My friends are horrible for my diet! D:<

lhanks89

Last night after having a somewhat-decent food/exercise day (all the Valentines Day candy is on sale, the HORROR! ) My friends asked me to come out and judge their hot wing eating contest. I thought, "No problem! I'm a vegetarian, therefore I won't want to eat anything!" How epically wrong I was....

They ordered fried pickles and french fries and THEN their heaps of wings, and I've never had a fried pickle before... or two, or three... or nearly half of the basket <

My friends kept encouraging me to eat them because they didn't want them to be wasted (they thought the pickles weren't that good). So I TOTALLY RUINED my day yesterday by going over my calories by like 200-300, and I felt disgusting and frustrated afterwards... I'm going to pour everything I can into my workout today!

So, after ranting all that out... Does anyone else have a friend or group of friends who seem to be bad for their diet? Like, whenever you're around them you can't seem to control yourself or maintain your discipline on your diet?
(Juicy details/angry encouraged)

zipperhead76

Yeah, but mine is called the Army... They don't exactly feed you the best things ever... Especially MRE's, they are horrible if you're trying to lose weight!

DarthNox

I'm a struggling vegan (I tend to give into cheese temptation more than I should), and I have the same problem with my friends/family. I'm not a huge salad person, and being that I live in the diner capital of the US (NJ), whenever we get a bite to eat (always late, of course, because that's how we roll) it's at a diner. Not very many healthy options there, especially for those who don't eat meat! I end up getting something like eggplant parm and fries... oh the horror. I tried to get a veggie burger once, no bun, and some carrot salad.. but it was heinous. So.. when those calls come to go out, I just make sure and eat something healthy before I go, and get a drink and something small with them.

Sh1tsRainbows

yep..my bf eats mcdonalds twice a day..which is find during the week cause i dont see him but on the weekends he wants pizza, and cheese steaks, or to go anywhere where theyre not to many healthy options.. i try but its hard

iuew

you'll most likely run into it everywhere. i have; even at work, where people routinely bring in cookies, plates of fudge, and candy.

your sustainable strategy will be to budget calories and make good choices when you go out to eat with friends. i will admit, however, that i sometimes turn down invites to food parties / large dinners, because i know there won't be anything healthy and i just don't want to mess with budgeting for it.

i'm not advocating avoiding, however. once you're in a good routine, you can go to these outings and it will be second nature.

juliecat1

yes, we all do. But YOU are in charge of what you put in your body. There are healthy alternatives available anywhere you go. (you may have to special order them but theyre there!) Take charge my dear! No is empowering! :flowerforyou: Also, we do all screw up. Dont beat yourself up for it today - just get back at it today.

lhanks89

you'll most likely run into it everywhere. i have; even at work, where people routinely bring in cookies, plates of fudge, and candy.

your sustainable strategy will be to budget calories and make good choices when you go out to eat with friends. i will admit, however, that i sometimes turn down invites to food parties / large dinners, because i know there won't be anything healthy and i just don't want to mess with budgeting for it.

i'm not advocating avoiding, however. once you're in a good routine, you can go to these outings and it will be second nature.

At work yesterday, someone came around with a box of donuts offering them to people and I resisted those no problem. I think maybe because it was a temporary distraction and they weren't just sitting in front of me.

I swear there are Jedi mind tricks that food can play on people when it's just sitting in front of them

kennethmgreen

Phew! I thought you might be eating your friends.

You'll probably notice temptation all around you if you plan to leave the house or watch TV. I find it's ultimately easier to not expect my friends, family or co-workers to care one bit about my food choices. It's not their business or their responsibility. I make my own food choices. What helps me with temptation is to make sure I don't ever arrive at a party or gathering really hungry. I am the king of snacks.

Own your choices. It's more satisfying.

infamousmk

You have to be in control of your choices. The more times you say "no", the sooner they'll figure out that you're not going to eat things just because you're offered. Unless, of course, you actually wanted to eat those things, so you let your will power slide, and then came here to 'blame' it on your friends to make yourself feel better.

Furthermore, eating is a social event. People aren't trying to hurt you or ruin your day .. they want to share food with you because they like you.

JDMPWR

Your friends do not control your eating habits. You and your will power do and if your friends seem to force food upon you then those really arent the best of friends if they know you are trying to get in better shape.

SueInAz

Honestly, 200 to 300 calories over for one day is not really a big deal. You'd still be under the 500 calorie deficit and won't gain weight because of it. Why beat yourself, and your friends, up over it?

Use this as a learning experience. The next time you're out and you're tempted by the fried pickles, or whatever it is that time, remember how you felt today.

dubw

Southern Family is worst -
One dnl is a chef - she makes a lot of pastry creations as well as heavy cream food.
Another dnl is a country cook - chicken n' pastry is her specialty with collards, or pork bbq and all the fix'ns
My daughter is a pizzaholic, is 30 years old and a bean pole shape.

Like someone posted earlier, I too was invited to judge a buffalo wing contest.....sheesh

All this keeps me fat, as I have no discipline ...

kennethmgreen

Like someone posted earlier, I too was invited to judge a buffalo wing contest.....sheesh

I suspect you probably know this already, but in case you're unaware: you do have the ability to not participate. I imagine the festive nature of a buffalo eating contest would be ruined if the judges were there at gunpoint.

