Today I’m going to share with you information on how to cope when you are faced with a dinner banquet, holiday gathering, pot-luck, etc.. so that you can enjoy yourself at parties and gatherings without stressing about weight gain.

When you are faced with this type of situation there are several steps that you can take to ensure that you do not affect your training and nutrition plan.

1.  Use the party day as your “Cheat Meal”.  This is the first option which makes the most sense.  You are allowed a “Cheat Meal” once per week with my training program.  That way we get all of the cravings out of the way, enjoy a special treat, and can stay more focused on our meal-plan during the rest of the week.  When you do “partake” be sure to do so in moderation.  Since you have been eating clean the rest of the week, you may experience some discomfort when you do eat foods such as pizza, or excessive chocolate, etc.  Your “Cheat Day” is a good day to experiment with your will power. For instance, you can try to eat clean all day knowing that you are heading to the pizza parlor that evening and want to enjoy the entire experience – (bread sticks, pizza, etc.). But try to always have something healthy along with your cheat like a salad or some fresh veggies or fruit.

2.  Surprise Banquet – If you show up somewhere and there is an unexpected food spread there are steps you can take in this situation, as well.  Immediately, search for the color!  That’s right – look for the veggie tray or veggie side dish and fill your plate with greens!  This will help you fill up on the good stuff, and give the host or hostess the impression that you are enjoying all the festivities.  Try to stay away from casseroles, gravies, and desserts.  If your host/hostess is insistent, simply take a small sample of their famous pumpkin pie, etc., but leave off the whipped cream.  If it’s something like Mexican food, find the lesser of the evils – instead of having the enchilada loaded with cheese and sauce, have a couple of tacos with the meat, lettuce and salsa leaving off the cheeses.  The tacos will still fill you up, they are flavorful and have less calorie content than the cheesy enchiladas.

3.  Stay away from sweets.  The problem with sweets is that the sugar is stored onto your body because your body is unable to use the amounts of sugar that we, as Americans, consume on a daily basis.  Most sweets are also loaded with sodium which is why you can’t eat just one!! The sodium in a piece of chocolate is actually making you thirsty – but your taste buds are confused and usually you reach for another chocolate instead of drinking water.

4.  Deprivation Vs. Moderation – I, personally, don’t believe that depriving yourself of things you love is effective.  Once you have reached your goal-weight and decide that you are finally going to have that one thing that you’ve deprived yourself of, it is almost impossible to keep from over-indulging.  I recommend that we enjoy those things we love in moderation throughout our weight loss journey so that we learn how to control ourselves once our goal has been reached.  That is why I encourage the “Cheat Day”.  This is the day that you would go to your favorite restaurant, enjoy a pizza, chocolate shake, or whatever that item might be.

5.  Of course we all know this one, use a smaller plate.  This is a tremendous help because the host/hostess can see that your plate is full (of all the good things) and won’t make a comment that you aren’t eating enough, etc., plus psychologically it helps you to feel satisfied knowing that your plate was “full”.

6.  Have you heard that when you go to the grocery store hungry that you will inevitably buy more food?  This is also the case before a party.  If you go there hungry, you will most-certainly overeat.  So, I recommend that you eat before you go to the event.  If you are following your nutrition plan, you should be eating 5 small meals per day.  Just plan to eat one of your small meals prior to the event.  Then you won’t be tempted to eat as much because you aren’t hungry.

7.  Go easy on the alcoholic or party beverages.  Some beverages are loaded with sugar and calories.  It’s better to enjoy a glass of water with lemon if you plan on indulging in some of the rich calorie-laden foods.  Most of the special foods we love are loaded with sugars and sodium, so drinking lots of water and avoiding the special  beverages helps to keep your body in balance.  Also, if you decide to drink alcohol, be sure to limit your intake and drink water in between.  Alcohol tends to dehydrate the body.  Wine tends to have less calories than a margarita.  Also be aware of the items you add to your beverages.  Coke, margarita mixes, even different types of creamers added to coffee can pack on the pounds!!

