How do you maintain your macros and healthy eating habits during a BBQ, holiday, birthday, or family gathering? The emphasis, like flexible dieting in general, is on moderation! Whether you're planning on tracking the entire meal, or using estimation, we hope these tips will help make things a bit easier.

Plan Ahead

Staying consistent is something we preach all year long, and a gathering is a time to put everything you’ve learned to the test. Making the plan in advance of the meal is key, as deciding at a time when you are less likely to be influenced by others or the tempting environment.

Don’t arrive on an empty stomach

Avoid skipping breakfast or lunch just so you can splurge at the gathering. Have a lean and protein rich breakfast and lunch, to help manage your hunger before the meal. You are more likely to meet your fat and carb goal but fall short on protein during meals where you aren’t in control. Plus, if you go into the meal on an empty stomach, it will be hard to avoid being ravenous.

Focus on the people, not on the food

That’s what gatherings are all about anyways, right? Enjoy the time you have with your family and friends, the conversations, and the season. Time with family and friends are about quality time with the people you love – not stuffing your face.

Use your hands

If busting out the pocket scale at the dinner table is not your cup of tea, familiarize yourself with the estimations using your hand, palm and fingertips. Estimating is always better than the “screw it, I might as well go overboard” attitude. You’d be surprised how precise you can be by estimating.

If it’s green, take double

Prioritize foods that you know easily fit your macros. Fill your plate with non-starchy veggies and meat FIRST, then if you go for seconds you will be less likely to indulge on the high fat and high carb options. High volume foods should still be priority.

Make alcohol rules

Alcohol is its own macronutrient – it has 7 calories per gram. When we know the total calories of a drink, we can “pretend” that those calories are coming from carbs or fats – but it is more damage control than anything and we use the calculation to limit overall calories in attempt to balance things out. That’s the long winded way of saying, if you choose to drink alcohol, drink slowly and try to limit yourself to 1 or 2 drinks at most. Coach Heather’s tip is to alternate alcohol with sparkling water 1:1.

Leave room for your favorite treats

Don’t waste your macros on the things you don’t really love, same them for the things you DO! BBQ’s, holidays, and parties don't come around frequently, and we encourage you to have a slice of grandma’s famous carrot cake, but avoid mindlessly snacking on high fat or high carb treats that aren’t special. Just because it’s in some seasonal shape or wrapper, doesn’t mean you can’t get a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup all year long.