Social days and staying on track

parveensamplay
parveensamplay Posts: 16 Member
in Motivation and Support
How can it be done?!

Chilled in the garden with friends and kids, they made hot dogs and home made chunky oven cooked chips.

I said I would bring some salad stuff which ended up being salad leaves, Halloumi, beetroot, tomatoes, olives, feta, with some olive oil and balsamic glaze.

I had the sausage on its own and salad, and about 6 chunky chips. Still ended up being about 700-800 calories!

Could have just had a hot dog in a bun and a few chips! Would have been about the same!

Any tips?

Replies

  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    Eat what you want and enjoy it. Log it to the best of your ability.

    If you know you'll be in that type of situation, bank up some calories for a few days so it keeps you in a calorie deficit.
  • Hollis100
    Hollis100 Posts: 1,408 Member
    edited August 2019
    Social events and staying on track are tough for me. I don't know how other people manage them, but for me, it comes down to setting limits for myself and saying "no thanks."

    I'm not offended when people say no to food/alcohol/whatever, so I can say no, too.

    Figure out my limit before I go.

    Eat something before I attend so I'm not starving.

    Keep something small on my plate or a glass in my hand so it looks like I'm not doing without.

    Find ways to say no that are kind to people who've prepared or brought food:
    Thanks, I'm good for now
    Maybe later, I'm good for now
    I'm not eating that (whatever it may be) right now, but thanks
  • tulips_and_tea
    tulips_and_tea Posts: 5,741 Member
    I think you were on the right track by bringing a salad. The one you brought sounds delish! However, it has several high-calorie ingredients. Maybe next time either bring a salad with lower calorie ingredients and have a bit of it and other things you really like or just have the food you want (hot dog and chips) and keep it to smaller portions.
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,532 Member
    Recognize that the situation you are dealing with is likely the most challenging and fortunately not ever day. Try to make a reasonable plan to operate within limits.

    No matter what, make a good faith effort to log what you ate. Don’t just throw up your hands and decide you are going to start again later.

    I don’t exactly agree with eat what you want and enjoy. Well, enjoy I agree with but eat what you’re willing to log in your food diary.
    Find some reasonable limits.
  • Butt_Snorkeler
    Butt_Snorkeler Posts: 167 Member
    I find the easiest way is to work 90 hours a week and not have a social life. You get to save money and keep in control. Win-win :D
  • parveensamplay
    parveensamplay Posts: 16 Member
    Ha ha, I think I’ve become a bit of a hermit on this journey, so I can avoid going off track!

    Yup suppose it’s just one day, just fancied some Halloumi and figured the more protein I packed in the less likely i was to get hungry again. I find the scales show a loss when I cut the carbs.

    Anyway had hit a new low weight this morning, wonder what tommorrow will show!
  • concordancia
    concordancia Posts: 5,320 Member
    It depends.

    Sometimes, I only eat what I brought. And I make sure to bring something yummy that fits my goals.

    Other times, I save up and/or do extra exercise and have more than I normally would.
  • parveensamplay
    parveensamplay Posts: 16 Member
    Right thanks! Better start forward planning towards these occasions then!
  • missysippy930
    missysippy930 Posts: 2,577 Member
    I make better choices, small portions, I’ll bring something that I know is lower calorie, log to the best of my ability and stay on plan the next day. One day, hopefully, won’t be an issue. Holidays, celebrations, birthdays etc happen. I just can’t let the occasion extend into the next day, week, month, or even years.
  • GrizzledSquirrel
    GrizzledSquirrel Posts: 120 Member
    edited August 2019
    I totally sympathise. I tend to do all my “losing” early in the week. By Fri/Sat/Sun, I’ve socialised like hell and ended up either down a tiny bit (if I am lucky) or net neutral. I used to fight it and be a hermit, but that’s no way to live. Saving up a calorie deficit is the best strategy in my experience.

    HOWEVER, on a more positive note, there are lots of NSVs to be had throughout these sorts of gatherings. I used to be first into the dips and crisps before the main food was served. Always the first to accept a top-up of my wine etc. Now, I try to shun the nibbles in favour of the main event. Nobody notices when you don’t have them. I’ll keep my water glass topped up and reach for that more often than my wine glass. All of these small steps are improvements on what I could have done. Of course, you can take it further - e.g have a hot dog without a bun or have only a forkful of the dessert on offer (or decline completely). However, it depends how far you want to take it. Personally, I like to avoid doing anything overtly “weird” when socialising, as I don’t like my weight loss efforts to become a topic of conversation!
  • parveensamplay
    parveensamplay Posts: 16 Member
    I’ve got back on it today which is good, trouble is I can’t go below my set calories other days coz I’ll just be hungry.

    My nsv would be that the last 2 occasions I have had no alcohol and have made better choices on what and how much I eat.

    I’m telling myself that this is only for the short term to lose the weight, once on maintenance I can enjoy some extra cals and treats, record it and stay within the maintenance goal the rest of the week.

    I hope to lose what I need in 6-8 months, that’s nothing compared to its benefits in the longer term.

    Next challenge I’ll have are the ‘drinks nights’ out for birthday month coming up and also a holiday. Holiday I have some kind of plan for, I know I’ll put on a couple of pounds and it’s in my plan, but the drinks are where I will struggle! I eat bad food to soak it all up prob for days... I’ll need to think about that one and see how I go! Hopefully it’ll end up being a maintenance month with no gaining.

  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,611 Member
    parveensamplay wrote: »
    How can it be done?!


    Any tips?

    Exercise.

    I often get a bicycle ride, run, hike, brisk walk, etc. in before going out to eat.


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