Jump to content

Strategies for cookouts?


jtee

Recommended Posts

I am 10 days in, so far so good.  That said, my first big "trigger" event is coming up - a Memorial Day cookout - and I want to make sure I am prepared.  For those of you who are Whole30 veterans - what are some things that have worked for you in the past to get through these kinds of events?  There will be a lot of triggers there for me - chips/soda/pastries, etc.  At this point, I am just looking to survive lol.  I am sure it will get easier and some of it is certainly my own self conciousness about others noticing I am not eating "normally".  I do plan on taking a few dishes with me to the party that are compliant, and maybe even eating a meal before I go. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Look at it as its only 30 days out of your life that your not indulging in such fan fair as (insert favorite trigger foods)  Eat well before you attend.. Bring some of your own dishes to share and you'll be fine..   Once you start it really is a kick to challenge yourself for the 30 days.  Funny thing is when its all done and over you don't rush out and get that platter of non compliant food. You feel great, look great,

people are asking you what your doing different.. it goes on and on. Sure you'll have something once or twice

but soon realize its not all that after all.    Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just had a Mother's Day cookout. I just brought a dish I knew I could eat, and filled my plate with as many compliant things as I could find. It helped that I have a baby who also ate off of my plate (so I had non-compliant things on my plate if anyone was looking!), but honestly--no one even noticed. Other people brought raw veggies and mixed fruit. I brought deviled eggs to share and a small bag of almonds just for me and I was good.

 

For Memorial Day, I plan to do the same thing. Since its my in-laws cooking burgers, I plan to bring my own burger which I'm sure they would grill for me (why wouldn't they?) and then a compliant dish to share. Someone else will bring a veggie tray and a fruit bowl I'm sure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Andria

I would think a cookout would be "relatively" easy to navigate, since as others have mentioned, you can bring a compliant dish to share and grilling a burger or chicken or compliant brat (or whatever) would not stick out like a sore thumb.  However, I do hear you in regards to it being tough to avoid the many temptations that will likely be there. Just stay strong, you don't want to blow how far you come over one bbq. 

 

I would bring a favorite dish that will help satisfy you and avoid any non compliant foods/treats.  For example, for me that would be sweet potato fries.  Also, maybe bring some "flavored" La Croix sparkling water or mineral water with some lemon or lime slices so you don't feel compelled to have a beer or soda.  And don't forget a compliant fat source! Gaucomole, olives, etc that will go along way to satisfy you and ward off the cravings.  Good Luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My advice is don't think about it.  Decide what you will eat based on what you know they will have and what you will bring and then don't let your mind even start thinking about maybe.  Once I start arguing with myself, I tend to lose.  Not letting myself start the conversation is what gets me through it.  Good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

Sounds like you've got a good game plan--and I second everyone's comments, especially Jen's re: the mental stuff. Make the decision about what you will do before you go and don't leave it to your whim.

 

I actually think cookouts are one of the easier things to navigate since so many of the typical foods can be made compliant: grass fed hot dogs or burgers sans bun, coleslaw with homemade mayo, watermelon, etc.

 

You can do this and you can enjoy yourself while doing it!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Part of the 'don't think about it' strategy is to not hang out where the food is.  If I'm standing near the food table and can see, smell and watch people eat the 'bad' foods, I have a harder time resisting.  If it's a pool party, get in the pool, if they have some games, go play those.  If it's just a standing around cookout, stand around away from the food table. 

 

As I got further and further into my whole30, I had an easier time resisting the bad foods. Part of my will power was because I didn't want to ruin the progress I had made and part of it was that I was feeling and looking better and I was excited to see how much improvement I could make.  (Sorry for the run on sentence!)

