Social Health is important and shared meals are great experiences. These can be situations where a greater amount of calories are consumed, with more food available, wider food choices and alcohol.
Try to maintain the protein and plants focus first which is going to help fill you up.
Be aware of the calorie dense foods and liquid calories.
Approach the meal with a moderate dose mindset, enjoy it thoroughly but more doesn’t always bring more enjoyment.
Slow down your eating and decision making. Try to wait a few minutes before deciding on a second drink, a second serving.
Social meals are often on weekends and it’s common for people to maintain great habits on weekdays before adding huge amounts of calories over the weekend.
If weight loss is a goal, we want to be sitting in a caloric deficit. If for example you are in a 200 calorie deficit each day Monday to Thursday then Friday night splurge on a pizza with a couple of drinks, Saturday go out for a big breakfast, even more drinks, some ice cream, then Sunday you struggle to meal prep and order Uber Eats and polish off a block of chocolate - that could lead to potentially large caloric surplus over 2 and half days. That weekend surplus of for example 1200 calories could lead you into an overall weekly maintenance or surplus and could be the reason you aren't seeing any changes.
Here are some tips on being mindful of your weekend habits:
Plan ahead, read the menu in advance, don’t skip meals before events leading you to be exposed to buffet type situations when really hungry.
If you are going to indulge over the weekend, aim for 1-2 indulgence meals. Try to maintain 4 out of a potential 6 meals over the weekend to be aligned with your goals.
If you're going large on the beverages, be prepared with good food choices the next day. Try not to add to the calories of alcohol with more calories of hangover foods.
You can still enjoy yourself socially but be mindful of how many calories you are consuming through beverages.
Plus some tips on being mindful when dining out:
Eating protein and nutrient dense meals doesn’t need to be restrictive or only practiced at home. We can still make choices aligned with our goals most of the time, even when dining out.
If you know the place you’re going to ahead of time, look up their menu online. Most places will have a full menu for your viewing. Try to read the menu when you are satiated, not when you’re hungry.
Aim to pick foods that are high in protein and nutrient dense foods but ensure you choose something you will really enjoy! Remember, the purpose of meals out is enjoyment.
You can always ask for extra veggies or salads on the side.
Ask for sauces on the side so you can control portions.
Allow for extra fats to be used in the cooking process (chef’s don’t care about your caloric intake, they care about flavour).
Eat your veg and protein first.
Eat slowly.
Eat until you’re 80% full, not completely stuffed
If having more than a main, aim for either entree OR desserts (maybe not both).
Be cautious of caloric beverages.
If you do happen to over indulge, that is fine, we all do to from time to time. Move one, don’t dwell, your next meal is a chance to go straight back to your plan. No guilt, no punishment.
Cheese Boards / Grazing Plates / Buffets
These are usually a collection of calorie dense, delicious foods which we enjoy in the company of friends and family with a drink in our other hand. Awesome for social health but being exposed to these situations regularly whilst aiming for fat loss can be difficult.
The graphic shows how quickly the calories can add up.
To break it down:
200 Cals from salami
100 Cals from the cheese
100 Cals from the hommus
85 Cals from the crackers
77 Cals from the olives
So what can you do?
First option is going all in and just accepting that you've delayed your goal a little.
Try to reduce your exposure to these situations by communicating these challenges to those who you socialise with and try to encourage social interactions which don't always involve temptations like a double cream truffle brie.
Plate yourself a portion and enjoy it slowly.
Make sure you are not hungry going to these social situations, maintain your regular meals before being exposed to these foods.
Position yourself away from the food and so the food is out of sight
Tracking social meals
Even if you are using Calorie/Macro tracking to help with your goals, you don't need to track every meal. It's okay to track 3 out of your 4 meals per day. Often with social meals, it's not feasible nor a good idea for your social health and happiness to even attempt to track. Does this mean the meal becomes an 'all in-cheat'... No...You can hide calories from My Fitness Pal but not from your body.
Here's what you do instead:
"I just had my afternoon snack, I have 750 Calories, and about 20g of protein left for dinner tonight".
You head out for dinner, base your order off what you think might roughly fall within your calorie budget. Obviously it takes a bit of experience to be able to just "eyeball" and order based on the calories you have left in your day. But if you are developing your nutritional skills, why not test yourself? You can further modify the potential calories of your meal by doing things such as asking for the sauce on the side.
In the grand scheme of things, it might be one meal in a week, and the social benefits might actually increase the longevity of your diet. So being a little sub-optimal might be worth it. At the very least if you approach this in an informed manner there is no reason why your goals will be derailed.
