Having social life and healthy habits: is it possible?

Following a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and having an active social life isn’t always easy to combine. But all are important and one does not replace the other!

Some examples of moments on which it can be difficult to combine an active social life with healthy nutrition and healthy lifestyle habits are:

• Dinners with friends, family, etc … (with very appetizing and tasty foods)

• Bars (where there are alcoholic drinks, sugary sodas and unhealthy snacks)

• Parties (where people spend many hours without eating, drink too much and simply eat “something”, but never healthy)

• The cinema (where it’s difficult to resist popcorn)

In today’s society, we tend to believe that gym/sports people are antisocial and have difficulties to connect with other people, because we associate this stereotype with people with bigorexia (people who are only focused on gaining muscle mass, spend too much time training, are too obsessed with the calories they consume each day, look at themselves in the mirror on a regular basis and leave their relationships aside).

Bigorexia, according to Justine J. Reel, is:

“(…) an obsessive preocucupation with the idea that one’s body is too small or weak.”  

In addition to this, some people consider it an eating disorder (and the opposite of anorexia).

Balance is essential. We shouldn’t stop doing certain things just to follow a certain lifestyle.

People should know how to adapt, to try to combine their social life with a healthy lifestyle habits, where nutrition is essential.

Self control is very important, but it isn’t always easy, that’s why I’ll give you some tips to make it more bearable and easier.

Learn how to have a social life and stay healthy

How to have an active social life and continue to eat healthy and maintain a healthy lifestyle?

Here are some tips I’ve selected for you!

1.   Always choose healthy options

If you go out for dinner, choose the best options and those that best fit your diet.

For example, if you go out for tapas (appetizer in Spanish cuisine) you can choose:

• Grilled mushrooms

• Vegetarian sandwich without mayonnaise

• Chicken skewer with vegetables

• Mini toast with ham and peppers

• Smoked salmon toast

• Grilled fresh cheese

These are some examples, but if these options are not on the menu, you can always try to customize the existing options to make them as similar as possible to what you normally eat.

If you find this impossible, convince your friends to go to healthier places where most of the food you can choose suits your diet.

If you go to a bar, drink water with lemon, a glass of red wine (as an exception) or drink in moderation on very specific occasions.

2.   Arrive later

Arriving later is not about letting people wait without warning. It’s a matter of adaptation!

If you don’t want to fall into temptation and have a dinner or meal where you know you can easily fall into the temptation of eating badly, showing up only for dessert/coffee and eating at home is a healthier option.

This way you’ll lose some time with your family/friends, but during the dessert or when you go to “drink something” later you’ll make the most of it.

This would count as an emergency option.

3.   Have one day off / Cheat day

Try to enjoy this day to do what you like most and to disconnect physically and mentally.

Go to your favorite restaurant for dinner, order the dish you like most to satiate your appetite, or take advantage of this day to go to the movies and eat some popcorn … without regrets!

It’s very important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and a strict and balanced diet, but the body needs this day to stay motivated.

Think that if 95% of your diet is healthy, it doesn’t matter if the remaining 5% is not.

This has several benefits, such as maintaining emotional balance and motivation, but it also favors the acceleration and stimulation of your metabolism, because you break the routine and your body won’t get used to the diet that you normally follow, something that will allow you to boost the results of your normal diet.

4.   Meet your friends to exercise and to spend time together

Organize a group lesson in the gym, go out for a run with friends, practice a team sport…these are some of the options.

Socializing isn’t only possible in bars or restaurants.

You can also hang out in places where you can do sports and hit two targets with one shot, so you’ll be achieving your goals in the company of your social circle.

After working out, you can also take advantage to replenish your energy and take a balanced post-workout meal together!

5.   Avoid being many hours without eating

Being away from home and spending many hours without eating is something that should be avoided, since arriving home after so many hours without eating any food, will push you to eat bigger amounts and high glycemic index foods to satiate faster, which are harmful to your diet.

Eating regularly helps you to maintain your blood glucose levels stable, and this will help you to control your appetite!

Learn how to control your appetite in this blog article!

Therefore, when you go out for a walk, take healthy snacks with you, like a protein bar, to avoid arriving to the next meal hungry and eating what you shouldn’t or a lot of superfluous foods.

Tricks

• A good trick before going out to eat, is to eat fruit or some low-fat sausage at home.

• Discard all kinds of sauces, french fries, olives, breaded foods.

• Avoid eating tapas garnished with bread and opt for a healthy dessert (fresh fruit, unsweetened dairy, but above all, avoid cakes and ice cream).

Take note

Having an active social life is really important, because it will keep you distracted, it will help you to improve your mood and to avoid depressive feelings (which can lead to eating more).

At the same time, having an active social life can expose you to more temptations.

But following some of these tips, it will be easier for you and you’ll be able to combine an active social life with a healthy lifestyle.

Try to surround yourself with people who follow your healthy lifestyle, which will make it easier for you to resist the temptations you may have.

What are your tricks? Share them with us in the comments!