Spouses, best friends and even your own children could push you off the healthy habits wagon
Sticking to a diet is tough at the best of times, and no matter how good your intentions are, there is always someone else trying to knock you off the calorie counting wagon by making you eat naughty treats.
Recognize the diet-busters in your social circle and resist their tempting offers. Here's how:
The diet spoiler: Your Friend
It sounds brutal but if you want to slim down then choose your friends wisely. Research shows that if you hang out with heavyweight friends, you're 57 per cent more likely to pile on the pounds yourself. The weight and eating patterns of the people we're closest to subconsciously influence what we see as 'normal' over time.
But this can put your diet in the danger zone if your friend's idea of a catch-up always revolves around boozy nights out or creamy cakes. If you can't take part because you're counting calories then it could feel like you're losing your friends, as well as losing fat by being on a diet.
Limit the damage:
Although unhealthy socialising habits are contagious, studies show healthy ones are too. So team up with a mate and make a pact to lose weight, and keep it off, together. Failing that, take the lead when it comes to where you meet. Book restaurants such as Japanese or Thai, which offer lots of healthy options but doesn't specialize in desserts.
Swap a large glass of wine for a small one and you'll save 100 calories a round. Top-up cocktails with extra ice — it slows down the rate you drink at and means you won't look like a party pooper in front of your friends.
The diet spoiler: Your Man
Although they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, it's actually women who pile on the most pounds when they get comfortable in a relationship.
According to research the average woman puts on a seam-splitting seven kilos and more when she settles down due to cosy nights in and man-sized helpings at mealtimes. Loved-up women tend to relax their eating habits in a relationship because they don't have to compete on the singles scene any more.
But this can make the incentive to lose those love handles even more difficult — especially when you live with a man who has a big appetite and hates eating ghaas-poos.
Limit the damage:
Him man — you woman. Remind yourself of that, and stick to the portion sizes you had when you were single. Women need 500 calories less a day than men. As a guide, make sure your plate's 20 per cent smaller than his. If it looks empty, then fill the gap with vegetables or salad instead of rice or potatoes.
If chips and sitcoms together are your weakspot then shop more strategically. Swap chips for popcorn, gulab jamuns for chikki and ice cream for frozen yoghurt. Alternatively, only buy snacks your man likes so that having them around isn't such a temptation.
The diet spoiler: Your Kids
A chicken nugget here and some cheesy pizza crust there might not seem like much at the time, but a survey of British mums found that polishing off your children's leftovers could see you gobble an extra 1,400 calories per week, which adds up to a whopping weight gain of nine kilos a year! No one can afford to throw good food away, but it's also our hard-wired survival instincts that drive us to devour leftovers instead of chucking them straight in the bin.
Because humans evolved at a time when food was scarce, it goes against our nature to let anything go to waste. So because mummy feeds the kids, she's the one who doubles as the family dustbin at mealtimes.
Limit the damage:
Remember that if your body doesn't need that extra food then it's still going to waste — but on your bum and tum as a fat dumping ground instead of the bin. Weigh up the amount of money you think you're saving by polishing off those leftovers versus how much you'll spend on expensive gym memberships or diet fads trying to burn them off again.
Either get used to making less or as soon as mealtimes are over, squirt washing up liquid over any leftovers to eliminate the temptation to pick at them. Put half-nibbled treats in a container with the kids' names on. It'll remind you they're not for you and the more often you practise putting leftovers into storage instead of your mouth, the quicker it will become a habit.
The diet spoiler: Your Colleagues
You've already told your colleagues that you're on a diet, but that can't keep the dreaded office feeder and her desserts away from your desk. No one wants to be rude to someone they work with but 29 per cent of people on a diet blame their food-pushing workmates for regularly ruining their health plans. Food pushers are jealous of people who can show restraint around food when they can't.
Persuading you to break your diet is actually so they feel less guilty about indulging themselves — a sinister motive disguised in what seems like a nice gesture.
Limit the damage:
If your office feeder won't take no for an answer then let them think they've won the fight. Take whatever they're offering then wrap it up and bury it in the bin, or pass it on to someone else.
Or you could resort to a white lie instead. Say that you think you might be allergic to wheat or that you're trying to eliminate sugar from your diet because it gives you a headache.
Using ill health as an excuse is easier for food pushers to swallow and gives them no option but to back off.