Also, you could eat buffalo wings and work it off later. Or stay within your calorie goals. Or go over and not fret about it. That's the cool thing about having choices. It's like a choose your own adventure book. But in real life.

Just_Dot

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Just_Dot?month=201111

My Sabotage blog post. Excuse the harshness...I was tossed when I wrote it.

iuew

you'll most likely run into it everywhere. i have; even at work, where people routinely bring in cookies, plates of fudge, and candy.

your sustainable strategy will be to budget calories and make good choices when you go out to eat with friends. i will admit, however, that i sometimes turn down invites to food parties / large dinners, because i know there won't be anything healthy and i just don't want to mess with budgeting for it.

i'm not advocating avoiding, however. once you're in a good routine, you can go to these outings and it will be second nature.

At work yesterday, someone came around with a box of donuts offering them to people and I resisted those no problem. I think maybe because it was a temporary distraction and they weren't just sitting in front of me.

I swear there are Jedi mind tricks that food can play on people when it's just sitting in front of them

it's evolutionary.

up until the last hundred years, being a human has meant feast or famine pretty much everywhere on the planet. those who survived had efficient metabolisms, and whenever food was available in excess, they ate and stored fat to get them through the lean times. additionally, there is a survival advantage to craving calorie-dense foods high in fats and sugars for the same reason.

knowing and accepting this, however, i still get a bit annoyed when people bring tons of really fattening treats to leave in the common areas at work, however.

marquesajen

My friends are pretty good about it. We had dinner at one girl's house last week and there was lasagna, but also a huge salad and hummus, we just kind of pick at what we want.

cNhobbes

for half a basket of fried pickles, going over just 300 is amazing.

ditzyFlip

LOL friends are horrible influences if you -
1) don't have strong willpower (like me) or;
2) they aren't supportive (or don't care) about your diet regime.

And I say not supportive in the sense that they may think you don't need to be this, or go on this diet, etc.

Articeluvsmemphis

YES, but 200/300 calories isn't bad

sandown12

Hi tbh you ate the food not your friends and so cant blame them ...........
Im not meaning to sound harsh but my fiance sits and leans on me eating chocolate crispis nuts every evening even says have some or buys me bars of chocolate BUT I wont eat it as I see its sabotarge in a loving way he finds it boring when I lose weight so in a way your friends may feel your too strict with yourself and your not as you were ,I doubt its anything else but this,maybe sit down explain how you love them all but can they support you buy now 'offering up' fattening food to you,if they do it again then willpower is very strong look at how you felt when this happened and if next time they do it again draw upon these feeling you have now x

ItsCasey

If your friends are pressuring you to eat things you don't want, then they aren't really your friends, and maybe you should find some other people to hang out with. And by "pressuring," I mean actively trying to make you feel bad for not eating whatever they are eating, not simply asking you to try something.

Otherwise, the only problem here is your own inability and/or unwillingness to control what you eat in certain situations. If you're trying to eat healthy, you have three options: learn how to say no, never leave the house, or have only friends who eat exactly the same way you do. One of those is a lot easier than the other two.

I fully admit that it can be annoying when people know you are "dieting" and still insist on trying to get you to eat things you don't want to eat. But you still have a choice.

PinkEarthMama

You dropped 200-300 on fried pickles?

GOOD FOR YOU! Those things are MAGICAL. I LOVE them.

200 calories over once and a while is not going to hurt you, especially if you are right on track most of the time.

raptorcat07

Yes I do, you just forget about it and afterwards you are smacking yourself in the head asking yourself why why why.

msjessae

You just have to fight the urges!
there've been times when that happened to me and I would order the unhealthier foods until I got it in my mind to be

PROACTIVE instead of REACTIVE

Proactive: you've gotta do it for yourself because it's your health, your diet, your goal that you're putting off from every unhealthy choices you make

REACTIVE: you just react to your current circumstances so you end up falling down.

When I got that in my head, it got so much easier CHEERS!

*Feel free to add me up

hauer01

Oh Yeah! My friends like to hang out in the bars for an entire evening of fun. Which I don't mind, I just don't want to drink all night (who needs THAT many empty calories). I may have a beer or two and try to switch to water. They not only complain about my choice of drink, they will start buying me beers and telling me that they can't go to waste. The other night, I met them and had no intention of drinking (mostly because I just didn't feel like it). A beer was waiting at my table for me and I just let it sit there for hours. Never took a sip! Pretty proud of myself for that one, since I really do like beer.:drinker:

TDGee

A beer was waiting at my table for me and I just let it sit there for hours. Never took a sip!

That is alcohol abuse.:noway: Please seek the help you need. :flowerforyou:

_Timmeh_

Fried pickles! Yum :drinker:

Just_Dot

Now I've decided that I'm going to make fried pickles for dinner tonight.

Hellbent_Heidi

It took me a long time to stop going along with bad food choices when out with friends. I could avoid bad stuff all day long at work (and even out with my husband) but for some reason, that social dynamic was harder to stand up to. Once I had a long stretch of healthy eating behind me, I just stuck to my guns when out with the girls, because I knew I could no longer stomach the fried foods anymore, and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Actually found that they are more prone to make healthier choices when I do...

OH, and try to pre-plan when you know where you're going, and when the waiter or waitress comes to the table be sure you speak up and order FIRST. That way, you are less likely to be tempted if a friend orders something bad....