Day 46: Ball Park Survival Strategies

Summer is just aroung the corner and that spells trouble for dieters who also happen to love going to sporting events.



Adam and I went to a Cubs game yesterday and I couldn't help but think of a few ways to prevent myself from getting out of control and stick with my plan for a healthier me.



I'm not saying I followed ALL of these pointers yesterday (more on that later), but I am saying that the next time I attend a sporting event, I hope I will follow them to help myself to be successful and still have a good time.

1. Allow yourself a little treat. You want to enjoy your time at the game, right? You should go in to the day planning to stray a little from your healthy eating regimen. If your'e like me, trying to completely restrict yourself from eating anything unhealthy while you're in that kind of atmosphere will just make you miserable. Eat a little lighter the day leading up to your event. Have a healthy breakfast. If you're doing Weight Watchers, save your weekly points allowance for the day. And give in to those favorite ball park foods of yours. It wouldn't be a ball game if you didn't get something from the conscession stand, right?


2. Don't buy from the walking vendors. Get up and make yourself take the steps to get to the conscession stand. Doing this will serve two purposes: you'll get good exercise by climbing the steps, and you're less likely to overeat if you actually have to physically walk a distance to get to the food.


3. Don't break the bank. Bring a limited amount of cash with you so you can't go overboard with the food. Or, set a spending limit for yourself for food items at the stadium. For instance, tell yourself that you'll only spend $15 on food at the ballgame. Yesterday at Wrigley one hot dog was $4.50, so $15 really couldn't buy too much.


4. Limit yourself. Do you really need peanuts AND Cracker Jacks? In strategy 1, I told you to expect to enjoy the food a little bit and don't limit yourself so much that you don't enjoy anything. But it is important to set some kind of a limit. It's hard to do when you get the stadium and everyone around you is eating some deliciously aromatic food. But figure out a couple of items that are your favorites, and get those. Save the others for another time.


5. Sharing is nice. Plan to share your food with the people you're with. You don't need an entire bag of peanuts or a whole large soda. Share it with the people who are with you to prevent yourself from hogging out and feeling guilty later.


6. Keep score. Do something to keep your attention on the game, and to take your mind off of all the food options available to you. Take a score sheet with you and write down what's happening in the game. Focus on what you're there to see and enjoy the actual ball game.

That's what I came up with. I hope these pointers come in handy the next time you go to a sporting event. Hopefully they'll help me.

Like I said yesterday, I feel like I did pretty well with my food at Wrigley yesterday. I had a plain hot dog and shared a Coke with Adam. And we also shared a bag of peanuts (I'm not sure he was planning on sharing them when he bought them)....I may have had a few more than him, though. I laughed when I looked down and saw all the shells on the ground at my feet. And just for clarification, the garbage you see at the top of the picture does not belong to me!