It’s grandma’s birthday and she wants to celebrate with a family dinner out at Texas Roadhouse.

No problem! You chat with your coach and make a plan by looking at the menu in advance. You find the ‘closest thing' in MacrosFirst, log it, and build your day around it. You think to yourself, “man, I am totallyyy crushing this macro tracking thing!” *insert hair flip*

THEN WHAM! Curveball! Last minute change of plans as you are walking out the door... Grandma has a craving for pasta, so now you and the family are headed to Olive Garden instead.

Your dinner plan is now out the window and there’s no wiggle room to play with because you’ve already eaten the rest of your macros allotted for the day. You know, the food that you specifically planned for to allow you to enjoy that meal at Texas Roadhouse while still adhering to your macro prescription…

Has this happened to you? Did it totally flip your lid? This situation can feel overwhelming for even the most veteran of macro counters. For newbies especially, it can feel intimidating. The longer we track macros, the more we learn about food and can more easily roll with the punches, but in the beginning you don’t know what you don’t know.

Cue the choice: are you going to react or respond?

Reacting: you lose your temper; say “to heck with this... today is totally ruined so I am just going to order whatever I want and not log it”; you eat without boundaries and spend the evening out being cranky and/or feeling bad for yourself.

Responding: you give yourself 30 seconds to feel your frustration: put the music on full blast in the car and scream; curse the macro-gods for throwing a dance party on your last remaining nerve; send a snarky text to your cousin who totally gets it; but then move on. You can’t control grandma’s oddball cravings, but what can you control? Here are some tips.

Search the new menu and hunt for an option with at least 4oz of protein. The leaner the better. Select grilled over fried if that is an option. What are your choices for sides? Any vegetables or side salads available? Pro move: get salad dressing on the side and skip the croutons.

Alcohol OR appetizer OR dessert… pick ONE.

Drink your water and be mindful of hunger cues. Don’t eat for the sport of it.

And last but certainly not least... be present. Are you obsessing about your food when you should be giving your family your attention? In this situation at least, the point of the dinner out actually has very little to do with the food.

Ultimately, the goal is to make decisions that you can feel proud of when you head to bed that night. Here at AIM, we believe that building habits to support the lifestyle you want matters a whole lot more than perfect macros.