Tips and Tricks - Week Seventeen

Surviving Holiday Parties: Barbel Knauper, an associate professor of psychology at McGill University in Montreal, believes a lack of advanced planning before social situations is one of the deepest pitfalls of diet failure. He writes, "If people were making 'when, where, how' plans, they would be more likely to adhere to their goal." For example, prepare a plan before going to the event. Determine what you will eat and also how you will respond to typical queries from your friends. Before heading out, you might say to yourself, "When I go out for dinner tonight, I won't order a large entree, but a smaller one. I won't eat pasta. I'll stick with my choice even if they pressure me to eat more." Socializing is one of the top three reasons people eventually fail with a diet, according to Dr. Michael Dansinger, an assistant professor of medicine at Tufts-New England Medical Center, in Boston. Even go so far as to write down what you will eat, what you will say, and what you want to talk about (I threw that last one in there just in case the topic of dieting comes up and you want to change the subject quickly, haha). One thing I've tried in the past that has (sometimes) been successful is journaling my food BEFORE I eat it. Then I feel like I've already committed to certain foods, and eating those foods would be easier than breaking out the white-out and having to do the journal over again after I stray.