Struggling with social occasions

charliesworld

Full Member
Hi guys - I've been doing sw properly (ish) for 3 weeks. First 2 weeks I stuck to plan and lost 5lbs. Last week it was mine and dps birthdays so we had quite a few treats so I put on 0.5lb. Now I'm ok with this but the next few weeks I seem to have loads of meals and stuff. My sisters are taking me out today for my birthday pressie for food and a film, and then thursday it's my sisters 30th and we are having a spa day (lunch included) and out for an evening meal than saturday it's my grans 80th and we are eating out for that. The week after it's my sons 2nd birthday so I'll be doing a party for that and then it'a not long before we are off for a family holiday.

I have this problem that if I don't know the syns of something and can count for it I really struggle to stay on track. If I overestimate my syns on the meals I'm having to go out for it doesn't leave me any for the rest of the week and I don't like that either. I've checked the menus for the places we are eating and there are no low syn options - although obv I'll be trying to get as low syn as possible.

I'm completely torn in that I don't want to be completely obsessed with the food and hardly eat anything whilst eating out but with it being so many weeks in a row I still want to lose weight (hopefully). I'm still keeping up with my exercise which I know will help but just don't know how to deal with the food.

Any ideas?
 
I had a few weeks like that. For me I've found the trick is to do EE on those days, swap chips for potatoes and avoid anything that says creamy or butter if possible. Tomato based pasta dishes are good. I've also decided whether I'm going to have a dessert before I go out - if I do have one it's because I've been extra good with the other courses.

Good luck and enjoy your meals - we're not supposed to feel deprived on SW - that's when we fall off the wagon. I've managed to lose every week when I've been out for meals, just cut back the rest of the weeks. I know I've had 2 STS recently but they were because I went spectacularly off plan for over half of the week but otherwise it can be done if we make healthier choices.
 
Sorry it's taken me so long to reply.

Thank you for your comments - well done for managing to lose weight even with eating out.

I just seem to spill it out onto other days - I think it's because I have to save my syns up I feel like I've lost my safety net and end up going way overbaord the wrong way. There's just so much coming up and I found out today that my gran is organising a party for a couple of weeks time - that's 2 things a week for the next 2 weeks then we're on holiday :(

I think I'm going to have to come up with a workable plan of action. The restaurants I'm going to on thursday and saturday just don't have low syn options so I'll keep my daily syns to 5 for the other days and just make the best options I can while I'm there. It's really hard avoiding pudding when eating out though!
 
Hi, we all have times like this. The way I do it is every other other meal is syn free and, like what has already been posted, make better choices at the meals. The one thing you shouldn't let yourself go off track because of 1 meal. This is easier said than done but if you have a meal out and make the 'wrong' choices in the sense of SW then don't think that can ruin the whole week. By staying on track in between you can limit the damage.
All that said, enjoy yourself and remember SW is a healthier way of eating for life so you have to allow for this to happen xx good luck xx
 
If you are unsure of the syns in what you are eating & guessing this will obviously make you unsettled.

You could take a look at the 'eating out' threads on here. Or what I do is search for the food item on SW website & use that syn value as a guide. You say you save up your syns. Does this mean you are having them on a weekly, rather than, daily basis.

SW is meant to fit in with your life & is a long term plan.

When you are not eating at a restaurant but eating out try having something to eat before you go that way you are unlikely to fill up on no SW food & take some snacks with you eg Alpen lights.
 
is it possible for you to contact the places where you will be eating out and asking for a copy of their menu to be emailed to you? or if there is one online.
make it a fun challenge to find meals with the lowest possible syn value that you like.
see if you can adapt it, ie contact the restaurant and ask if you can order food without sauces, oils etc.
let us know how you get on. i know it is hard and i struggle myself.
 
for me, this is the hardest part of sw. My friends and family always seem to want us to have dinner with them, or go out for lunch, and there is never anything low syn-wise to eat. I always end up off plan, this week I've had 2 off plan :( If I go to people's houses and refuse to eat, they get offended and upset. I'm starting to think that I should just turn down special occassions.
 
There is a lady in my group who eats out almost every day. She works all across the world and lots of the time she is eating in restaurants 3 meals a day. She told us the other week that nowhere in the world has she not been able to eat on plan - in fact she looks at it as a challenge. She is never afraid to ask for substitutes, or for things to be cooked differently so they are on plan.

Before this I had always been put off going out because of not wanting to go off plan but it made me think that maybe the restaurants aren't the problem - its me! Since then I have been out for at least 1 (maybe 2) meals a week and have always managed to eat on plan - I go for tomato based pasta sauces and syn the inevitable olive oil. Have any grilled meat or fish and have a salad and jacket potato. Salads are always lovely in restaurants - just ask for no dressing.

To give you an example - went out for my Wedding Anniversary to a local Italian restuarant. Had grilled Sardines, Baked Sea Bream with Tomato and Caper Sauce, and Side Salad - was blooming lovely Saved all my syns for wine :)

Basically, I think we all need to be more assertive when out eating and ask for things to be cooked and prepared in the way we want! I don't think its any coincidence that the lady from my group is an american, and they tend to be better at asking for what they want in these situations!
 
that is excellent advise. as we are paying for the meal then we should insist on it being prepared how we want it.
good luck for eating out.

and Crys you shouldnt have to not go out socialising as the whole point of this eating plan is that it fits in with your normal life. i hope you can find a compromise.xx
 
SW doesn't recommend you 'save up your syns' for special occasions. Have a read of the official explination of Flexi-Syns, as they're for just this kind of thing :)
 
Flexi Synning and saving up syns are two different things anyway. For example, you could start the week having 70 or 105 syns depending on how many you would usually have per day. Then have 2 days of the week where you have 25 syns each, and use the rest over the remaining days in the week (which would be either 4 or 11 per day . As long as the overall number of syns for the week is less than 70/105 you would still expect to lose (presuming all your other meals have been on plan etc)

Flexi synning is where you decide that you will have a set number of syns at an event or occassion eg, 50, and count down from there to zero. You don't save up syns from other days to cover them and you don't do it for a normal night out - its for special occassions - and on a week where you flexi syn you would usually have a lot more than the normal number of syns, and in theory, you are more likely to maintain rather than lose weight.

My consultant has been a SW C for 9 years and says that if you regularly go out at the weekends you are best off using your syns on a weekly basis rather than daily - but I think its down to what works for you. I tend to try and stick to 10 a day, and that gives me a little safety net if I have a day where I go over by a few.

I suspect the reason SW say use them daily is to prevent accusations of encouraging people to binge on eitehr food or booze at the weekend - lets face it, we've all had that friend on WW who doesn't eat on Friday so they could drink more points on a night out, so you can see why they say it!
 
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