How to Eat Whatever You Want When You Go Out, WITHOUT Gaining Weight

By:
On:
In: Peach&Green

Yes. You read the title of this blog post correctly.

How to Eat Whatever You Want When You Go Out, WITHOUT Gaining Weight.

Pretty cool right?

I mean, who doesn’t want to enjoy all of the 4th of July festivities, the parties, the booze, the music, the friends, AND the food WITHOUT having to worry about how many pounds of barbecue, potato salad, crawfish, and cheesecake are going to manifest themselves in the form of dimples, dents, cottage cheese, and cellulite on your thighs and your butt the following day?

We all want that, don’t we?

Well, here’s a little secret I want to let you in on:

Are you ready for it?

Are you REALLY ready for it?

OMG A’Tondra, will you just SAY IT already??

Okay,

Here it goes,

The secret is,

It is actually impossible to GUARANTEE that you will be able to eat exactly what you want on on the 4th of July (or any holiday for that matter) and not gain ANY weight.

Disappointing right?

Actually, it doesn’t have to be,

Because if you keep reading,

You will learn a strategy that you can use to minimize the amount of weight that you gain during the holidays, WITHOUT having to deprive yourself of all of those delicious foods you love to eat so much.

Here’s the thing:

Most holiday menus have foods that are full of carbohydrates:

Rice
Potatoes (French fries, potato salad, candied yams, and so on)
Cakes
Pies
Baked Beans
…and the list can go on and on and on for days.

The challenge with these foods is that, due to the high carbohydrate content, they cause the body to retain lots and lots of water.

And typically, because there are so many beverage choices available, you more than likely do not typically consume the recommended amount of water during that time period either. Not consuming enough water also leads to water retention.

So, understand that some of those changes that you may see on the scale may simply be a result of the extra water you are retaining because of all those extra carbs you consumed. If you get lots of green vegetables in to help with your bowel movements and drink plenty of water over the next few days, you should see that extra water weight fall off pretty easily.

It’s the pounds that are NOT associate with water weight that you should be concerned about and those are the pounds you should be making attempts to MINIMIZE.

Does that make sense?

Ok. Great.

So, now that you understand how this works, let’s talk about what you can do to minimize those extra pounds you may gain from eating all that food on the 4th of July.

1. Know your festivity schedule and be prepared BEFORE you leave the house.

One of the reasons you may end up gaining the extra weight is simply because you overeat whenever you attend holiday functions. You spend most of the time before you get to the function preparing to get to the function. You don’t eat and so you show up practically starving.

And what happens when your stomach is on empty and you are presented with food?

You want the food. You want ALL of it. And so you practically attempt to eat it all.

What’s the best way to prevent this from happening?

You’ve probably already guessed it.

Eat a small meal BEFORE you leave the house.

 

Have a sandwich, a salad, or some fresh fruit and a glass of water. This will help fill your belly up a little before you arrive to the function so that you aren’t in a state of “near starvation” when you get there. When your stomach isn’t rumbling or “…touching [your] back…”, you will be less likely to overeat. If you are less likely to overeat, you are less likely to pack on a bunch of unnecessary weight. Plus, you can still eat a little bit of EVERYTHING, without overindulging and WITHOUT depriving yourself.

2. DRINK YOUR WATER

Many times, you may be so dehydrated that your body and your mind confuse your “thirst signals” with your “hunger signals.” In other words, when you haven’t consume enough water, you may think and BEHAVE as though you are hungry, when you are really, in fact, just thirsty.

A good rule-of-thumb is to have a drink of water (preferably 8 ounces of water) as soon as you get to the function. This will help to get you hydrate and also fill up your belly a little, which also helps prevent overeating. If you are going to consume alcohol (HOPEFULLY YOU WON’T BE DRIVING), have an 4 to 6 ounce glass of water between each drink. Not only will this keep you hydrated, but it may also prevent you from consuming as much alcohol. Consuming less alcohol will help you to cut own on some of those empty calories and it may also make it less likely that you will get into a fight with that idiot cousin of yours who is always instigating chaos at all the family functions.

3. Use the SMALLEST plates available

The reason for this strategy being effective is easy:

The smaller the plate, the smaller the portions of food you can place on the plate. The smaller the portions, the fewer the number of calories you consume (assuming that you don’t attempt to over-stack your plate). Get yourself a small plate, add small sample portions of the different foods you want to enjoy and enjoy yourself. If you have implemented the aforementioned strategies, you shouldn’t be ridiculously hungry anyway.

And the last tip I have for you is this:

4. Spend your time ENGAGING and having CONVERSATIONS with as many people as possible.

Studies show that the more conversation you are having while you are eating, the less time you spend eating, which in most situations, will lead to fewer calories being consumed. Take some time to really engage with people. Catch up with an old friend or family member. Meet some new people. Make it a point to be fully engaged in meaningful conversations with people.

In other words,

Show up to the SOCIAL event and actually

*gasp*

SOCIALIZE.

Spend more time talking and you may just spend less time chewing.

Well,

There you have it.

Like I said,

There is absolutely nothing I or anyone else can tell you that will GUARANTEE that you will not gain any weight after enjoying all of your favorite 4th of July festivity foods,

But,

If you follow these 4 strategies,

You may just end up consuming fewer calories and you will certainly be well hydrated

And that could mean the difference between just a few pounds of water weight

Or an additional 10 pounds of belly fat, cellulite, and cottage cheese on your thighs.

 

Want to learn how you can have a great body and still be a great mom, wife, friend, career woman, and/or entrepreneur 

AND

Have a fit, toned body, gain energy, and feel FABULOUS, every single day?

Download the Fitness, Nutrition, and Lifestyle Guide.

Until we speak again,

Stay Strong.

Stay Beautiful.

#BecomingAStrongerU

A’Tondra Vinchealle