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Congratulations! You’ve committed to a new healthy goal. You’re excited and ready to go! And then you remembered, next week is so-in-so’s birthday party and your high school reunion is in 2 weeks. Not to mention, you are supposed to have drinks with your BFF that you only get to see once a month. What now? The peer pressure to go out and have fun is always there and just because you have decided to live a healthier lifestyle does not mean that you cannot go out and have fun or that you have to abandon your friends. I am going to arm you with some tools to avoid the inevitable peer pressure and stay on track. 1. Truly Commit – Make sure your goals are clear and that you are truly committed. No one can force you to have those extra glasses of wine or choose to eat those fries that by default come with your burger – only you can do that. When we change our lives, it can take some time for the people around us to adapt. They may even try to {unintentionally} sabotage you back to the social convention. It takes time to form new behaviors. Be patient with yourself and always leave room and plan to enjoy the things you love to eat 10% of the time. This way you WILL have the strength to stay the course. 2. Eat Before You Go – Remind yourself why you are going to this event. Is it truly to eat or is it really to socialize? I’d bet it is actually the social aspect of the event that draws you to go. Eating before you go is a tactic to stay on track. This way you have more control of what you have eaten and can still have room for your vodka soda or glass of wine, and can just give the casual, “I was hungry early, so I already ate” comment. 3. You Pick – If you decide you do want to go out, but have already eaten your 10% freebie meals for the week, offer to pick the place to eat. You can then know before you arrive what healthy options are available by checking out the menu or looking possible menu choices up on My Fitness Pal. And it doesn’t hurt to be the good example in the group. 4. Be a Leader – If the temptations of your past lifestyle are simply too much – have a real conversation with your friends or loved ones and invite them along the journey with you. Misery loves company, true… so, let’s change that and be the leader and source of motivation. It will feel great to have a “buddy” with you on this journey. It’s hard to do it alone— that is why I do what I do and love doing it. When I initially started to change my lifestyle, I went through the same thing. Social pressure, family trying to sabotage my efforts by giving me packs of Oreo’s for instance for my birthday, etc. So brutal. Oreo's are my all time favorite. Once you have the one – it quickly turns to 2 and 5 and in my case – the entire sleeve. However, once you begin to feel the effects of the new lifestyle, it does get easier to avoid the social pressures and things like this. Being real here, staying on track is challenging. Lifestyle changes are never easy in the beginning, but they do become a part of your day-to-day life that eventually sticks. The biggest challenge is giving up the “all or nothing” thinking. Just focus on doing something, and being a little better than yesterday. Let’s get Fired UPP, Nat P.S. Don’t forget if you haven’t ever attended my Mindful Meal Planning Webinar, sign up now for this free event on Thursday, August 24th. No worries if that is a busy day for you! Sign up for the helpful resources and a recording of the webinar to learn how to go from eating haphazardly to healthy with simple to implement tips.
