If I had a dollar for every time I was asked about social occasions; how to manage them, what food to choose, what to do before, what to do afterwards, I’d be a very rich lady.
Truthfully, I can understand why they’re a commonly asked about topic, especially in relation to fat loss. They’re often a lot of people’s downfalls and frequently labelled as one of the reasons someone isn’t seeing fat loss progress.
So, before I go any further, I’d like to preface that the advice I am going to give is going to be directed towards those of you who are looking to lose fat and therefore looking to make conscious choices around calories. This is the exact advice I give my clients, the majority of whom, see incredible fat loss results whilst enjoying food and alcohol in social settings.
Ok, let’s get stuck in! When it comes to managing social occasions, there are 3 areas I focus on:
- The day of
- The occasion itself
- The next day
What to do on the day of my social occasion?
Ideally, you know ahead of time that you have a social occasion that day which is going to give you a chance to plan your meals around it.
For example, let’s say you’re going out for dinner tonight with a group of friends.
The advice I give my clients is to base their meals prior (breakfast and lunch) around protein and vegetables/fruits. This is for two reasons, the first of which being that social meals generally lack good quality sources of protein and vegetables and by prioritising them throughout the day in the meals you make for yourself, you’re loading up on nutrients that you’re likely to be missing out on later. The second reason being that focussing on protein and vegetables, rather than carbohydrates and fat, is a useful way to keep the calorie content of your meals on the lower end. This is not to say you can have no carbohydrates and no fats, but it would be wise to reduce the quantities of these slightly, saving some calories for what will likely be a higher calorie meal at the social occasion.
Here are some examples of what your meals might look like;
- Breakfast; greek yoghurt and mixed frozen berries or an omelet with mixed stir fried veggies.
- Lunch; tuna on rice cakes with a large side salad or grilled chicken and roast Mediterranean veggies.
If you need a snack in between or prior to going out, try to base this around fruit or vegetables again, e.g. whole fruit, mixed fruit salad, veggie sticks with humous. Do not arrive at the social occasion starving, this will only increase your chances of making a poorer food choice. You’re better off having a snack prior than trying to push through.
What about the occasion itself?
Great question, although a tricky one. You do not need to be going sober and choosing only grilled fish and salad, however, some swaps or adaptions to what you might usually choose will need to be made if you want to see change. After all, if nothing changes, nothing changes.
Set yourself up for success by giving the occasion some prior thought and going in with a rough plan. Consider the following questions;
- What and how much do I usually drink at occasions like this?
- How many courses and what sort of food/meals would I typically go for?
From here, I’d like you to decide on 1 or 2 swaps or improvements you can make to your existing choices. The idea here is that they are small and manageable, I’d rather you choose one easy swap to make that you can adhere to than three big unachievable swaps that you don’t end up doing. Start small, build over time.
Here are some examples;
- If you’d usually have a cocktail and 3 glasses of wine, perhaps you could aim to have 1 cocktail, 1 wine and then switch to a a diet soft drink.
- If you’d usually have 3 courses, perhaps you could decide to stick to 2.
- If you’d usually order a portion of fries as a side, perhaps you could swap that to some greens or leave them completely.
To help you make more informed choices on alcohol, click here.
For some ideas of healthy swaps you could be making, click here.
Go in with a rough plan and remind yourself of it throughout the day. Considering the following questions can also be really helpful;
- How would I like to feel after this occasion?
- How can I act in line with my goals?
Finally, DOs and DON’Ts for the next day..
Do make a rough plan for the next day, including;
- Eating 3 main meals, even though you may not be hungry for them. Make sure you have food available to make meals that you’ll be proud of.
- Moving your body, try to prioritise this in the first half of your day, it will do wonders for your mood and thus, how the rest of you day goes. Nothing vigorous, just something that is going to make you feel good, e.g. a walk, swim, bike ride, yoga flow or stretch.
- Prioritise nourishment in the form of food, movement and self care.
Don’t;
- Skip meals in an effort to make up for potentially over eating the night before, this will only increase your chances of overeating again today.
- Over exercise in an attempt to burn off the extra calories from the night before. In the big scheme of things, one night of over eating will make no difference to your progress in the long run.
- Beat yourself up for not following the plan you set out for yourself. Instead, what can you learn from it? What would you like to improve on or change next time round?
There you have it, I hope you find that useful. There’s a lot there, don’t feel like you need to be doing everything all at once. Ultimately, if you can handle each occasion slightly better than you might have done previously, over time this will begin to add up.
