Who Doesn't Love A Cocktail? How Does It Effect Dieting?
After a long day at work, at a special occasion or out on the town, fabulous drinks are apart of every adult life. My favorite is when we pair our delicious drinks with FOOD!! As if there's not enough calories and sugar in the drinks themselves but then we add more with food. Lets face it, drinking, socilizing and being merry is apart of our lives whether its a daily occurrence or an affair on the weekends. This leads me to think, how do we drink and watch our calorie intake without being antisocial and a party pooper?? I was attending the opening at Boston Chops this past Tuesday night ( I was blessed enough to do the hair for the 3 models that were working the party for Thom Solo Shoes Thom Solo Shoes Facebook Page) and the free cocktails, oysters and shrimp cocktail started flowing. My go-to drink when I go out is a cosmopolitan . . . my mother always ordered them and said how delicious they where so naturally when I starting going out cosmo's were my drink of choice. One of the bartenders at the party made the best Cosmo I have ever had!!! A delicious blend of Controu, Grey Goose and cran . . . aka Cosmo heaven! I was then hit with the decision . . do I drink or eat my calories? Am I alone people?? Does this cross your mind as well??? So once again, I did the balancing act; 2 cosmos, 5 oysters and 3 shrimp cocktail.
At parties, we tend to go though each course overeating and by the time you get to desert you are over the top stuffed! How can we break this cycle? I don't know about you but I need to remove myself from the appetizer table, move food away from in front of me or use smaller plates. I have to say the smaller plate trick has helped me in many ways. My theory is: the larger the plate the more food I pile onto it so if I use an appetizer plate for my regular meal, I fill my plate will less food and thus eat less. Ta da! That's it . . . right?!?!? NOT! You also have to refrain from seconds and thirds hahahah. I find myself (coming from an Italian family) always haunted by HUGE portions, seconds & thirds and always having every family function around food. My grandmother would fill my plate with seconds before I even finished my firsts! I'm not making excuses or blaming anyone for my overheating habits BUT I feel that our upbringing really shapes our future eating habits. So lets break the cycle and STOP OVEREATING!!
Easier said then done and its a daily struggle for me but I'm trying my hardest and taking baby steps. We are human and when we adjust our eating habits abruptly you are setting yourself up for failure. Now I'm not saying that it may work for some but when we start cutting food out of our diet we get in the "I can't have this" mentality. It's not that you can't have it because you CAN but maybe we should start the "I CAN have this but I DON'T WANT IT" mentality. We need to start viewing food differently. I am a carbohydrate lady all the way! Pasta, love it, bread bring it on baby and this is what I started filling my day up with because it was easy to grab and go. I still eat carbs (because if I ever told myself that I couldn't eat them my "diet" would be over in a day) but they are not the focus of my diet. If I know I'm going to a party (and actually have time to eat before) I want to start implementing a salad before I leave. This way I will be able to drink without getting too tipsy and eat without overstuffing myself. I also find it hard to actually eat a variety at parties because I'm a pescetarian ( someone who is similar to a vegetarian but incorporates fish into their diet). Usually I fill up on dips, crackers, bread, pasta and other carbs because I know that meat didn't magically appear into the dish (I swear people in my life are always trying to get me to start to eat meat again) or that's what is only available at the moment. I don't by any means expect someone hoisting a party to go out of their way for me and cook a dish just for me (even though my Auntie Paula is fabulous at this ;) ) but this is where I run into the issue of variety. So next time I go to a party I'm going to try and eat a salad before I go and maybe some tuna and lots of added veggies. I can't tell you how much I love tuna!!!! I add tons of veggies to it to give it that added crunch and substitute mayo for horseradish mustard. Below I provided my recipie for my favorite tuna
Tuna Recipie
1 can of torno tuna (Italian tuna/tuna in oil)
2 cans of tuna (drained)
1 stock of celery finely chopped
1 stock of carrots finely chopped
1/2 Tomateo finely chopped (without seeds)
1/2 can of corn
1 lemon
1 tablespoon of dill
2 tablespoons of horseradish mustard
1. Drain regular tuna and combine torno tuna into a bowl, break up tuna into small pieces
2. Add all veggies
3. Squeeze lemon into bowl, add mustard and dill
4. Mix together
The mixture is the best after one day and when it sits overnight. I just love the tang of the mustard and the crispness of the lemon. The veggies are a great way to add a crunch to the mixture and you can enjoy it in a sandwich or over a salad. I love it so much I just eat it out of my container!!!! If you have any recipes that you would like to share please do so in the comment section below. Try the smaller plate trick, I promise it will work and you will start implementing it at parties. Have fun ladies and feel fabulous!! Until next time . . . .
