{"id":11567,"date":"2009-09-04T01:00:23","date_gmt":"2009-09-04T06:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=11567"},"modified":"2009-09-03T16:15:27","modified_gmt":"2009-09-03T21:15:27","slug":"be-social-without-blowing-your-diet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/09\/be-social-without-blowing-your-diet\/","title":{"rendered":"Be Social Without Blowing Your Diet"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"wedding buffet\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/09\/be-social-without-blowing-your-diet\/\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-11750\" title=\"wedding buffet\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/wedding-buffet.jpg\" alt=\"wedding buffet\" width=\"239\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Whether it\u2019s a late summer BBQ, wedding, or other life milestone, you\u2019re bound to have your calendar booked with a celebration sometime soon. For people working hard to lose weight, it can be stressful and even cause anxiety that can make you want to skip the event altogether. If this sounds like you, you should know that your uneasy feeling is natural and you shouldn\u2019t think negatively toward it. Instead, how about a solution? I&#8217;ll explain why you\u2019re having a difficult time and how you can be social without blowing your <a title=\"diet\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/\" target=\"_self\">diet<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s All About Control<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The reason social engagements may make you feel uncomfortable has to do with control; how much control you think you have over making \u201cthe right\u201d choices so you won\u2019t leave feeling stuffed and regretful of your actions.<!--more--> Some people get \u201cnervous energy\u201d and tend to ease the nerves with the <a title=\"emotional eating \" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diets\/the-emotional-eating-solution\/\" target=\"_self\">comfort of food<\/a>. So if you\u2019re attending a wedding where you don\u2019t know too many people, eating can give something for your mind and mouth to do rather than (gulp) chat with strangers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Have a Plan, Have Control<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The best way to convince yourself that you do have control of your food choices in social settings is to make a plan that builds confidence. Make sure your plan is realistic and achievable. For example, do not tell yourself to skip breakfast and eat a salad for lunch so you can \u201cbank\u201d your calories for food and drink. You\u2019ll end up feeling tired, starved, and ready to eat the table.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some realistic tips:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Eat      before you go.<\/strong> You don\u2019t want to get      really hungry early on at the party. Who knows when food will be served? I      recommend having a healthy meal two hours before the occasion begins or a      200-calorie snack within an hour before the event. A <a title=\"healthy snacks\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/tag\/healthy-snacks\/\" target=\"_self\">healthy snack<\/a> might      be one cup of watermelon and one cup of fresh cut veggies with a glass of      water. A healthy meal looks more like a cup of salad greens and three ounces      of salmon with a tablespoon of dressing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>If      possible, delay eating<\/strong>. If you can      eat \u201canytime\u201d at the party consider delaying eating until you start to      feel hungry. Skip the appetizer round of food and drinks and instead sip      on some carbonated water with lemon. Make a pass at the food table and      take a look at what looks good. Think about what you would enjoy eating      that would also nourish you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Make      one reasonable sized plate<\/strong>. When it\u2019s      time to eat, choose foods that come close to the foods on your eating      plan. If there are fresh veggies or salad greens, be sure to grab some of      those to balance out other high calorie foods. Enjoy every bite of what      you choose. Try to make the meal last 30 minutes and stop when you are      full.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Choose      between desserts and drinks<\/strong>. You      probably don\u2019t need me to tell you that desserts and alcohol are sources      of <a title=\"empty calories\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/07\/how-to-avoid-empty-calories\/\" target=\"_self\">empty calories<\/a>. But it\u2019s a party so you should be able to participate.      By skipping appetizers and sticking to one plate, you do have a calorie budget      to enjoy one or two drinks or a dessert, but try to keep from participating in      both. You don\u2019t want to offset all your positive efforts with this slip      up.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Whether it\u2019s a late summer BBQ, wedding, or other life milestone, you\u2019re bound to have your calendar booked with a celebration sometime soon. For people working hard to lose weight, it can be stressful and even cause anxiety that can &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/09\/be-social-without-blowing-your-diet\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3695],"tags":[67,188,29,708,74],"class_list":["post-11567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet-and-nutrition","tag-diet","tag-habits","tag-nutrition","tag-portion-control","tag-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11567"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11567\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11749,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11567\/revisions\/11749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}