Hopefully over the next week or two we will get some of the summer weather we are expecting. Whether this is wishful thinking or not, the fact remains that we turn the summer in to one long happy hour, where food and drink play host to most events and it’s easy to lose track of what we consume.
Then when the temperatures along with hemlines and shirt sleeves rise, there is no place for wobbly bits to hide. According to Motivation Weight Management a positive mental attitude and a smart approach can also play a key role when trying to lose and manage weight. Here Motivation offers some practical tips to stay on track while enjoying all the parties and gatherings any summer scorcher holds.
Don’t stand so close
When you stand beside bowls of snacks and treats, you don’t feel yourself dipping in and you lose track of how much you eat. Make a conscious effort to mingle with the people furthest from the buffet table.
Two’s company
Never pile your plate high with food as you are likely to eat it all whether you’re hungry or not. If you put only two items on your plate during any given trip to the table, you not only give yourself time to decide if you are still hungry but you are less likely to want to keep walking up and down to the table.
Steady as you go
Eat slowly. Not only will this help with digestion and taste, it will also lessen the speed at which someone will offer you more food.
Free fuel
Use the volume approach to make yourself feel full. Fill up on the healthy stuff like broccoli and celery and then see if you have room for the rest.
Find a distraction
When you think you’ll be distracted by an important or fun conversation, set the food down and give the conversation your full attention. Remember, the more you focus on people and other distractions, eg, playing games with children or watching a sporting event on TV, the less you’ll tend to eat.
What’s on your agenda
As you enter the room, tell yourself you’re there first to either to socialise with people or conduct business and secondly to eat. In these situations, there is always too much food. We are not there to load up and overindulge. It is important to realise that the food is just there to enhance the event, which is to socialise. Strengthen your resolve to eat less or to eat lighter food.
Time it
Don’t be afraid to arrive a little late or leave a little early. If you arrive late, the really tempting food may be gone already. If you leave early, you make it easier to avoid a second helping of dessert or picking at a cheese board late into the night.
Plan ahead
No matter what the occasion or gathering, there is usually a lot of food and a lot of temptation being served up. The key to managing it is to plan ahead. Decide what you are going to do before you get there.
Motivation Weight Management is best known for its outstanding success in helping thousands of Irish people to reach and maintain their ideal weight long-term. Clinical studies show that the motivation programme has an 82 per cent success rate and the company prides itself in having more than 100,000 success stories. Programmes are specially designed for men, women, and adolescents with any amount of weight to lose with private one-to-one consultations with experienced advisers and doctors. Motivation’s success is founded on the company’s approach to weight management, which focuses not just on what people eat, but why. This ground-breaking concept was pioneered by world-renowned French-Canadian bariatrician Dr Maurice Larocque, who developed the revolutionary “mental weight” concept, to help people achieve and maintain their ideal weight by identifying and tackling the root cause of their eating habits and behaviours.
According to Motivation Weight Management, 70 per cent of eating is for emotional reasons. An individual person’s habits, motivation, stress symptoms, emotions, and mental self-image all make up their ‘mental weight’. Motivation Weight Management now has 31 clinics nationwide and is an Irish company now 20 years in operation.
Contact Motivation Weight Management, Second Floor, Block 14, Galway Technology Park, at 091 480160; Unit 2 The Courthouse, The Shambles, Tuam, at 093 22344; or see www.motivation.ie for more information or to arrange a no obligation assessment.
