Weekend Struggles

Sometimes it's having a change in our schedule, sometimes it's having too much time on our hands, sometimes it's the chance to gather with friends; all these things can throw off our diets. Whatever your battle ground, weekends are the toughest times of the week for many people. Lack of structured time can lead to boredom and that leads to our spending too much time with the pantry or refrigerator door open looking for something to feed that ennui.

In my case it was a monthly gathering of friends, a small group of fellow writers. We meet to critique one another's writing and encourage each other when it comes to submitting, and getting published. At these get togethers, which always start at noon and sometimes go well into mid to late afternoon, there is dessert with coffee or tea. Not lunch, just dessert; even though we begin at the traditional lunch hour. This of course, also means that unless we've had an early meal before everyone gets together, it's easy to use the dessert to fill that growing void we call hunger. The other danger is that once the meeting is over, knowing we've really not had lunch, per se', we can feel entitled to then eat a 'real meal.' So you can see where this is going.

Even though in my case, it's a noon meeting I'm dealing with, this same scenario can easily play out at any party that begins in the evening, often starting at 6p or 7p, in other words, dinnertime. Here is a thought: Try eating a small meal before the gathering so that you don't let dessert or party food substitute for 'real' food. By eating healthy before hand, you can still have dessert but not overdo it and you won't be looking for something to eat after the meeting or party is over. In the case of the lunch meeting, the dessert can suffice for the calories you would normally have in that middle afternoon to carry you over to dinner. Granted, the timing is going to be a bit off still, but it's better than being so hungry by the time the get together kicks off, that you end up overeating the sweet stuff, ignoring, (and later feeling guilty about), the fact you're using snacks to substitute for a meal.

Proper dieting and healthy eating take a bit of thought and planning. But aren't you worth that extra effort? And aren't you more than a little pleased with the results? It can be challenging, but hang in there. You can do it!