It Is the Party Season?

So here we are here again. It’s the party season. It is a time to enjoy and that means eating more than we normally would. But how can we enjoy it if we are thinking of how much extra weight we are going to gain at every party? We need to keep our minds upbeat and festive and avoid thinking “this is not good”? Fun and a parties keep us young and help us live longer !

BALANCE.
Balance is the key as always. We have started to live our “changed life” .This, we should be finding, has not been that hard. To party with a smaller plate or a plate that is not piled high in one hand and not holding a full wine glass in the other makes it easier. This keeps food under moderate control especially when we are eating standing up.
Standing up instead of sitting to eat at a party works a treat. That is as long as we are not standing next to and in arms reach of the goodies, the favorite place for grazing.

Always hit a party with one thing in mind. We have arrived to have fun. It is the season to be merry. Being merry on occasion is just as important if not more so than keeping calories down when it comes to longevity.
Building some “partying room “ in advance by reduction in our food intake, or adding extra exercise prior is a good stategy. Nothing is worse than being miserable not enjoying ourselves when we are out.

Saturday Night Fever.
Dancing at every opportunity is a relaxing and great exercise. We do not have to be a Ginger Rogers and we don’t need to train for a place in dancing with the stars. It does usually require a partner or even better a group. Always take a friend to a party and better still an MTP team member.

Throwing a Bash For Friends or Family.
If it is a turkey dinner that is the tradition, with all the trimmings, don’t try replacing everything with less tasty food as it just does not work. It is a good way to kill family friendships at a time when greeting everyone and strengthening bonds is the order of the day.
The key is again balance and a little planning. Add some extra options on the table not less. Overdo it on the veggies and greens so anyone wanting to eat a little lighter and healthier can easily chose.
Also make sure there is always that extra water or bottle of Perrier next to the wine .

Pre-Dinner or Post Dinner walk.
Planning for a pre-dinner or post dinner walk is a good way to make room in our energy balance for extra food. Walking makes a dent in our fat stores and helps to limit any increase of our fat storage cells size.
As long as we are achieve overall a negative energy balance through the season we will not increase our body weight set point.
Try to plan days between parties to balance out those wilder nights or do some extra daily exercise to burn off the extra calories consumed before the next event.

Keep all conversations positive.
We can all enjoy the great seasonal tastes and flavors that we are served up without starving ourselves. Talking and conversing about everything under the sun not just food is a good approach to party talk. Food is unavoidable. We need to learn to live with it just with a little less of it. Not so hard!

HOMEWORK

Plan your festive season. Make a simple plan as shown below.
Balance out as many Food events your attend with extra Exercise to balance them.
(http://www.nutristrategy.com/caloriesburned.htm)

Keep up your daily weighing.
Enjoy the party season!