Last night was great! I went out to dinner with my family at a very cool place called Chill on St. Pete Beach and it was really good. It had a really cool vibe and the food was awesome. Then we went and played on the beach, watched the sunset and then fireworks. It was an awesome day celebrating our great country!
If you’ve ever been to one of my boot camps, then you know that I’m a pretty social guy. Always have been. As a result, I find myself at a lot of social functions: cocktail parties, tailgate parties, birthday parties and even church functions.
So, what do you do when you are trying establishing good nutrition habits but you find yourself in these situations? Well, the first thing you need to realize is that you do not need to be a recluse to have a healthy, beautiful body that performs well.
As a matter of fact these social settings can be used to fuel your motivation and your commitment to you new healthy habits. And as you get leaner and firmer, you may find people will be more drawn to you. They will be coming up to you and wanting to know what your secret is. They want to know what do you know that they don’t know?
So, what do you do when you find yourself in a social setting and you are in front of foods that you did not prepare? Or you are pressed for time and you are in a hurry and you need to grab something quick?
I get asked all the time Is this food “Good”? or Is this food “Bad” for you?
Instead of thinking of foods as “Good” or “Bad”, you should be thinking of all food as being on a spectrum.
Is store bought rotisserie chicken “Good”? You may remember that we first brought this up in a previous post when my wife made the most incredible Chicken Pesto Pizza for me using some store bought rotisserie chicken.
It depends. As compared to what? If your other choice is fried chicken or a very mayonaisey (I made that word up) chicken salad or fried cheese sticks, rotisserie chicken is the “Better” choice. But, is it “Better” than grilled chicken breast that you might make yourself at home? The answer is “No”.
We live in the “Is” world, not the “Should Be” world…so when you find yourself in this situation, your job is to figure out the best choice for the situation you are in. Just be sure you don’t use this as a free ticket to not be prepared all of the time. You still need to prioritize what’s important for you. And, if having a lean, fit, energetic, high-performing body is important for you, you’ll try to minimize “winging it” when you don’t have to.
Precision Nutrition has a great list of question to ask your self to figure out where a specific food is on the spectrum:
- How is this food made?
- What is in it? Or what is it lacking? (Protein ladies?)
- Do I know what the ingredients are?
- How does this food affect my body? How do I feel after eating it?
- Does this food fundamentally, nourish me? Does it add or subtract value?
- What would this food choice need to make it a little bit better?
With these questions in mind, the store bought rotisserie chicken would be a “Better” option. Is it as “Good” as some of the great tasting recipes in the Gourmet Nutrition Cook Book that I recommend? No. But, it is the best available choice in that situation.
One last thing, even too much of the best choice can be unhealthy and derail you from your goals. So, eat enough food to fuel yourself but remember to “eat slowly” and “stop eating at 80% full”. Ladies that are in camp, you should recognize these rules. They are 2 of your 10 habits.
So, don’t be a hermit. Go and enjoy life. Have fun! Be prepared when you can. When you are in social situations ask yourself the six questions above and then make the best possible choice in that situation.
If you have not ordered your copy of the Gourmet Nutrition Cookbook, you should. If not, you are missing out on some GREAT tasting food that will make you look and feel wonderful. If you would like to learn more click here.
PS – Our next boot camp starts July 23rd and we are registering now…click here to register. I hope to see you there! 🙂
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