Navigating summer cookouts while dieting
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karatekitty830
Posts: 24 Member
Hey all:) I’m looking for some tips again because I am getting massive anxiety about a cookout I’m going to with friends- I’m so worried I’m going to eat way too many calories and throw all of my work so far down the toilet. Any tips on navigating all the post-Corona parties?
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Replies
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When I know I'm going to be eating food prepared by someone else, I give myself some wiggle room in my calorie budget by eating fewer calories at home that day.
For cookouts in particular, my strategy would be to stick more with grilled meats and dishes with lots of veggies and less with desserts or salads likely to have a lot of mayo - I make some of these things myself but I also know what exactly I put into them. It's harder to guess at how other people would make them. If I felt like having alcohol, I would only have one drink instead of several - saves some calories and prevents letting my impulsivity getting the best of me and just diving in for more snacks later.
But I don't think you have to get anxious over it. It's not the kind of thing even very extroverted people do every single day, and even if you end up eating maintenance that day or even a little more, it's not going to "ruin" your day or week or make weight loss impossible. What matters for weight loss is behavior over time. One cookout, or even a couple, won't make or break you.6 -
Bring watermelon and/or a veggie tray.
I agree with PP. Go for the grilled meats and veggies. Eat lighter that day at home. And throw in a workout video beforehand.4 -
In situations like that, I pick my favorite things to try...I don't try everything or eat things that are just "meh".
With standard cookout food, I'm going to have a burger because I love burgers.
But the potato salad or coleslaw or pasta salad...eh...not worth the calories to me.
Homemade cookies or brownies? Yeah, that's worth it!
Some store-bought cupcakes...nah, I'll leave that.
I also find it a good strategy to grab a drink (water or diet soda if you want to save the calories), and stand up while you visit with people. If I'm holding a drink, I can't hold a plate of potato chips at the same time. Helps with mindless eating.11 -
You received good answers above so I will answer a different question - often people are not worried about their self control but other people's comments.
My mom is the biggest food pusher. I have several strategies for this - I fill my plate with salad and lean protein which makes it look like I have plenty of food, and I tell her I am saving room for peach cobbler.4 -
I support others' comments so far.
One more: No matter what happens at *one cookout* . . . ONE, rare thing . . . there is *no possible way* you will "throw all of my work so far down the toilet." Not possible.
The majority of our days determine the majority of our progress. One day is a drop in the ocean.
If you're just getting started - this round, anyway - on weight loss, this is a learning experience. You can figure out a way of eating enjoyably, ideally moderately - and this cookout can be a learning experience. You'll meet a lot of different experiences on the road to achieving a healthy weight, and staying at that healthy weight - happily and with good life balance - long term.
Even if the worst possible thing happens (which needn't), you can still learn more about how to handle events like this in your life. This is one day, one event - that's all. It's a tiny lego block in building a way for your life to include fun cookouts occasionally forever, and enjoy them, while achieving your weight management goals.
Look at it that way: Make a plan for eating moderately (and moving lots, if games or dancing or something like that are on offer - even just walking around talking to people instead of sitting in one place, if that's an option). Test-drive the plan at this cookout. Afterwards, think how it went, what you can repeat happily next time, what could use some better strategies, and what those improvements might be.
For sure, strive to have fun. The day after the cookout, just get back on the healthy track you've been working on, no matter what happened at the cookout. Everything will be fine.9 -
I support others' comments so far.
One more: No matter what happens at *one cookout* . . . ONE, rare thing . . . there is *no possible way* you will "throw all of my work so far down the toilet." Not possible.
The majority of our days determine the majority of our progress. One day is a drop in the ocean.
If you're just getting started - this round, anyway - on weight loss, this is a learning experience. You can figure out a way of eating enjoyably, ideally moderately - and this cookout can be a learning experience. You'll meet a lot of different experiences on the road to achieving a healthy weight, and staying at that healthy weight - happily and with good life balance - long term.
Even if the worst possible thing happens (which needn't), you can still learn more about how to handle events like this in your life. This is one day, one event - that's all. It's a tiny lego block in building a way for your life to include fun cookouts occasionally forever, and enjoy them, while achieving your weight management goals.
Look at it that way: Make a plan for eating moderately (and moving lots, if games or dancing or something like that are on offer - even just walking around talking to people instead of sitting in one place, if that's an option). Test-drive the plan at this cookout. Afterwards, think how it went, what you can repeat happily next time, what could use some better strategies, and what those improvements might be.
For sure, strive to have fun. The day after the cookout, just get back on the healthy track you've been working on, no matter what happened at the cookout. Everything will be fine.
Very inspiring, thank you!1 -
A cook out is a relatively easy way to look as if you are eating as much as the next person even if you actually aren't. It's not like you are sitting round a dining table with Great Aunt Sue insisting you have another helping. You just keep something on your plate at all times even if you're carrying round a chicken wing that has sat there for two hours. So at least the social pressures are pretty much gone. Then it's just a question of making sure you enjoy the food but don't splurge on things you will regret. Some treats every so often are fine - you just need to plan for them.2
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I have lots of cookouts at my house...I don't really find the food to be super calorie bombs or anything. Grilled meats/poultry, potato salad, salad, fruit. Just reasonable portions and not sitting around grazing.4
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Lots of good advice here, I'll just add this for estimating portion size since there's no graceful way to surreptitiously weigh your food at a gathering like this. Assuming you have roughly average-sized hands, not unusually big or small ones:
One serving of cooked meat (chicken breast, hamburger patty) is about 3-4 oz, which is about the size of your palm, or a deck of cards.
Volumetric measurements aren't ideal, but your closed fist is a decent approximation of how much "a cup" is, for guesstimating your portions of scoop-able foods. Your index fingertip (from the distal joint to the end) is about a teaspoon, three of those is a tablespoon.
Also: Mustard, used in reasonable quantities (like, say, the amount you'd put on a hotdog, about a tsp), is basically "free" in terms of calories. (It has calories, technically, but nobody's out here eating mustard by the cup...at least, God, I hope not.)3 -
One more tip: Really enjoy being with your friends. Maybe you'll make a new friend! Enjoy that possibility, too. Focus on all the aspects of the experience-- being with people, having someone else do the cooking, admiring someone's hard work in their yard, maybe wildlife in their yard?; not only the food & drink.
Also, and this is just me, I do best with one cocktail-- get what you really want and enjoy the hell out of it. Refill with soda. Of course its *easy* to have another drink, and another. But stopping at one drink makes me more apt to appreciate all the other stuff going on and less likely to get that IDGAF attitude and eat all the foodz.
Have fun!3 -
Bring something you know you can eat to the party!
As a vegan, there is often food that I won't eat at such events, but rather than demanding the host accommodate my diet, I always just offer to bring a side or two so that I know for certain there will be something there that I can enjoy without guilt.
My go-to dishes are a hummus/baba ganoush blend and raw veggies for dipping or an awesome siracha peanut broccoli slaw made with low fat peanut butter, soy sauce, siracha and a big scoop of garlic & ginger paste. It's always a hit!4 -
rosebarnalice wrote: »...awesome siracha peanut broccoli slaw made with low fat peanut butter, soy sauce, siracha and a big scoop of garlic & ginger paste. It's always a hit!
OK, now I want this recipe.
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