If you think that you’ll have to kiss your social life goodbye once you start losing weight, don’t worry. No, you won’t end up spending the weekends alone at home, eating your low carb dinner before heading to bed. In fact, there are plenty of ways to spend time with your friends and socialize without completely ruining your diet.
Ideally, you can work with a weight loss coach to ensure that one weekend of partying doesn’t throw you off track. Moreover, because they keep track of your progress week by week, you can learn about effective strategies to be social without undermining your weight loss efforts. Here are some of the best ones.
Suggest Healthy Activities to do on Weekends
If you and your friends have varying interests, it’s important that everyone gets a chance to do something they enjoy with their friends. Propose that one friend plan the group’s weekend activity each week. When it’s your turn, suggest that the group take a zumba or spin class together. Or if you’re interested, go for a hike along a nature trail. And if not that, you can always invite them over for lunch and offer to cook something. This will give you a chance to show off your cooking skills and prove that eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring.
Save Calorie Points throughout the Week to Use on Weekends
Even when you’ve planned on eating the healthiest option at a restaurant on your night out, there’s always a chance that you’ll sneak in a few extra calories here and there. Maybe you have a bite out of your friend’s lasagne or dessert, or a sip of their drink. Altogether, you could end up consuming a lot more calories on your night out.
To make sure you have some wiggle room, plan to eat a few less calories for each day of the week. So if you eat 50 less calories for each day, you can have an extra 350 calories on a Saturday night. That’s enough for a few shots of tequila, or a small portion of chocolate cake if that’s what you prefer.
And if you plan on spending those extra calories on dessert but still want to have a couple of drinks, look up the most low-calorie options. These can include a vodka soda, tequila with lime, or a gin and (diet) tonic.
Look At the Menu Beforehand
Are you looking forward to eating out this weekend? In that case, make sure to have a look at the menu beforehand. This way, you can plan on what you’ll order instead of giving into peer pressure or ordering ‘whatever looks good’ on impulse. Also, it prevents you from ordering the same thing at every place and try a little bit of variety.
If that’s not possible and your friends spontaneously decide on a place to eat during your night out, speak to the wait staff separately and ask them for their healthier, low-carb options. Don’t worry that you’re causing them trouble. After all, they have to deal with fussy kids and picky eaters all day. Additionally, drink plenty of water before the complementary bread basket arrives so you’re not ravenous.
Drink Plenty of Water Before Going Out For Drinks
When you and your friends are going out for drinks, make sure you drink plenty of water before and during your night out. Staying hydrated can help alleviate the effects of a potential hangover by reducing the amount of alcohol that’s absorbed in the bloodstream. If you’re wondering why you should avoid getting a bad hangover, there are two reasons.
First, you’ll feel terrible in the morning. While that should be reason enough, the other is that higher hangover severity can lead to poor food choices. Consequently, you’ll end up snacking on unhealthy foods like potato crisps. And when you’re not hung-over, it’s easy to get back on track the next morning.
Wrapping Up
When you’re trying to lose weight, you may feel like your social life is over, especially if much of your socializing revolved around eating out with friends, having drinks, or watching movies. This makes it important that you continue socializing with friends in different ways to avoid feeling frustrated and eventually losing progress after you decide to ‘treat yourself’ and spiral out of control. And with help from weight loss coach, you’ll make sure to enjoy your time out, while still staying committed to your weight loss goals.
