Where has this year gone, can you believe its now less than a month until Christmas day, which means the party season has started. How many parties, meals, drinks... are you attending this year...
It can be a difficult time to stay within your deficit, but by recognising that we can create balance, as one meal/party can not ruin our journey's.
Remember not to focus on your daily Calories/Points/Syns, but view the bigger picture over the week, creating 'Easier Days'.
What do I mean by 'Easier Days';
i.e. 1340kCals a day
= 9380kCals a week
So if we stick to 1200kCals Sunday - Friday daily, we can enjoy 2180kCals on Saturday for our seasonal Party/Drinks/Meal... or if two events in a week you could have five days at 12kCals daily and two days at 1690kCals, keeping you within your deficit.
Knowing your meals calories in advance allows you to make savvy choices through out the day in the run up to going out.
If you are heading to a party where the offering is a beige buffet, one of the easiest ways to observe how much you are eating is to only visit the offering s once filling a small plate, reaching for vegetables, salads, lean protein, avoiding pastries where you can, and refined carbohydrates. Definitively avoid mindless grazing.
If you like a drink or two make considerations to how many and your choices, maybe a drink on arrival and a drink through out your meal, limiting yourself to just two glasses. Or maybe swap your pints to 0% Alcohol resulting in consuming less calories, or swapping to spirits instead of wine again resulting in consuming less calories.
Be real with yourself and don't beat yourself up if things don't go to plan, your next meal, the next day is for drawing the line to enjoy a balanced healthy food day, back on track, because we can't be perfect all the time, life is for living and enjoying with family and friends. If 80% of our choices are healthy ones, that's good enough as one meal doesn't ruin our journey.
Set yourself clear realistic goals, maybe you don't want the pressure of being within a deficit so adjust your calories to a maintenance, or maybe allow yourself a small manageable gain.
Be kind to yourself and enjoy the season with no guilt.
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