Suuupuer pumped to share another book excerpt with you guys! Read on for how to sneak in more veggies in to your social life. Book launches April 24, 2018 and make sure you're on my mailing list to pre-order your book by signing up here. Thank you!
Way #4 BYO VEGGIES
A friend once told me I always did a great job with “BYO Veggies” — after giving it a good laugh, I had to admit to myself that I was pretty good at bringing my own vegetables. Since then, I’ve taken the concept and run with it. And now, every single one of my clients has the health hack in his or her back pocket.
Here’s the idea behind BYO Veggies: It’s a surefire to make sure there’s always something you can eat, no matter what the event. At potlucks, barbecues and book clubs, most people don’t typically think about providing vegetables. So you’ll do everyone a favor by adding a healthy item to the spread.
Let’s run through a few scenarios:
1. Watching The Game
It’s a football Sunday, and your guy friends are hanging out and watching the game at their apartment in SoHo. You’re excited to hang, but fear feeling bloated Monday morning at work if you dive in to the unlimited pizza and beer. So, here’s your action plan: Pick up a few bottles of seltzer, two packs of baby carrots and a couple containers of hummus on your way over. You’ll have food to nosh on, and as a nice bonus, the guys will probably eat a vegetable or two. Go ahead and have a slice of pizza and a beer, too — but you’ll feel better knowing you’ve added in your fiber, nutrients and hit your veggie count for the day.
2. At A Bachelorette
It’s a beach day with your girlfriends out in the Hamptons. Everyone is stocking the coolers with bottles of rosé and tortilla chips. You know from experience that after one glass of wine you’ll go bonkers with the bags of chips, so instead you cut up a bell pepper and throw some nuts in your bag and make it a point to eat your stash first before you dive in to the rest of the spread.
3. Book Club
It’s book club night at your friend’s place, and she always makes the fanciest, most decadent appetizers. You love her for it, but you usually leave with a stomach-ache. So you bring along a box of spinach with your bottle of wine and pop it in the fridge when you get there. When everyone starts to eat, you just plate your food on a bed of spinach and be sure to taste some of her finger foods without going to town on them.
4. At A Picnic
It’s a birthday picnic for your bestie’s kid in Central Park. You know there will be a few food choices, but you’re not quite sure what they’ll have. Plus, you hit up the gym this morning and know you’ll be hungry once you get there. So you pick up a chopped salad on your way and happily eat it on a picnic blanket once you arrive. You’re relieved you put in the extra effort to pick up a salad, because the only option at the picnic turned out to be cheese, crackers and sugary birthday cake. Not only is it a recipe for a tummy ache, but it reverses your time spent at the gym. Who wants that?
STAY IN YOUR LANE
Sure, you might get made fun of. I’ve been the girl in these scenarios countless times, and yes — I’m teased. But you know what? You’re standing up for your health and going slightly out of the way to make yourself feel good. Standing ovation for that!
Anyone who makes fun of you is just voicing their own insecurity and fears around food. They’re interpreting your healthy habit hacks as a little dig in to their lack of planning. So just stay in your own lane and do your thing.
I don’t want you feeling stuck. I don’t want you feeling like shit the next day. So try to be your own “BYO Veggies” girl and give it a spin next time you go to a party.
I’m right there with you.
