How To Have A Social Life While Maintaining Diet And Wellness

When you decide to embark on a new diet or wellness plan, it can be hard to find the right balance of discipline without losing your social life.

Trying to incorporate your healthy diet into meetings with friends for dinner, getting together with family for weekend barbecues, or joining coworkers for happy hour may seem impossible.  Indeed, maintaining your social life can still be tough when you’re trying to stay on track—after all, there’s temptation everywhere.

However, with the right mindset, you can stay on-track; and now just when preparing healthy foods at home, but even when you eat out!

Here at NJDiet, we take weight loss and overall wellness to an entirely new level.  By utilizing bloodwork and performing DNA testing on each of our clients, we can determine each individual’s ideal diet and workout plan. We customize supplementation along with a personalized diet plan to help every patient attain their weight and health goals. 

Below we share some of our simple tips to help you maintain a fun, engaging and active social life without hindering your journey to weight loss and better health!

Tips To Maintain Your Diet Without Sacrificing Your Social Life

• Keep Your Drinks “Clean” and Light

  Sparkling water can save calories and avoid the temptations of fruity, high-caloric alcoholic drinks when you hit the town with your friends.  But you don’t have to stick to just sparkling water in order to enjoy yourself.  Lighter cocktails like wine spritzers, low-calorie wines and beers can be a great alternative.

  Another great tip is to alternate a glass of water with each light alcoholic beverage. Water will help you metabolize the alcohol, so you aren’t affected by the alcohol content. Unfortunately, often times drinking alcohol may make it hard to resist food temptations, and it makes other “cheat foods” seem more appealing: Water will also keep you hydrated, and also can fill you up — which in turn, can help you avoid mindless snacking.

• Meal Plan In Advance

  Meals can be enjoyable when you’re with friends, but you may be more likely to eat too much because you aren’t aware of how much you’re consuming. Meal planning can help so you don’t overeat when you’ve out hitting the town. For example, if you know you’re going to happy hour on Thursday with friends or a picnic this weekend, plan ahead by eating really “clean” or carefully in advance of your outings.  Stick to your diet strictly, and save up for when you head out – so you can a bit more flexibility with your eating, and without stress.  Other tips can be as easy as carrying a food journal, or using an app on your smartphone to track what you’re eating and to remind you of your own weight loss and fitness goals.

• Check Out Restaurant Menus Before You Arrive

  If you do decide to get together at a restaurant, your best course of action is to be prepared!!  These days, almost every restaurant – even chains — have their menus with nutritional information posted online . So pull up the menu and see if calorie counts are listed, and use that to guide your decisions on what to choose to order. If nutritional info is not made readily available, find a dish that sounds appealing and fits with your plan. Often times, you can ask your server exactly how the meal is prepared and ask them to omit certain items from the dish if it doesn’t work with your diet plan. Doing all of this helps you from ordering something “off-plan” and avoiding temptation!
  

• Exercise Or Workout In The Morning

  It’s hard to find excuses if you exercise first thing in the morning, so that you don’t miss a workout if you go out socializing with friends or family later in the day.  In fact most say that mornings are the best time of day to work out.  Something easy such as a 30-minute run, hitting the gym for an early class, and even just taking a long walk with family or a friend before you do anything else can get your day started in the right way.  Exercising before your day begins sets the tone for a positive attitude throughout the day, and in fact can encourage you to make healthier choices.

   

• Hosting Can Work To Your Advantage

  Socializing doesn’t always mean “going out.” Nope, you don’t have to go out to have a social life! Instead, why not invite friends and family over to your place, where you can control what you are preparing, and what you serve, so you can be sure to stay on your plan.  On the flip side, if meeting at another person’s house, offer to bring something—show up with a healthy dish that you (and everyone) can enjoy.

• Watch Added Flavors And “Toppings”

  When adding flavor to sandwiches, soups or salads, keep to the clear dressings and avoid the creamy, higher-calorie sauces or toppings that are loaded with sugar, sodium and other additives. Adding avocado, hummus or a touch of pesto is a healthy and flavorful option. Additionally, fresh herbs like cilantro and basil, or a squeeze of lime or lemon can add flavor without adding calories.