 

And let's be honest....Cook out food typically isn't that great. Hardly worth the calories.  The best food is probably going to be the stuff you bring!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you bring some great food you won't be tempted. Bring some fresh fruit, fresh veggies, compliant nuts, and pork rinds for snacks. Make some awesome pork ribs. Check out Sam the cooking guy's recipe. The basics are you grab a rack of ribs (the ones in the shrink wrap work best), sprinkle with salt and pepper and any chili powder or BBQ spices that are compliant. Add 3-4 tbs of white compliant vinegar or apple cider vinegar. Cover with tin foil and bake at 400 (I think) for 90 min. The meat should be falling off the bone at this point. These are great hot or cold. Don't let anyone heat it up on the grill for you because they will add BBQ sauce and then you can't eat it. Toss it on the grill for 5 min per side and enjoy. I make these all the time. If you want hot dogs grab some Applegate Farms natural beef hotdogs, double check the ingredients to make sure they are compliant. Make some coleslaw with home made mayo, or some grass fed beef hamburgers with some minced jalapeños mixed in for a great kick. Now about some baked chicken wings with franks hot sauce. Enjoy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bring a super-filling veg side -- slaw with homemade mayo, salad, etc. -- to go with a compliant main. Chicken? Hamburger with lettuce & tomato? And eat a little something before you go, so that you aren't 'starving' when all the trigger foods scream your name.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everyone posted what I would've posted! Lol! I'm starting my second Whole 30. The first time I went thru it we did it as a challenge thru our gym in teams and as a contest. The support I received from my Clean Team was far greater than I would've imagined. Everyone who participated at our gym worked HARD, but I think difference between our team and everyone else's was the active support we gave each other (our average scores were 159, everyone else's was 130). We posted on our team's Facebook page daily - motivational videos, stories about what others have overcome to be great, recipes, what we were craving and what was hard for us during the challenge, tips on things that were working - kind of like a forum! â˜ºï¸ I think having people to "talk to" really helped because you knew you weren't alone and that your teammates would not think it was weird that you just dipped a piece of pineapple into almond butter. So think of this forum as your "team" and think of their advice. I promise - that food won't taste as good as you remember, and you'll feel so physically terrible if you cave that avoiding the food is reward enough! We had a point system as well - for food it was 1 point earned per clean meal, max of 5 pts per day - this appealed to my competitive side, and anytime I felt like caving, I remembered my points and didn't want to lose a single one. If you're competitive or if making this into a "game" will help, I'd do that. We had St Patrick's Day (which is also my wedding anniversary ðŸ˜ðŸ˜) during our challenge. I drank a lot of sparkling water with berries or citrus slices, ate cucumbers with homemade guac, made several easy clean appetizers (chicken salad on cucumber slices, parsley and onion salad with a homemade citrus vinaigrette, olives seasoned with Italian seasoning, clean prosciutto from Sprouts wrapped around blanched asparagus, bacon and shrimp skewers) and put out a lot of veggies (the party was at my house). My dishes all were eaten and gone before any of the others (we potlucked and my husband was eating on the other end of the spectrum - very badly, and he ended up with pancreatitis at the end of my challenge - he eats much cleaner now and his heart burn is disappearing, pancreas back to normal). I think people gravitate toward homemade foods. Most had no idea that the dishes were "clean" because I think people do like good, wholesome food, they're just not ready to commit to a different lifestyle. I'm starting a new 30 days because I'm starting to gravitate toward bad foods again and I don't like the way I feel. I've told some gym friends and they're ready to jump back on again as well - they will be my "team". Good luck - I know you can do it! Just stay away from the "snack" table, bring some good snacks you can munch on, drink lots of water, stay active and busy so you don't think about it, and remember how badly that crap food will make you feel. Also, if in doubt about a dish - just avoid it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I survived and I am really kinda proud of myself.  I ended up bringing guacamole and lemon-pepper wings (a recipe I found on Whole30Recipes on Instagram)... delicious!  Also had some salad, no dressing (everything was bottled) and fruit.  When dessert came out I took a walk with some others and by the time I came back it was done with.  The first party ever that I didn't pig out on junk food!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...