How can your friends can help you while you're dieting?
Friday 20 July 2012
Our real life dieters have all done it, and so can you!
In your darkest days of diet despair, it’s easy to presume that your social life will be forced to take a back seat.
It’s true that those office slimming saboteurs, conveniently laden with a tin of biscuits, may not always acknowledge your quest for the body beautiful.
But in fact, rallying your mates around you can be one of the best diet aids around.
And if you need an extra friend in your quest to lose weight, Closer Diets is here for you! Closer Diets' Beach Body Ready plan is an eight-week plan that will help you shed the pounds at a faster rate than normal - but don't worry, no fads here! Each day you’ll get to enjoy five delicious meals, including 3 main meals and 2 snacks, all of which are light and low in calories.
Eating!
Catching up with your best girlfriends doesn’t have to mean booze-fuelled (read: calorie filled) nights out or sharing a slice of chocolate fudge cake while you have a natter.
Your girl-pals are often the best support network you can get, so use your existing cheerleaders to help you achieve your dieting goals.
Make sure you have a pal you can call if you’re struggling to stay on the dieting wagon.
When cravings hit, tell a supportive friend just how desperate you are for a naughty food treat. Saying it out loud might make you realise that while your cravings my hit for ten minutes, they will soon pass.
An even better solution is to find a mate who shares you bikini-bod goals.
Develop food-free incentives for each other to keep your spirits up in your slimming quest, such as celebrating with a manicure, trip to the cinema or shopping trip when you reach weight loss milestones.
Exercising!
Exercising is far more fun with a partner in tow, so make joint gym dates or go for running, cycling or swimming sessions together.
If there is a group of you looking to shed the pounds, make the most of the summer by setting up team games of rounders, volleyball or tennis to have a giggle and hone your figure. Playing tennis for fun can burn around 169 calories in 30 minutes.
Re-live your playground days and have a friend over for a skipping workout: it’s a great laugh as well as a fantastic calorie-burner and thigh toner.
Going out
If you have to have a girls’ night out, make smarter choices to avoid piling on the pounds. A vodka and diet soft drink is only 56 calories, a summery Pimms made with diet lemonade comes in at 50, and if you’re feeling flash, a glass of Champers romps in at 85 calories.
Use you night on the tiles as the ultimate workout: strutting your stuff on the dancefloor can burn anywhere from 200 to 430 calories an hour, depending on the speed of the dancing and the amount of action put into it.
And if you really, really, have to stop off for some grub on the way home, whatever you do steer clear of grease-laden kebabs, burgers and chips. A salad in pitta bread is only a saintly 250 calories – while a quarter pounder with cheese packs in a whopping 515.
Dining
As far as dining goes, losing weight needn’t mean lonely low-cal meals for one.
It’s a common fall into the trap of thinking that if you’re trying to lose weight, you should avoid thinking about food altogether. But studies have shown that by appreciating food and making your own from scratch, you can learn to enjoy healthy meals and stop overeating junk.
Pre packaged foods are loaded with salt, calories and fat – all to be avoided like the plague if you’re trying to shape up.
Club together with your dieting comrades and create your own healthy version of Come Dine With Me.
So get together with the girls, take it in turns to have an evening of preparing scrummy but saintly meals for each other and rate the best efforts.
Just don’t overdo it on the wine!
Head to Closerdiets.com for 24/7 healthy eating advice, a personalised meal plan and guaranteed weight loss of at least 2 lbs a week.
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