How to Socialize Without Sabotage: 5 Ways to Stick to Your Goals When Eating Out

How to Socialize Without Sabotage

5 Ways to Stick to Your Goals When Eating Out

We’ve all been there. You’ve had a great week. Crushed all of your workouts. Meal prepped. Tracked your macros. Then the weekend rolls around. Or a birthday. Or an office party. Or the ice cream truck. Usually the choice seems to be either abstain or go all in. But what if you could stay on top of your goals and enjoy yourself at the same time?

Health and fitness goals should be thought of in a long-term, sustainable sense. If you are working out and eating healthy the majority of the time a few meals out should not deter your gains (or losses). Here are a few tips to help guide you next time you are out to dinner or in the mood to treat yourself:

#1) Plan Accordingly. If you know you are going to be in a situation where you can’t control the food being served be mindful of what you do with the remainder of your day: drink tons of water; reduce carb and sugar intake at all other meals; get a workout in; eat a snack BEFORE you go out (to prevent a starvation-induced binge scenario). I’d also suggest pre-booking a workout for the next morning. Not only will it guarantee that your next day starts on the right foot – it will also encourage you to go to bed at a reasonable time (i.e. less alcohol consumed / less chances of a late night snack / less calories ingested overall)

#2) Protein + Veg. A simple choice no matter where you are is to stick to protein and vegetables. You may not be in control of how the food is prepped or what types of oil things are cooked in but if you stick to a source of protein and fill up on veggies you are pretty much good to go. 

#3) Avoid Trigger Foods. For me it’s the bread basket. No chance am I having one “bite” of bread. And if I eat the bread I will probably also end up eating dessert. And I will DEFINITELY wake up the next day with a stomach ache. But if I can avoid the bread, odds are I will end up ordering something decently healthy as my main and ditch the dessert entirely. Whatever your trigger is: french fries, wine, carbs – avoid. 

#4) Pick Your Poison. As stated above: you don’t want to have the wine, the bread AND the dessert. But you also want to enjoy yourself. So pick one. Enjoy it. Move on.

#5) Leave the Guilt at the Door. Meals out should be enjoyed. You should never associate guilt with food. Trust that one meal will not derail a weeks worth of hard work. Make sure you SAVOUR every bite / sip / scoop and at your next meal get right back on track. Life is short. You can have your cake and your abs too.

Written By: Danielle Bossin Hardy 

Strength & Conditioning Specialist, Holistic Nutritionist 
Instagram: @deliciouslyfitdanielle

Available for appointments at Yorkville