Weekend Sabotage?

January 25th, 2008 · 6 Comments

Tonight I’m going to a house party, tomorrow I have a dinner! Due to midweek social eating/drinking, this weekend I really wanted to give my body a chance to clean out. But being a carpe diem kind of girl, I really have difficulty reigning it in for social events.

Here are my underlying (problematic to moderation) assumptions:

Restraint = No fun.
Livin’ it up = Pour me another.

But I’m certainly not going to sit at home with my borlotti beans and brussels. What’s a girl to do?

I’m going to try something new: I’m going to do really good yoga shortly before each event, hoping that will put me in a “my body is my temple” mindset that hungers for moderation in all things. We’ll see how well it works, once I’m looking at life through a Reidel…

Do you have suggestions for occasional discipline at social gatherings? How do you sometimes “take it easy,” without necessarily committing to being the girl who never eats or drinks at group events? Or — horrors! — is cultivating “just say no” as a habit the only way to succeed? Help me out in the comments!

Tags: Health Tips · Inspiration

6 responses so far ↓

1 Melissa H. // Jan 25, 2008 at 6:03 pm

Oooh social situations are so tough sometimes, I think we can all relate!! You’re right, it’s no fun to be totally restrictive (which I tend to be–I am “that girl”–*working* on changing it … but I do credit to how I’ve only gained back 5-7 of 35 lost, vs more!) .

When I am feeling good–have exercised and ate well that day, as you mention planning on doing–yea!–I def. feel better and sometimes more entitled, but usually it keeps me on my game.

I check out menus online first…and decide what I’ll have BEFORE I go, and usually order first so I am not swayed by other people’s choices. I try to go in with the mindset, “I will have X and I don’t need Y.” For example, if I am having wine with dinner, I don’t NEED dessert–or can have sorbet or something light. If I’m at a party and there are pretzels (my weakness) I can have a handful–and then remind myself to stop.

I really don’t drink so I think that helps a lot–but I do like sweets, and need to be cautious with them.

I think your approach sounds great, though–realistic AND healthy! :) Good luck and have FUN!
2 Sara // Jan 25, 2008 at 6:06 pm

Restaurants aren’t hard for me - it’s dinner parties that are killers.

Re working out… I’m doing yoga instead of running, because running makes me feel “entitled” to eat more — “I worked so hard!” Yoga, even when it’s really intense, doesn’t push me into that mindset.

Yes, being “that girl” does come with benefits. :-)
3 Melissa H. // Jan 25, 2008 at 6:16 pm

Oh ok, can you bring a dish to the dinner party? And then just sample the other stuff?

Good point about yoga vs running!

LOL…it also makes me annoying to dine with. I am well-aware of this…! All too aware.
4 Kate Temple-West // Jan 29, 2008 at 8:37 am

I love a good red wine, and this is my real weakness when it comes to dinner parties. What I am coming to understand is that if I am relatively relaxed and happy then I can share a nice bottle of wine with some friends and drink just a couple of savored glasses over the course of the evening. If, however, I am stressed out, either by the social situation itself or by something from earlier in my day, then wine is NOT a good idea, as I will very likely have too much and regret it later. In those instances I find that I do better if I opt for a dark beer, which I like fine but don’t love, nursed for quite awhile, followed by large glasses of water. If I don’t make an issue of it, no one else seems to notice. I don’t think of it as being restrictive. I think of it as taking care of myself instead of ignoring my body’s warning signals. The more relaxed I have become in general, the more I realize that I don’t need to overindulge in alcohol in order to kick up my heels and let loose. So I think you are right. Less stress, however that is accomplished, makes it easier to take pleasure in the finer things, without overdoing it.
5 Yasmin // Jan 30, 2008 at 2:47 am

I know this post is a few days old, but girl you know I suffer from the same problem! During the week I am totally healthy, eat lots of veggies, exercise, etc.

Then Friday night comes and with it a few drinks (or more) and whee! all bets are off! That lasts through feeling hungover the next day (rationalizing that I “need” unhealthy food to feel better), and I sometimes don’t get back on track till Monday!

Kate makes a good point that sometimes it is good to order a drink that you know you will drink slowly to avoid the “getting tipsy and allowing all food inhabitions to fly away” problem. ..I know I certainly need to do more of this.

On the other hand there is nothing better than enjoying some red in a Riedel, hanging out at a dinner party. And if it is that enjoyable, maybe we should allow ourselves the indulgence - as long as it isn’t more than once a week it really isn’t going to hurt, is it? And if we don’t beat ourselves up over it, and eat healthily and exercise extra the next few days, we’d be ok.

BTW, So now that it is Tuesday…how did the Yoga preparation go? Did it help?
6 Weekend Sabotage Update // Jan 30, 2008 at 3:27 pm

[…] Friday I begged for suggestions on how I could get through the weekend without goin’ crazy on the vino. I had already planned some defensive yoga. […]