• Suggest Social Get-Togethers That Don’t Revolve Around Eating

  Socializing and eating don’t have to go hand-in-hand!  Go to the beach, hiking, bowling, or try a painting class; at home social get-togethers can include game night, movie night or book clubs! Finding events that you and your friends/family or partner will enjoy, without focusing just on food, is a wonderful way to keep your social life active.  And if you do wind up socializing at a restaurant, bar or barbecue, you don’t need to make alcohol or food your focus — instead, focus on catching up and bonding with friends and family while you’re there.

• Socialize As Part Of A Wellness, Exercise Or Weight Loss “Group”

  Finding like-minded people to join you on your weight loss journey is a huge way to socialize and keep your health and fitness goals in check. Find a group within the community, or create your own. You could even set up a Biggest Loser-type of contest with friends or co-workers to encourage friendly competition.  Get engaged on our social platforms and find groups that a tailor made for your particular fitness or diet plan. Social media is a great way to find those who share your passion for fitness, exercise and wellness, and you can turn social media friendships into real-life ones as you get to know your online community!

• Take Group Exercise Classes That Encourage Socialization

  Group exercise classes can encourage socialization all while burning calories at the same time. Dance and exercise classes such as Zumba or other types really form camaraderie between it’s participants.  Low-impact workouts combining cardio and strength training can be a fun and engaging way to work out as well.  Even joining an adult softball or kickball team or sports club is a great way to combine wellness and socialization.

• Bring Your Own Food

  At social events, it’s hard to avoid the temptations of rich hors d’oeuvres and other appetizers. Instead of depending on what is offered at a gathering, why not just take control.  Offer to bring the apps or dessert, and make them diet-friendly, but keep in mind that it should be appealing to everyone.  Things as healthy and delicious as hummus with carrot and celery sticks, salsa with veggie chips, fruit platters, sushi, kale chips or other healthy fare are all good options. If you’re out longer than expected, having a snack handy can give you something safe to munch on and stay on-plan without diving into dessert! If you are going to a social event where you can’t bring a dish, choose your finger-foods carefully.  Fruits, veggies, sushi, shrimp, lettuce wraps with chicken or turkey are good options.

• Eat Ahead To Prevent Being Overly-Hungry

  Some people who are trying to stick to their particular diet plan try to “save up” for a night out by eating less throughout the days leading up to the event. But starving yourself the day until your social gathering may backfire, and you may wind up starving and eating more than originally planned, not to mention make bad food choices.  Plan ahead by eating something good for you before you go out on the town.  Foods rich in fiber and protein can help you to feel a little full in advance (such as protein shake, for example.)

• Embrace Your Cravings; One Meal Or Social Outing Won’t Sabotage Your Diet

  Sometimes you just shouldn’t deny yourself a treat, and it can be helpful to fulfill your cravings. For example, if you’re really craving burger, order one! Just try to control your portion size.  Often times if you continually avoid your cravings, you can end up overeating by trying to satisfy it with other foods, defeating the entire purpose. Instead sometimes just by order the item that will satisfy you will be better for you in the long run. And no one says you have to “clean your plate!”

• Have A Friend Keep You Accountable

  Everything is easier with support from friends and loves ones, and staying on track when it comes to your diet is no exception. In fact, studies have found that it’s easier to stick to a diet or fitness plan when you do it with a partner or friend. This is even more important when you are eating out and socializing. Enlist support by asking a friend to help you, even if its just to provide you with a subtle reminder not to go for dessert or order something off your plan. Having someone keeping you accountable can help make you mindful of your decision and stay on track.

 

 

At NJ Diet, our program is not only aimed at promoting healthy weight loss, but aims to improve your total wellness — where the side effect is weight loss, but the end result is better overall health and well being.  

When you decide to take charge and change your life by joining our program, NJ Diet will explain how our unique individualized system works to reduce hunger and feel healthier, and how our 4 component approach makes it possible to lose 20-40 lbs. or more of fat in only 40 days! We will explain how many metabolic factors are assessed to genetically make sure you not only lose the weight, but ensures you keep it off and stay healthy for a lifetime. 

We welcome the opportunity for you to have a consultation with us, so register online now!  Attending the Initial Evaluation and Consultation is normally $99, but by registering on our website it will only cost $27! 

Are you ready to make a change in your life and improve your overall health and wellness? Contact NJ DIET to get started!