Imagine dining on delicious, but healthy, gourmet food, socializing with friends, and losing weight at the same time. Sound like a dream come true? It can be a reality when you start a dinner club devoted to the promotion of healthy eating. The idea is to bring together a group of like minded friends who want to lose weight for a monthly or bimonthly dinner to offer weight loss support and healthy eating ideas. Many people feel isolated in their attempts to lose weight and eat healthier and could use a monthly support group to share their frustrations and triumphs as well as discover what's working for others. Plus, the prospect of sharing a healthy meal is another compelling reason to join the group.
Starting a dinner club to promote healthy eating doesn't have to be difficult. To begin, come up with a list of friends who are struggling to eat healthier and lose those last few pounds. Call them up and let them know you'll be starting a dinner club and monthly support meeting to provide weight loss and healthy eating guidance. Let them know you'll be having the first dinner club meeting at your house. The response to your invitation should be enthusiastic since people often feel more motivated to lose weight when they have the support of others.
To start a dinner club, you're going to need food. Ask each guest to bring along a low calorie dish made of healthy ingredients to share with the other attendees. It may be best to assign each guest a particular item to make sure you have a balanced distribution of food types. You don't want to end up with ten desserts, even if they are healthy ones. You can provide the drinks, plates, and utensils for your guests. Be sure to choose low calorie drinks such as green tea, soda water, or sugar free soft drinks. Select serving dishes that are small in size since studies have shown that people eat less when a meal is served on a smaller plate.
At your dinner club meetings, allow your group to enjoy the healthy food while encouraging each member to discuss her weight loss goals. It may helpful to have each member publicly declare how much weight she'd like to realistically lose before the next meeting and what steps she'll take to try to do it. This would also be an opportunity for guests to share how they made their particular healthy low calorie dish so others can benefit from the recipe.
When you officially start your dinner club, you may want to hand out sheets that outline a basic eating plan for each dinner club member to follow as well as some basic guidelines on healthier eating. It's also helpful to supply each member with a notebook so she can document her goals for next month's meeting. You'll also want to establish where your next meeting will be held. The idea is to have the meeting at a different member's house each month. At your next meeting, encourage each member to bring her notebook along to establish new goals. She should also document in her notebook any questions she comes up with regarding healthy eating as well as any frustrations or impediments to weight loss she's experiencing.
For variety, hold your monthly meeting at a restaurant periodically. This will give the members a chance to learn to make healthy food choices when dining out and will be a nice change of pace.
Starting a diner club to promote healthy eating can be quite rewarding, not to mention slimming to your waistline. It's a fun, non threatening way to learn strategies for healthy eating and weight control. Why not start a dinner club of your own?
