Social Eating

You could also try to find a 'slower' meal. My girlfriends and I went out for high tea last weekend at a fancy hotel. The food came in waves, and the portions were tiny and we were drinking tea throughout... so we ended up being stuffed but spent two hours there chatting. So maybe a meal in courses that you could split or take leftovers home would lengthen your chat without adding more food.

Not a problem And I agree with the above post, bingo is super fun! As well as bowling or themed movie nights (my boyfriend and I had a Japanese movie night and made our own sushi!) Or if you want to, you could always start a book club and volunteer to have everyone meet at house. Then put out trays of fruits, veggies and hummus, and tea or coffee. That way you know exactly what you will be eating.

My girlfriends and I all get together about once a month - we do eat, but the idea is that each person choose a healthy recipe and then each one of us brings an ingredient - - - we cook together and eat together. We take turns at each person’s house.
I also like the above mentioned ideas, museums, flea markets, just walking at the park, if you are crafty you can have a craft night w/ healthy snacks only. I make a fruit pizza that's pretty delightful, so is lightly fried zucchini that you can dip in marinara....Ya just have to get creative.

i find eating in front of others sort of awkward. its hard to talk with food in your mouth and you never know if you have something in your teeth. I dont get the appeal of social eating at all.

I much prefer to drink with friends or work out or dance or shop or get pedicures together

We invite friends over for games. Any games--video games, card games, board games, cheesy games, whatever. We often have multiple games going on at once, so you can move to a new game if you are knocked out of yours/lose/get tired of it. There is often food included (some healthy--veggie cuts; some not--cookies) and drinks are mostly BYOB. I make iced sweet tea but mostly hubby and I stick to water. Hubby's rule is that all food must be game-friendly. So no messy finger foods like cheetos, etc. We clear out the fridge in the week leading up to game night so there is plenty of room for the stuff the game players bring in to drink and eat.

We can set up in minutes (just clear the kitchen table and get a few folding tables and chairs out of the garage) and clean up is often just as easy (booze bottles go to the recycling bin in the garage, and we use real plates but the food isn't messy, so those just slip into the dishwasher, left overs go home with guests or into the fridge for lunches, anything that needed to heat up in the over is cooked on parchment paper or aluminum foil so that clean up is easy too).

I'm also a new member of a neighborhood monthly book club. Similar deal to game night, but almost all women and the snacks look fancier (host provides wine) and the time frame is shorter when we do meet (no play to midnight sessions!).

Both of these are scheduled for post-dinner hours, so I try to plan my dinner to match what I anticipate getting at the get-together.