The Social Aspect of Dieting and Weight Loss
When it comes to losing weight and getting into shape, there is one thing that matters more than any other aspect of your new diet. And that one thing is ‘adherence’.
Adherence is essentially just the technical term that describes how well you are able to stick to the diet rules you’ve set yourself. Do you stick religiously to your new calorie count? To reducing your carb intake? To getting more fruits and vegetables?
Because if you don’t stick to the rules you’ve set yourself, then it really doesn’t matter how effective that diet would have been.
Thus the priority becomes not only thinking about how you’re going to eat but also how you’re going to fit your new diet plan into your lifestyle.
And one of the biggest considerations in that regard is the role of socializing and how this will impact on your diet…
Eating is Inherently Social… And That’s a Problem!
Because what many of us forget when we set out on a diet is that eating is inherently social. Many of us will enjoy family meals around the table, while couples might see dinner as a great chance to catch up on each other’s days and to inject a little romance.
This is a great thing about eating but it’s also a problem – seeing as you’ll often find that having to avoid chocolate becomes a problem when you’re eating out with friends, or enjoying Valentine’s Day!
The Solution
There are a number of solutions to this problem. One option is to just make sure that you’re very strict with yourself during the non-social meals of your day. For instance, try to keep your calories as low as possible when you’re eating lunch and breakfast and keep these consistent as well. This will give you more flexibility to eat well in the evenings. You can still be healthy but you can also stop being quite so strict.
Another option is to use that social aspect to your advantage – by dieting at the same time as a partner and getting them to experience the diet with you. This way, you can support one another and help each other through the process!
When eating out at restaurants you might find it hard to turn down dessert. One option then is to share a dessert (making yourself more social, not less so!) while another is to order a coffee instead of a massive cake!