-The Times of India
Sticking to a diet is tough at the best of times, and no matter how good your intentions are, there is always someone else trying to knock you off the calorie counting wagon by making you eat naughty treats.
Recognize the diet-busters in your social circle and resist their tempting offers. Here's how:
The diet spoiler: Your Friend
It sounds brutal but if you want to slim down then choose your friends wisely. Research shows that if you hang out with heavyweight friends, you're 57 per cent more likely to pile on the pounds yourself. The weight and eating patterns of the people we're closest to subconsciously influence what we see as 'normal' over time.
But this can put your diet in the danger zone if your friend's idea of a catch-up always revolves around boozy nights out or creamy cakes. If you can't take part because you're counting calories then it could feel like you're losing your friends, as well as losing fat by being on a diet.
Limit the damage:
Although unhealthy socialising habits are contagious, studies show healthy ones are too. So team up with a mate and make a pact to lose weight, and keep it off, together. Failing that, take the lead when it comes to where you meet. Book restaurants such as Japanese or Thai, which offer lots of healthy options but doesn't specialize in desserts.
Swap a large glass of wine for a small one and you'll save 100 calories a round. Top-up cocktails with extra ice — it slows down the rate you drink at and means you won't look like a party pooper in front of your friends.
The diet spoiler: Your Man
Although they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, it's actually women who pile on the most pounds when they get comfortable in a relationship.
According to research the average woman puts on a seam-splitting seven kilos and more when she settles down due to cosy nights in and man-sized helpings at mealtimes. Loved-up women tend to relax their eating habits in a relationship because they don't have to compete on the singles scene any more.
But this can make the incentive to lose those love handles even more difficult — especially when you live with a man who has a big appetite and hates eating ghaas-poos.
Limit the damage:
Him man — you woman. Remind yourself of that, and stick to the portion sizes you had when you were single. Women need 500 calories less a day than men. As a guide, make sure your plate's 20 per cent smaller than his. If it looks empty, then fill the gap with vegetables or salad instead of rice or potatoes.
If chips and sitcoms together are your weakspot then shop more strategically. Swap chips for popcorn, gulab jamuns for chikki and ice cream for frozen yoghurt. Alternatively, only buy snacks your man likes so that having them around isn't such a temptation.
The diet spoiler: Your Kids
A chicken nugget here and some cheesy pizza crust there might not seem like much at the time, but a survey of British mums found that polishing off your children's leftovers could see you gobble an extra 1,400 calories per week, which adds up to a whopping weight gain of nine kilos a year! No one can afford to throw good food away, but it's also our hard-wired survival instincts that drive us to devour leftovers instead of chucking them straight in the bin.
Because humans evolved at a time when food was scarce, it goes against our nature to let anything go to waste. So because mummy feeds the kids, she's the one who doubles as the family dustbin at mealtimes.
Limit the damage:
Remember that if your body doesn't need that extra food then it's still going to waste — but on your bum and tum as a fat dumping ground instead of the bin. Weigh up the amount of money you think you're saving by polishing off those leftovers versus how much you'll spend on expensive gym memberships or diet fads trying to burn them off again.
Either get used to making less or as soon as mealtimes are over, squirt washing up liquid over any leftovers to eliminate the temptation to pick at them. Put half-nibbled treats in a container with the kids' names on. It'll remind you they're not for you and the more often you practise putting leftovers into storage instead of your mouth, the quicker it will become a habit.
The diet spoiler: Your Colleagues
You've already told your colleagues that you're on a diet, but that can't keep the dreaded office feeder and her desserts away from your desk. No one wants to be rude to someone they work with but 29 per cent of people on a diet blame their food-pushing workmates for regularly ruining their health plans. Food pushers are jealous of people who can show restraint around food when they can't.
Persuading you to break your diet is actually so they feel less guilty about indulging themselves — a sinister motive disguised in what seems like a nice gesture.
Limit the damage:
If your office feeder won't take no for an answer then let them think they've won the fight. Take whatever they're offering then wrap it up and bury it in the bin, or pass it on to someone else.
Or you could resort to a white lie instead. Say that you think you might be allergic to wheat or that you're trying to eliminate sugar from your diet because it gives you a headache.
Using ill health as an excuse is easier for food pushers to swallow and gives them no option but to back off.
-The Times of India