8.  Go for a walk after the meal.  Invite others to go, too.  You might start a new family tradition (or office tradition) and actually help others get fit as well!

I hope all of these little tidbits will help you next time you are invited to a business gathering, family holiday dinner, or a surprise office party!

Received this in an email and wanted to share…

Happy New Year 2010!

HANDBOOK 2010

Health
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that
is manufactured in plants..
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality
11. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their
journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts on things you cannot control. Instead
invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with His/her
mist akes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems
are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra
class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree…

Society
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends
will. Stay in touch.

Life
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come..
38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not the least

40. Please Forward this to everyone you care about, I just did.

Until Next Time…

Supplements

Here are 24 Reasons We Need Supplements as cited in “Fitness – The Complete Guide” written by Fred C. Hatfield of the ISSA.

1. Poor Digestion – not chewing well, eating too fast.

2. Hot coffee, tea, and spices – beverages that are too hot as well as spicy foods cause inflammation of the digestive linings.

3. Alcohol – Liver and Pancreas damage

4. Smoking – irritant to digestive tract

5. Laxatives – poor absorption of vitamins and minerals from food.

6. Fad Diets – disgarding whole groups of food causes vitamin deficiency.

7. Overcooking – destroys heat susceptible vitamins.

8. Food Processing – freezing food reduces Vitamin E levels.

9. Convenience Foods – excessive refined carbohydrates causes unbalanced diet and deficiency in B-group vitamins.

10.  Antibiotics – fight off friendly bacteria.

11.  Food Allergies – omission of whole food groups due to allergies causes deficiencies.

12.  Crop Nutrient Loss – soil on farms is deficient in trace elements.

13.  Accidents & Illness – causes deficiencies depending on the injury.

14.  Stress – increases requirements for certain vitamins causing a deficiency.

15.  P.M.S. – women benefit by supplementing Vitamin B-6

16.  The Teen Years – deficiencies due to rapid growth.

17.  Pregnancy – higher demands for nutrients.

18.  Oral Contraceptives – decrease absorption of folic acid and increase need for B Vitamins.

19.  Light Eating – not enough nutrients taken in throughout the day.

20.  Aging – generally have a low intake of vitamins and minerals.

21.  Lack of Sunlight – insufficient amounts of Vitamin D for invalids, shift workers, etc.

22.  Bio-individuality – Wide fluctuations in individual nutrient requirements from the official recommended daily intake.

23.  Low Body Reserves – some vitamins have low reserves in the body.

24.  Athletics – additional stress of the body requires additional vitamins.

In general, there are many, many different supplements you’ll find in the stores.  The best guidelines is to be sure that you are getting 100% of your daily recommended. If you have questions you should speak with your Physician regarding the addition of extra supplements to your diet.

As a rule I recommend the following to my clients:

Multi-Vitamins – Be sure to take a good multivitamin everyday, especially while training, because physical stress can lower your resistance initially and allow your defences to break down.  No need to get “Mega-Vitamins”.  Use something that has 100 RDA that you can buy at Walmart or your grocery store.

1. Vitamin C – I strongly recommend taking an additional Vitamin C tablet each day.  Again, this is because your defences are lowered due to the physical stress you are placing on your body.

2. Protein Shakes – You can substitute protein shakes for portions of your meal plan but do not have them every single meal.  Try to find a low carb shake somewhere in the range of 5 grams of carbohydrates.  I recommend MRM low carb whey or MRM Low Carb.

3. Digestive Enzyme – These are helpful when you start adding additional vegetables and fruit into your diet.  I recommend MRM Digest-All and take one tablet with each meal.

4. Adding fish oil to your diet provides your body with healthy Omega’s.  I suggest one to two tablets per day of MRM Smart Blend.

5. Fat Burners – I do recommend fat burners but many people I know have had great success with them.  There have been too many different types on the market and then removed due to health issues.  I would suggest you seek your physicians advice when it comes to taking these.

6. Amino Acids/Glutamine – Taking a Glutamine Powder before bedtime helps your muscles to recover more quickly and assists in the re-building process.