You Can Have It All, Kind-of

This week I've been attending the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival. It's a gigantic jazz-lover's party where 10s of thousands attend jazz performances scheduled all around downtown Rochester NY.  It's full of music interwoven with wine, beer, cocktails, and food. I enjoy all of it and that's what this blog is about.

Every evening I run into old acquaintances who haven't seen me since I lost 100 pounds. They ask me how I did it and often tell me their doctor has told them they need to lose weight. They reveal they aren't doing anything because they are unwilling to give up their enjoyment of social occasions. So let me dispel the myth that you can't enjoy your favorite social events, drinks and foods when you are losing weight or maintaining a healthy weight.

You can enjoy social events where food and wine flow but you have to be smart about it and you can't have it all. Here are the strategies I've tried and some of them actually work for me. I had to be much more rigorous when I was losing vs. now that I'm maintaining:
        Eat and drink with wild abandon and then abstain for the following few days/week (you know, salads, lean foods, careful portions -- this often ends up being my approach now that I'm maintaining, although my wild abandon now is different from my wild abandon when I was 100 pounds overweight. If I did this while I was losing, it would mean a week of no weight loss, which was discouraging.).
        Eat modestly that day anticipating how much you will allow yourself that evening, keeping it all in balance. (This is the best plan, but it rarely works for me, hand me that 2nd glass of wine and I'll drink it or pass the tray of snacks and I'll eat them).
        Ask a friend to remind you to think twice about eating that cookie/snack/beer. (I sometimes ask my husband to do this and then I growl at him when he reminds me -- it doesn't work for me.)
         Spend your time chatting with friends or listening to the music and abstain from the food and drink. (This works for me when I'm motivated to lose, I have to make sure I eat well before I go and I stay away from the food table. If I don't start eating I seem to do better than trying to just have a little. I also chew gum and hold a glass of water in my hand).

So here's the end to the story. Seven days ago I returned from Indiana with my usual 3-4 pound gain. I worked modestly all week to drop the pounds. Exercising 5/7 days and planning what I eat. I followed the food plan 5/7 days -- two were not so good! I attended the jazz festival and had 1-2 glasses of wine every evening. I ate festival foods one night. I ate late snacks when I got home one night. I WAS NOT PERFECT. My diet and exercise would not be written up in a journal as role model. Despite this, I lost the 4 pounds I had gained in Indiana. So the big lesson is NIP it in the bud and balance excess with moderation on a daily basis.

Good luck. You will feel better if you do something.