Since all the holiday parties are coming upon us, I thought I should share some tips with you on how to survive social gatherings while on a low carb diet. This is also my “game plan” for Christmas and New Year’s celebrations.
Tip #1. Carbs still count outside your house.
A lot people seem to forget or ignore carbs outside their home. You can get into this kind of thinking: “Oh, it’s just one night and it won’t matter.” Then you go ahead and totally overeat on everything, low carb or not. But the next day you beat yourself up about cheating on your diet and freak out about the water weight that comes with eating carbs. If you are going to stress about cheat days, don’t cheat because the stress and bad mood can (and probably will) be bad for weightloss. Remember to follow your diet plan as much as you can.
Tip #2. Make concious decisions.
This goes hand in hand with my first point. Think about your options and make good or at least less bad choices. Most likely there will be ham, cheese, coffee, tea, deviled eggs, various cuts of meat, fish, veggies, water etc. Try to avoid alcohol, sweets and cake. If you really want to, have only a little of the foods outside your regular plan, a la: eat only a third of the regular cake slice, only one gingerbread cookie etc. It’s important that you make concious decisions about your food and don’t just munch your time away. Sometimes social gatherings are accompanied with constant eating, I’ve been to those: there is a main meal but then the snacks are out the whole evening and people just do not stop eating them. Don’t do that.
Tip #3. Eat before you leave the house.
I think this is a good idea, however some people do not agree with me. In my opinion it’s good to eat before you leave for the party because then you won’t get there starving, ready to eat anything they serve you. Eat something before the party, then if they only serve food that doesn’t fit with your eating habits, you can refuse the food politely or only eat a little bit. If you are not starving, you are more likely to make better food choices.
Tip #4. Everyone doesn’t need to hear about your eating habits / nutrition choices.
When you are offered something that you can’t/don’t want to eat because of your nutrition choices or diet, just say: “No, thank you!”, instead of explaining yourself and your choices. Every person at the gathering doesn’t need to hear about your diet plan. Everyone doesn’t want to hear about it. If someone asks if you’re on a diet, you can explain it shortly but don’t give everyone an in depth review about your diet unless the other person really seems to be interested or asks further questions.
Tip #5. If you eat something you weren’t supposed to: let it go.
Enjoy these so-called forbidden foods in small quantities if you want to and continue a normal lifestyle right after the event. Don’t stress. Keep a positive attitude. Don’t beat yourself up or try to starve yourself after cheat-eating.
I can’t really think of anything else. If you have other great tips, let me know!
Nourish, Train & Flourish 