Friends=Unhealthy Habits

Maybe join a group or club? Most communities have hiking and biking clubs wth organized activities. Those would be great places to meet like-minded friends.

The community center in my area has a bulletin board and it's quite common to see advertisements for raquetball or tennis players.

Check locally for fitness type clubs. Or if you have a local gym, maybe take a class there to meet people who share your interests. I know the feeling, only it's with my family and in laws. None of them exercise or even pay attention to what they eat/drink. It's very tough and I used to get the "Oh, does it not fit into your diet" comments, but since sticking through it and not falling into their behaviors, I am now getting compliments on my weight loss. Good luck- and congrats on not giving into the pressure of others!

I joined a bike club - $75 for 3 years or so.
I also joined a running group - mine is a training group preparing for a 10k (for $75/13 weeks)
There are a lot of casual running groups - check some local running stores, they always have something going. Or check churches if that is your thing. While those probably get together for some drinks and food too, at least you have the benefit of training before and at least in my experience, their food is much better and most stick with a glass of wine and/or a few beer. Though the bike club can really put away some brews, that's for sure :-)

http://www.phillyrunners.org/
http://www.funonfoot.com/phclubs.html

http://phillybikeclub.org/newbcp/
http://www.bicyclecoalition.org/resources/clubs

I love my bike club...and while I never considered guys in spandex to be particularly hot, where else do you get to star at a guys *kitten* for hours. And I can tell you, bike dudes have some nice hineys and runner dudes are also not that bad to look at.
Plus, I have found that bike guys in particular are extremely happy about any female participating and are super nice.
Highly recommended...

Checkout meetup.com. You can join clubs on there and meet all sorts of people with similar hobbies and interests. Could be lots of fun.

I feel your pain. I had that problem in college and am still having it today. It's NOT just a college thing. I have some friends that I simply can't be around if there's food/drink involved because they are not supportive and give me a lot of crap. I do things with them that don't involve food at all, and make sure I eat before I go. Most schools have a gym that is free for students... does yours not? If it doesn't, ask someone at the office if they partner with any gyms and give free memberships to students. I went to community college for a while and they partnered with a local gym and I could go there for free.

However, if you can't, here are some ideas:
1) tell them you have an allergy to something and can't eat ____. Wheat & yeast allergies get you out of just about anything, including beer. They can't really give you a hard time about that. Or say you are taking a medication that makes your stomach upset/you can't drink/etc. Giving up all your friends and doing everything alone is NOT realistic. So if they can't be supportive or help you out, then lie.

2) There are some groups on here by state. Go on there and see if there is anyone in your area. Anyone on this site is likely to be interested in doing non-food things too.

3) Volunteer at the places you want to go but can't afford the fee. I did this for the longest time and you'd be surprised at how many places will let you volunteer and you get free membership or whatever.

4) Someone above mentioned meetups, which are great and a lot of times you can find some with people your age who are also working on losing weight.

5) Finally, START a group! Post a flyer on a bulletin board saying you are looking to meet like-minded people to do things that are healthy, financially AND physically. You are NOT the only person in your school who has this dilemma, and I'm betting you would find at least one or two others who want to hang out and NOT pig out.

Good luck!

I bring my own drinks and food/snacks... red wine, hummus, makings for fresh guacamole (avocado, garlic salt, lime juice), and sliced cucumbers or whole grain chips/crackers so that I can still have fun with my friends, and there's often only 1 or 2 people interested in what I'm eating. Works pretty well for me!

I have to say, I have this problem too. I think if you are at a restuarant it is easier to be healthy, but if you go to places where you get fast food I think the only way is to either not eat with them or portion hardcore.

As for alcohol I can say that beers are generally the worst for you (they have little refinement and thus have a lot of unprocessed sugars from the fermenting), try and have a spirits and again stay away from the ones which have high sugar content such as white rums (parrott bay tastes amazing but if you keep the bottle for about 2 weeks you can see the sugar coming out of solution around the rim.. scary!).

Finally like a few other people have said try clubs. It does sound a bit like the drinking is not your thing so maybe clubs will get you more social interactions and new friends with other interests.

Good luck Daniel

Oh by the way, I forgot to mention my go-to drink when I'm at a bar with friends is club soda with lime. It's zero calorie, but it looks like a vodka tonic so your friends won't give you a hard time. Also, it is usually free, but if they try to charge you, bat your eyelashes and ask them 'don't you give free drinks to designated drivers?" and they probably will not charge you. But ask them to put it in a real drink glass, not a plastic water cup because a real glass looks like a vodka tonic, and a plastic cup...doesn't.

Oh honey I have LOADS of tricks on looking like you're eating, drinking, but not I am a consultant and travel for work and am constantly doing happy hours and dinners and everything like that. It's so hard to stick to a diet and I have pretty weak will-power. If I have even one drink, then whole night is gone. I'll have another and then eat foods I normally wouldn't... slippery slope!

So here are a few more:

Club soda with just a half shot of cranberry juice will look like a mixed drink. Many of the female bartenders totally understand our plight and they just nod when I ask for that, with a lime.

Just about any diet soda with a wedge of lime will look like a drink. Coke Zero or whatever. I personally don't like diet soda at all so I don't do this unless I absolutely have to, but nobody will know it doesn't have alcohol in it. Let the ice melt a bit too and water it down, and the clear part will look like alcohol anyway.

And finally, if you're really desperate, you can carry some of those single-serve crystal light sport packets and add it to a glass of water. This gives it some flavor, some color, and you can carry them in even the smallest purse.

If you're always holding something in one hand, then you are less likely to nibble. Sometimes I will order a drink I can't stand and just hold it, that way I'm not tempted to drink it.