Dearest readers, I'm here to talk about something very important in the realm of health and nutrition- specifically, dieting. After trying many diets, I decided to stick with low-carb any time I feel the need to get a little more bodacious ;) In fact, many people I know are on the same type of diet as well. It's an excellent diet, but it makes social life- dining out and drinking with friends, coworkers and business partners- quite a bit more difficult. This is because most places to eat and drink are anything but low carb friendly as a high protein menu is very expensive for restaurants . So, how do I manage to make it work? I solved two biggest issues- food/drink selection and peer pressure. Here's how.
First, food and drink selection. These two were not so difficult to figure out once I told myself I will not dine out with people at a place that's not good for me. If people with allergies won't eat at a place that doesn't pay attention to that stuff, I won't eat a place with no low-carb options! :) Now, you may wonder, what sorta places have many low carb options? There's more than a few actually. Bars with salt and pepper, hot and plain wings; Korean BBQ places; Mongolian BBQ; Smokehouse restaurants; most all you can eat places; any restaurant that has steak. As you can see, there's enough variety here in terms of content and price. As always, make sure to stay away from anything that might have a significant amount of carbs, especially sugar. The more meat and the less sauce, the better. Do not deviate from these options, or else your entire diet won't work. As for drinks, it's even easier. With most diets, you're discouraged from drinking because they rely too much on calorie counting. Low carb, however, does not- you just count your carbs. That said, most dry wines are very, very low in carbs. In addition, most clear rums, vodka, tequila, brandy, gin and other such serious drinks have no carbs at all. Now, this doesn't mean you can have only shots or wine and nothing else. In fact, you can have mixed drinks consisting of hard liquor and diet pop. Before you look at me weird, it's perfectly fine. Rum and diet coke, gin and diet sprite etc. is all fine. Besides, remember it's really awesome to have a few of those, get a nice weekend buzz, and know it totally works with your diet! :)
The second problem I had to deal with was peer pressure. You have to refrain from being a hardcore champion of your diet who kicks your friends' asses for not being into it like you, and for poking fun at you for being on a diet and not taking a break from it when hanging out and partying. This is what people do all the time, especially guy friends. Before you get angry with them, you have to realize that this is how people react every time when someone tries to make a major change for the better in their life. This is partially because they feel insecure as they are unable or unwilling to put in sufficient effort to do the same. After all, almost everyone wants to lose some weight. Explain to your friends you really have to do this and expect friends to support you. Then, buy a round of shots. Finally, just ignore any further comments and pick the right food and drink for yourself. As long as you're eating and drinking with them, your friends will get tired of making snarky comments and get used to your new choices soon enough.
There we have it, dearest readers- two major problems of diet and going out with friends solved effectively for you. If you're on a low carb diet, try my solutions this weekend and enjoy the benefits :)
First, food and drink selection. These two were not so difficult to figure out once I told myself I will not dine out with people at a place that's not good for me. If people with allergies won't eat at a place that doesn't pay attention to that stuff, I won't eat a place with no low-carb options! :) Now, you may wonder, what sorta places have many low carb options? There's more than a few actually. Bars with salt and pepper, hot and plain wings; Korean BBQ places; Mongolian BBQ; Smokehouse restaurants; most all you can eat places; any restaurant that has steak. As you can see, there's enough variety here in terms of content and price. As always, make sure to stay away from anything that might have a significant amount of carbs, especially sugar. The more meat and the less sauce, the better. Do not deviate from these options, or else your entire diet won't work. As for drinks, it's even easier. With most diets, you're discouraged from drinking because they rely too much on calorie counting. Low carb, however, does not- you just count your carbs. That said, most dry wines are very, very low in carbs. In addition, most clear rums, vodka, tequila, brandy, gin and other such serious drinks have no carbs at all. Now, this doesn't mean you can have only shots or wine and nothing else. In fact, you can have mixed drinks consisting of hard liquor and diet pop. Before you look at me weird, it's perfectly fine. Rum and diet coke, gin and diet sprite etc. is all fine. Besides, remember it's really awesome to have a few of those, get a nice weekend buzz, and know it totally works with your diet! :)
The second problem I had to deal with was peer pressure. You have to refrain from being a hardcore champion of your diet who kicks your friends' asses for not being into it like you, and for poking fun at you for being on a diet and not taking a break from it when hanging out and partying. This is what people do all the time, especially guy friends. Before you get angry with them, you have to realize that this is how people react every time when someone tries to make a major change for the better in their life. This is partially because they feel insecure as they are unable or unwilling to put in sufficient effort to do the same. After all, almost everyone wants to lose some weight. Explain to your friends you really have to do this and expect friends to support you. Then, buy a round of shots. Finally, just ignore any further comments and pick the right food and drink for yourself. As long as you're eating and drinking with them, your friends will get tired of making snarky comments and get used to your new choices soon enough.
There we have it, dearest readers- two major problems of diet and going out with friends solved effectively for you. If you're on a low carb diet, try my solutions this weekend and enjoy the benefits :)