slice of cake... I never touched it. I was proud of myself there. My friends were trying to get me drunk and how I managed to drink 3 doubles and single over a 2 hour period and not be drunk is beyond me, especially since I have not drank at all in more than 20 yrs! We had a blast and it will be a long time before I get to do something like this again, so I'm just going to forget about the calories and move on!
  • sgrinavi
    sgrinavi Posts: 80
    Stressing about a glitch in your program is worse than the glitch..... manually add 1000 calories and move on :-)
  • nygiantschick
    nygiantschick Posts: 289 Member
    so how was the party???? Instead of focusing on the "bad" things you ate and drank why not focus on the good time you had with friends/ the great music/ the laughs and the conversation/did you get compliments on your new fab outfit??!?!?1??!. So you indulged a bit...OK....now get back on track. If you are on your program 80-90% of the time then you can splurge those other times then get back on task. Drink plenty of water, get back to your workouts, and do your logging. This is life!!!!! Don't beat yourself up over it!!!!:flowerforyou:
  • kimberly702
    kimberly702 Posts: 369 Member
    This weekend was like that... Had too many drinks and snacking. It. Was. Horrible. I wasn't even gonna put it in my food diary, but I still did just to see the damage. And I'm glad I did, because next time I'm in that kind of situation I've learned the food and the drinks and the yucky feeling the next morning is DEFINITLY not worth all those calories!! But it did make me feel better by reminding myself that at least I don't make a habit out of that kind of... "indulgement" lol. So oh well... what's done is done and you always have next time to make better choices.
  • stevwil41
    stevwil41 Posts: 608 Member
    Don't beat yourself up about it. I saw Jillian Michaels on a talk show once tell one of the other celebrity trainer types that if she couldn't have the occaisional glass of red wine or Reese's Cup that she may as well go throw herself off the roof and I agree with her totally. When choosing a healthier lifestyle it's unrealistic to think that you'll never eat anything "bad" again. Look at it as a learning experience and make better choices at your next dinner party. As long as you're making progress and making better and smarter choices then you're making progress and that's all any of us can ask for.
  • chinababe60
    chinababe60 Posts: 9 Member
    Know how you feel. did the same at lunch today. will start again tomorrow. Put it behind you, no point stressing now.
  • Womona
    Womona Posts: 1,776 Member
    Thanks everyone. I've shaken this off and today is a new day! I did have a great time at the party, and thanks to 3 Advil, I'm not hung over today!
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