Are You Ready for the Weekend (and Some Football)?

Happy Saturday!  Do you have your game plan in place for this weekend? 

For me, careful planning made all of the difference for me when it came to weekends.  I'm a fairly social person (in case you haven't figured that out yet!), so weekends usually include spending time with family, friends, or both.  For better or worse, almost all get-togethers involve food.  Getting together for Saturday brunch or dinner out on Saturday night, out for dinner after church on Sunday, our small group Bible study on Sunday night - regardless of the occasion or who we're with, sooner or later we eat.

I made two decisions when I started on Take Shape for Life/Medifast.  First, I made the decision to stay on plan.  Second, I decided to live my life while I stayed on plan.  Staying on plan and maintaining an active social life are NOT mutually exclusive :-), but successfully doing both requires planning.

For one thing, I didn't go out to eat twice in day.  If I met a friend for brunch on Saturday, we didn't go out for dinner that night because I would have had my lean (Eggbeater or egg white veggie omelet) for brunch.  Sundays were less problematic because the food served at our small group was (and still is) dessert.  While everyone else enjoyed their dessert, I'd have a bar - simple!  What was a pleasant surprise was that people really didn't care what I ate or didn't eat.  Any concern I had that a hostess might be offended if I didn't eat her dessert was quickly dissipated.  For me, the key was to assure her that it looked delicious, but then say (with a smile!) that I was trying to make healthier choices.  Sometimes we'd have our own lean & green just prior to our get-together, so I could easily, and honestly, say that I'd just eaten and wasn't hungry.  Because I stayed positive and didn't make a big deal about not eating something, everybody quickly forgot about what I was or wasn't eating - they honestly didn't care :-).

If you're getting together with friends tomorrow to watch the Super Bowl, offer to bring some raw veggies to share and have some Medifast pretzels, puffs or a crunch bar with you.  Everyone will be so busy watching the game (or the commercials) to care about what you're eating.  For additional tips on how to not only survive, but thrive, while you watch the Super Bowl, check out Take Shape for Life/ Medifast's Medical Director Dr. Wayne Scott Andersen's latest blog:  http://www.drwayneandersen.com/2011/02/be-a-winner-at-your-super-bowl-party/.  (While you're there, check out his entire website for a lot of great information about this program and living an optimally-healthy life!)

All too often we allow our concerns about what we THINK other people will think to sway us, and we end up not sticking with our plan.  Today I'm encouraging you to plan your eating for this weekend and then stick with your plan.  Plan carefully, then choose wisely :-)