What do you tell your friends when they want to drink freque

J3nnaLyn

Both my close friends and coworkers constantly ask me to get drinks and go out to eat with them. For me, submitting to peer pressure around eating/drinking with friends will be the hardest part of this journey.

What are your best tips for politely telling them that you can't? Do you avoid the outing? Or do you get one drink and lots of water? Diet soda?

Help!

Jenna

Seasidedebbie

I get seltzer water with lemon or lime.

Very rare I will get a white wine spritzer.

flawedandfabulous

On rare occassions I will go and I will plan ahead for it eat really low calorie all day and diet soda and lots of water. If I want to drink alcohol which is also here and there I will have my diet soda but just do shots of alcohol because the beverages are way high in calories and what's the point. But I also don't mind saying no. Remember you don't have to stop living, you are just starting to live smarter.

CaptainMFP

I was pressured into a department luncheon at Olive Garden back in May...I was early on and didn't want to sabotage myself, but had a hard time saying no. In the end, I packed my own lunch and left it in the car. I drank lots of water and politely told every detractor that I had lost 10 pounds and didn't want the high sodium lunch being served. It was not easy, but it was the only way for me to be successful. The fact that I'm on medication for high blood pressure gave me a good out as well. (Note that I've lost 16 pounds since this luncheon!)

If it's purely social, I'd structure my day around the meal and get the lowest calorie food item I could find (doing research before I go if possible) and keep drinking to a pre-determined minimum. Hope this helps.

cheeksv

I have to work on this. I give in but some things I do to help are
- Always ask for nutritional info when eating out ( if it is not available get either fish or a vegetarian meal and eat half and take the rest home)
- Have a low cal beer or a vodka and soda water. Limit the number one is usually what I go for and drink it through a tiny straw so it will Take you longer to sip it.
-Learn to say no....very very hard yes but make a point to maybe only go once or twice a week and maybe get an extra workout in that day if you can.
_ if I have to say no I am honest all my friends know I am trying to be good with my food so I am no real help there other than saying you are watching what you eat and that particular place does not offer the things you would be ok with eating. I look at my friends who have gained weight from always going out and drinking who were smaller than me and It gives me the confidence to say no when they ask me to go out as well. I can see if it is not helping them it is not going to help me.

ehilgeman

As regards food, you can usually find something at every restaurant that is within your calorie range. The trick is to go out to the restaurant's website for a few minutes and find out if they have nutritionals with their menu - many do nowadays. If not, figure out the average calories around some of the items on the menu and go in with a plan for something that's reasonable. When I get into trouble is when I don't tell myself ahead of time what I'll have, then I go and have something I shouldn't.

In terms of alcohol, there are a number of drinks that are relatively low calorie - MGD 64, Michelob Ultra, White wine, vodka tonic (ask for lots of tonic), etc. Again, have a plan in your head for what and how much you can drink, drink slowwwwwwlllllyyyyy, and have a glass of club or diet soda between drinks.

I say - don't give up your social life just to lose weight. Find a way to have a healthier version of it, and focus on the fun you're having with your friends rather than the food and drink.

holyguacamole37

I've been running into this problem a LOT lately, actually. I'm still working on it, but I think the best solution I've found is to eat dinner before I leave (so I can keep better tabs on what I'm eating) and then limit myself to one or two light beers. If you want it to make it seem like you're drinking more, you can space them out with water.

scarletleavy

I've had this problem as well recently and what works best for me is to have one drink, maybe 2 if we're out for a long time. I tell people that I have a really low tolerance for alcohol and I'm only comfortable with small amounts. It's never really been a problem for me. I also try to keep drinking water, usually sparkling, and drink that when I'm not having any alcohol. Go out and have fun with your friends, but you definitely don't have to get drunk to keep up with them. Also, on a side note, I've noticed that as I lose weight my tolerance goes down. So where I used to drink a lot, seriously my tolerance during college was insane, now I really only need 1 or 2 drinks to feel it (and to have a hangover the next day)