Lose weight without sacrificing your social life!
Many of us find it hard to maintain a social life while focusing on health and fitness. Most of the time, when we are catching up with friends, the go to plan is to go out for drinks, catch up a restaurant or go grab a coffee. BUT, I’m here to tell you that you can change your mind-set and your habits without changing your lifestyle.
This week’s blog is all about me sharing a few pieces of advice that I have collected throughout my experience in the fitness industry, to help you maintain a sustainable level of fitness and eating while also maintaining your social life.
Tip 1: Share your goals!
We all have a tendency not to share our goals. So, I challenge you to tell your partner, friends, and family about your health/fitness/weight-loss targets and ask them for encouragement. More than a few studies have found that making goals public boosts accountability, increasing your odds of success!
So, don't keep your goals to yourself, share them with your social circle and watch them cheer you on!
Tip 2: Sustainability
​
I’m a huge believer in not doing anything that you can’t maintain for the rest of your life, so make sure that you maintain a balanced life and diet throughout your fitness journey! Consistency is key when getting healthy. Research has shown that one of the best ways to lose weight is to not skip meals, find your happy medium to find your ideal weight. So, don’t skip meals, if you make sure that your meals are fitting in with your macro and micro nutrients then there is absolutely no need for skipping any meals. The main point here, if you're planning on going out to eat with your friends later in the day don't skip meals so that you can eat more later, just factor your 'cheat' meal into your eating plan for the day.
​
Make sure your meals aren’t mundane! If I have the same breakfast, lunch and dinner pretty much every day then I find that I get bored very quickly and am more likely to crave other foods. Keep your diet healthy and fresh, but make sure you have some variation in it! This can be as simple as choosing different proteins for your salads or your dinners each day, once you get the hang of it you can get more creative with your recipes. Pack your meals full of fresh vegetables, if your main goal is weight loss, cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower are amazing meal fillers as they’re packed full of nutrients, they have a high water-content as well as being full of fibre, so they keep your stomach feeling fuller for longer. Fill up on wholesome foods first, then go out to catch up with friends.
Tip 3: Preparation! If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
​
With keeping a balanced lifestyle in mind, cheat meals are totally fine! When you’ve spent all week training and eating your carefully planned meals, one meal and a few drinks out with your friends isn’t going to ruin your progress. Getting a coffee to catch up with your friends is also fine, just make healthier choices with your drink options if you’re on a day where you’re counting calories, go for a black coffee or a green tea instead of your usual caramel latte.
​
Plan your meals! Be honest, how many times have you finished work and thought, “I’m too tired to cook and there’s nothing in the fridge.” By planning and prepping, you can help prevent that from happening. You will start seeing faster results AND once you get the hang of it, you’ll be amazed how much time and money you could save.
Make a list of your favourite healthy foods before you go shopping, choose simple recipes that can be made quickly and in bulk, and decide what you’ll eat for every snack and meal. Pro Tip: Save your plan for a future week! That way, once you have a few meal prep menus in your collection, you can rotate them to keep things interesting.
All of this preparation is for a purpose…to help you reach your goals. When clean eating is as simple as reaching into the fridge for your lunch or dinner, you’ll be less tempted to stop for fast food or order takeout. Because you’ll have been eating well for most of your meals, you can feel a lot less guilty about going out for a meal with your friends every now and then!
Tip 4: Slightly alter your choices when eating out
​
Trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle doesn’t mean missing fun gatherings. Socialising can even boost your body's ability to burn calories by triggering a process that changes fat from the type that stores energy to the kind that burns energy. This process has to do with the stresses of living in an enriched environment and the effect that this has on white and brown fat deposits. If you'd like to read more about the research on this I've provided the link at the bottom of the page.
​
You can still go out and socialize just as much! Make small tweaks, like choosing EITHER wine, dessert or bread (not all 3) or ordering two appetizers instead of a big meal. Most restaurants will even have healthy meal options, this doesn’t mean you have to be the classic “I’ll just have the salad” girl, it just means that you could choose the chicken breast and vegetables over the pizza. When you combine several small strategies, the cumulative effect can be massive, and you won't feel as if you've given up on your fitness goals.
​
Tip 5: Get your friends to join you!
A huge part of maintaining your motivation for exercise is the social aspect of it. It’s much easier to show up and get your workout done when someone is relying on you to show up with them, get your friends to hold you accountable for your workouts and do the same for them! Catch up with your friends by going for a walk or a bike ride together or convince them to join a group fitness class with you. You’ll be amazed at how much this will affect your willingness to exercise.
​​
- Ash
xx