8 Tips for Healthy Eating in Social Settings

As food bloggers and health enthusiasts, we get asked about our diet a lot. People are curious for a few reasons. 1: Our diets are different from others, so we stand out. 2: We write a healthy food blog devoted to sugar-free recipes. People want to know how this works for our lifestyles!

The way we strive to eat here at Natural Sweet Recipes is different from most people but the strange eating choices don’t have to get in our way of having friends or having fun! We still enjoy and participate in social events, parties and celebrations. Some of the following tips have helped us transition into our current lifestyles while still enjoying eating with others. These ideas have helped us and we hope they help you!

1. Know the Whys

Why do you eat the way you do? Why are you striving to eat healthy? Knowing and remembering why we eat the way we do may be the most powerful motivation we have.  For us, our reasons can be summed up pretty simply: we feel good when we eat healthy (physically, emotionally, and mentally) and feel badly when we don’t. When we cheat, we want to make sure it’s completely worth it. As we have learned more about the benefits of eating healthy, our motivation has grown stronger and we become more inspired to continue making healthy choices.

2. Be kind

People who have inspired us the most to eat well have not been pushy or preachy about how they eat. Our goal is never to push our way of eating on others! Kindness goes a long way when we are eating differently because often times we need a little more assistance, patience and support to do so. Kindness also makes it safe for people to ask questions. This creates conversation and being able to share our experiences. Others will be willing to help us in our healthy eating goals if they understand our goals. Being kind also applies to us. We don’t give ourselves guilt trips for mistakes or enjoying indulgences and enjoy the eating experience.

3. Share!

Don’t be afraid to bring your own healthy treats or dishes! People might be interested and ask questions. Many times we’ve learned that friends share the same eating philosophies as we do! This is a great discussion opportunity for others who do not share our interests or are new to the idea of “natural foods”. If you are open about sharing and discussing, you may learn a lot from others and be able to share something valuable for them as well. Besides, nothing sparks interest more than sharing a decadent dessert that people love and then telling them it’s actually healthy!

4. Be Forgiving

There are times when remarks about different diets can sound offensive. People may openly disagree with us, think we are completely crazy or may not be aware of our experiences. Most the time, they are just making jokes and having fun. Whatever is said, being forgiving and understanding is going to be a much better approach to teaching others about the importance of healthy eating and why we eat the way we do. Not everyone will agree with us and we can only please ourselves. We really don’t need everyone to agree or understand our eating choices; what matters is that we know we eat the foods we do because it makes us feel good and happy.

5. Speak Up

Anyone suffering from a gluten-intolerance or who is a vegan understands this well.  It is important to not be shy about how we eat and asking for accommodations when necessary  Chelsea and Annie have recently drastically decreased dairy from their diets and sometimes it can be difficult to voice needs. A part of eating healthy in social settings is having to go against the grain, not being afraid to ask for special assistance or calling attention to your diet. Luckily, we have found it gets easier the more we do this. It is also much easier if we tell friends and family members so they can be helpful and supportive.

6. Be Flexible

If you are dealing with allergies/morals/strong opinions and absolutely can not eat certain foods, prepare before hand to ensure there will be foods you can eat so you do not have to stress at the event. If you don’t have allergies or a strict way of eating, we believe that a regular healthy diet can handle a cheat! We want to strive for balance and we’re all about enjoying life! Whatever you eat, don’t beat yourself up, ENJOY it if you are going to indulge and carry on. Parties and special occasions are meant to make us happy. We make exceptions every once in a while if we think they will help us enjoy the occasion.

7. Participate

Just because we choose to eat a sugar-free vegan cupcake or skip dessert entirely, doesn’t mean that we can’t still participate in the fun. We can politely choose not to eat something and still have a great time. If circumstances allow, we offer to help with making the meal or bring a healthy dish to share. If not, not every party has to revolve around food and we participate in every other way.

8. Enjoy!

If we are enjoying what we are eating, it will help others enjoy food too. People may see us loving our natural foods and want to try them out. Showing others how much we enjoy not only our food, but how we feel when we eat healthy may have the most impact. We want to share that a healthy diet can be just as fun/enjoyable/delicious as other diets and by no means gets in the way of social activities. Showing happiness when eating well can help inspire others to enjoy healthier foods too!

What has helped you eat healthy in social settings?