I always feel stuck in a rut about going out with friends or my husband. It seems like all we ever do is go out to dinner, go out to lunch, go out for coffee, or go out for a drink. Like, I'm sick of it going out to sit around and eat/drink. I feel strongly that I need to change my lifestyle and not depend on food and drink to be my only type of entertainment. Now, I have to convince everyone in my life to do the same. What are some nice ideas for going out that don't involve meals? Here's some that I would like to try:

- hiking (but I live in a city, not so easy to do)
- walk to the park
- shopping

Anything else?

In the past 9 months, I have been out to dinner with 1 set of friends (and no one else) exactly 1 time. I can't even believe it. My life used to revolve around food and drink and nothing else (and it was never coffee... ).

I had to make some serious changes in my life and it got to the point that it wasn't negotiable. To think on a Saturday night I'm in workout clothes and walking around the block with my husband is laughable to me, it's like I'm a whole new person! This time last year we'd be meeting our friends for drinks for happy hour and then going to dinner and then somewhere for a couple more drinks.

I hope I can go back to being social again (had a few health and weight issues to deal with and thankfully my friends understand that I can't do the restaurant thing plus when I go to their house, I plan to an extreme to stay on plan so it makes me uncomfortable as it looks like I'm obsessed about my food.).

Do you have bike paths near your house? I found one near mine and it's awesome! Maybe a museum (I just found one about antique cars and trains about 20 miles from here, dying to go!)? Is there an aquarium? Or the beach (soon!)? An amusement park?

Sorry...started to ramble!! I wish I lived near you, we are in the same mindset right now!!

- Festivals
- Concerts (DH and I have a no drinking rule at concerts now.)
- Swimming
- 5ks can be fun and social. I do them with a group of about 5 or so now.

Just thought of another one.

My husband is going to a minor league baseball game tonight. So much fun and it's so cheap compared to MLB. I'm not a huge baseball fan but it's so nice to be at the stadium and so many people having a good time. I won't watch it on tv but I love being at the park, go figure!

I like all of the ones that have been listed already!

Comedy shows
Mini-golf
Bowling
Dog park (if you have dogs)
Movie
Plays

art galleries - as long as there is not an opening where they are offering refreshments.

movies - as long as you don't load up on popcorn and soda

walks in a pedestrian friendly area or on walking trails

check in local paper for live music events or talks on different topics? Often free or not too expensive.

Farmer's Markets

And I like the other ideas listed.

As a fellow New Yorker... here are some things that I love to do that don't necessarily have to involve food... Checking out Art Galleries... I can spend quite a bit of time wandering around Chelsea or down in SoHo... and if you hit the galleries in Chelsea you can take a walk on the High Line too... Also museums... I practically grew up at the Museum of Natural History and I could live at the Met... actually what I like to do is just go to the Met and focus on one particular gallery and just spend and an hour or two completely immersed in that particular time period of art... and than go for a nice walk in the park after...

Join a Meetup group in your area that meets one of your interests? They have everything from knitting to dog training to photography where I live, and you have a much larger population in your area so I would expect a lot of options.

If I lived in NYC, I'd probably go to Central Park a lot for my exercise because I like to hike.

How about a games night? We've been getting together with friends lately to play.

Some of my favorites:
-Settlers of Catan
-Carcassonne
-Ticket to Ride
-Munchkins

Now I'm remembering my days before I had a baby. I drag him a long to a lot of stuff but it is hard getting around nyc with a toddler!!

This probably doesn't apply to you living in NYC, but what about garage sales?

I love the 5k idea! I have a friend who does a few with me a year and we get to cheer each other on when we're training.

Don't think that you're the only one in your group of friends who would like to lose a few pounds or is watching what you eat. Be bold and invite people over for game night with the rule being only bring healthy snack or dinner options.

DH and I get together with our best 'couple' once a month, trading houses to meet at for dinner. The 4 of us are trying to lose weight so this is when we try out new healthy recipes or foods that we may not normally have enough guts to try. It's really fun and while it involves eating, it's healthy eating.

You could go see a play or sporting event, depending on what you are into. I am having the same issue-not realizing before how much of my social life evolved around food. And now that it is summer, swimming might be a fun activity to do. Or maybe going to the movies Without the food...hope this helps!

I guess it's a silly question. I mean the possibilities are endless. Virtually any activity that does not include food is on the table.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE9HMudybyc

It's not a silly question at all! Much of the time when I socialize it ends up revolving around food too.

I was going to say bowling and mini golf, but those have already been mentioned.

Also, batting cages and go karts! Paintball would be another one. If there's a rock climbing gym nearby those are really fun too (but a bit pricy).