Will Power

Hey hey everyone!  How ‘bout those GMEN?!?!?!  Sorry Tom Brady fans.  Maybe next year.  :-)

Hope everyone had a great weekend, regardless of their football team.  It was absolutely gorgeous here in SoCal!  You will never hear me complain about summer weather in February…ever. 

It occurred to me while at a Super Bowl party yesterday that we should talk about will power.  I probably should have posted this *before* the weekend, but there will always be parties coming up.  Fat Tuesday, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter family get-togethers, summer cookouts….always an excuse to cheat right?  Especially when you walk in to this schmorgesborg (does anyone know how to spell that?):

Here are some little tricks I’ve tried out that seem to work pretty well for me –

1.   Work out earlier that day.  We all know it’s not happening after the party, so go ahead and give yourself a calorie deficit so you don’t feel quite as bad about what you eat.  You also tend to be more aware of what you’re eating after a good workout and are less likely to pig out.  Win win.

2.   Preemptive strike: eat something before you go.  Walking into the party ravenous isn’t going to help your cause.  I made a wrap yesterday about an hour and a half before we went.  Nothing huge, but just enough.

3.   If you’re bringing food to the party, make your contribution a healthy one so you know there will at least be one option there for you to keep snacking on if you’re really hungry.  My contribution yesterday (a la Fitnessista): 

They were a hit!  I bought a-little-bigger-than-bite-sized tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market, cut them in half, and added a piece of buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, a little olive oil and sea salt.  So easy, so good and so healthy!  Vegans can easily sub vegan cheese in there. 

4.   Alcohol: alternate with water.  You want to make sure you’re drinking plenty of water when you’re continually snacking and this will cut your liquid calorie consumption in half.  :-) Easy peasy. 

Until the desserts come out….

Pick one and stick with it OR have *a bite* of two or three.  No need to have 3 full-sized portions – normally a bite or two will satisfy the sweet craving. 

My plate from last night:

plus a few more tomatoes, a few more carrots and a little more bean dip.  For dessert, I rolled with the brownie.  Chocolate never fails me. 

Have a great Monday!  xo Shaina