[Transformation Challenge Task 4] How To Avoid The Fear Of Missing Out this Summer

The heat is on! Is anyone else melting? The sun is shining, temperatures are soaring, and the summer season is well and truly here. Which can bring its own challenges when it comes to sticking to your New You plan journey. Numerous invites to Summer BBQs, beer gardens and Summer picnics seem to be the order of the day. What’s a New You Queen or King to do? Style those invitations out New You style of course. Here, we share our top tips to avoid the fear of missing out this summer!

Let’s just address the main thought which we know is running through your head (we know because it runs through ours too). ‘I wish I could go to the BBQ and just eat ‘normal’ food’. Ah yes. This is what we at New You HQ like to call FOMO. Fear of Missing Out.

FOMO is usually tossed around as the reason people are addicted to social media and why they can’t stand to miss so much as a text message, however the experts at New You HQ think its application to the way we approach food is completely spot on. There’s something really crazy about the social and emotional power of food.

If everyone else is eating cake and you’re not, you feel deprived. If everyone’s got a drink in their hand, you feel a bit awkward if you don’t. If everyone else is ordering the extra-large popcorn at the cinema, grabbing a burger at the BBQ, or out for ice cream on a hot summer’s night, well you feel like you totally should be too. You feel like if you don’t, you are missing out on something (FOMO), and to make matters worse, the food pushers (as we like to call them) will insist that you are missing out on something too when you aren’t an active food participant.

We want you to think about something for just a moment. What exactly are you missing? Because the one thing the boffins at New You HQ have worked out is that very often the IDEA of the food, or meal or drink is SO much more appealing than the reality of actually eating it. Not convinced? Bear with us. How often have you fantasised (and we don’t use that word lightly) about a certain food or meal? The craving for it is so strong you can almost taste it. You might battle with yourself for a while about breaking your diet and then succumb to the craving. Only to find that the very thing you were craving so intensely was actually a bit… well…meh. Dang it. This is one way our mind can play tricks on us.

When you begin your New You journey, one of the most important changes that occurs is that you radically transform your approach to food. Rather than thinking about all the things you are missing out on; you slowly realise how much more you are gaining. Our customers talk about how in just 1 week following our Total Food Replacement plan they felt better, looked healthier and had more energy. So, in all reality, what are you really missing out on? A meal or a drink or a certain food that you can have at any other time in your life. Remember, just because you are choosing not to eat it now it doesn’t mean you will never eat it again.

Here are a few simple tips to eat with more mindfulness that will help us feel more in control when a food FOMO moment gets the better of us:

1. Self-Talk Is Powerful

Tell yourself in those moments that you’ve had X (brownie, ice cream, pizza) before, or something similar, and you know what it tastes like. You know you will have it at some point again – so you don’t have to eat it this minute. One research study highlighted in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that when people said “I can have it some other time” to themselves, it lessened the value of that food and allowed them to postpone eating it. 

2. Think About The Future

When you feel tempted by certain foods, consider how much better your mind and body will actually feel when you stick to your New You options, now and later in the day.

3. Feel The Discomfort, Move Through It, And Let It Go

This is kind of like grief or sadness, or any other uncomfortable feeling that you want to relieve. We naturally want to run away from those feelings. But when we sit with them with mindfulness instead of fighting them (or in this case, eat the food), the moment often passes. And then, the need to eat this thing RIGHT NOW lifts, and we can wait another day – or longer. 

Summer Transformation Challenge Task 4

At New You HQ we want you to be ON IT for all those invitations coming your way this summer. With that in mind, for Summer Transformation Task 4, we would love you share your Summer Meal Hack with us.

How do you do Summer New You Style, with absolutely no fear of missing out. Perhaps you create your own Summer cocktail with our delicious water flavourings? How do you cope with a BBQ invitation? Can you create a frozen masterpiece? What’s your New You meal of choice for a summer picnic? Share your ideas and include pictures too if you like. No fear of missing out here!

Are you ready to get started on a really, really, really easy diet plan?

Getting started is the first step in your journey to a brand New You! To help you understand fully how our plan works, our Get Started page with designed specifically for people new to the plan.

Head over to our site where you’ll find tonnes of important information including how our plan works, the science behind it, loads of top tips, information on our meals, as well as real customer testimonials.

Click here to visit our Get Started page!