Weight Loss without Worry

     A common question I get asked this time of year is, "How do I keep from overeating at picnics".  Picnics  can seem like a problem to someone who is trying to lose weight but the picnic itself is not the problem and neither is the table full of fatty foods and decadent desserts.  The problem arises when we let our feelings and emotions make our eating decisions for us.

     We often eat more than we want to, or eat foods we don’t want to eat, because we feel we should or we must do so.  We are so focused on not wanting to offend someone by not eating what they prepared that we don’t even realize how much we overeat.  This leads us to the one thing you should never do at a picnic if you are on a diet is…

…NEVER eat to please someone else. 

     If you eat pie because your grandma made it and you don’t want to hurt her feelings, you are eating to please someone else.  If you eat seconds because you don’t want to look like you are on a diet, you are eating to please someone else.  If you drink a soda because it is a social thing to do, you are consuming calories to please someone else.  But here is the thing - those people you pleased don’t have to work twice as hard now to lose weight - you do. 

     When you go to your next picnic eat to please yourself and make choices based on what is best for you at the time.