do the two work together??
i was just wondering if anyone else struggles with balancing going out with friends for drinks and food, with their strict diet routine??
i have been invoted out tonight for a pub drink or two, and ill only have diet coke, which doesnt worry me. But im gonna be going out again this week, and on the weekend, how do you balance having both....drinking....eating out...and friends???

Well I usually reduce my calories through out the week by about 100 a day which means if I chose togo out for drinks over the weekend I can usually still lose weight. Its definitely just a matter of balance, but also knowing when and where you're going is a huge help to. I think as long as you're sensible about it there's no problem.

I have the same problem... See I LOVE the dark beers... the high calorie ones. I try to limit my intake and I try to remain on my plan as much as possible, selecting only things that I can eat. When faced with no no's I try to consume little as possible, maybe a bit here and there.

If you are going to a party, show up with a veggie tray so you know there will be SOMETHING you can eat.

I've been worried about this too. I just started on Monday and am down 8 lbs. My friend asked me to go out on Friday night but I was so scared that I would mess up I just told her I couldn't go out. I'll have to wait till I am a little stronger before going out or I will easily cave into peer pressure and drinking way too much.

I have said no to going out too. Now I just go to my local bar and get coffee, water or tonic water. Once in a while I will get a wine or a bacardi and diet coke...but usually just stick to those choices I know won't stick to my hips! Plus - when I drink I get the major munchies and end up making BAD choices.

I love going out with my friends, I go to a school that has a really great night life in town, and I love it. I think drinking has been the reason I am loosing weight so slowly. I always drink diet vodkas, and try to have a glass of water in between my drinks. No matter how you drink alcohol, it's still bad for you though.

Lately though, I've been turning my friends down because I'm to afraid I'll drink and then eat a bunch, and mess everything up. I think I'm going to try going out and being sober cab, then I'll have a reason that I CAN'T drink...

my social life has taken a hard hit from being on a diet, and it stinks. Very hard to balance... I'm struggling to.

I completely agree with this and I have also found that my weight loss is now very slow and I believe the alcohol is why.

It is so hard to find a balance between socialising and your diet but you've got to ask yourself, what is more important to you??

Rigt now I'm at Uni, I go out a lot, I drink quite a lot (although I try to have less calories through drink) and I'm losing only like 0.25-1lb a week. And I'm OK with that right now because I'm enjoying myself and I am happy.

If I didn't go out for meals or drinks then I could probably lose 2 or 3 times that...so like I said, it's hard to find a balance and you have to do what makes you happy.

I am not in my 20s anymore, and I actually gained all my weight when I got older and stopped going out so much. When we would go out, we would walk everywhere and we would always end up dancing somewhere, so I was able to burn off all of the calories. I also had a beer dinner many nights, which isn't always the healthy choice, but it sure was fun!

i dont tell my friends i am dieting/trying to lose weight, but i do tell them about my success, and they are very supportive of that. So when we go out, I dont drink (have diet coke, they dont know its rum free ) and if we go out to eat, they dont question my choice of food (sometimes they even look for places that would suit me! i am SO lucky). If we do go out and eat rubbish, its not very often and it wont ruin my diet forever and ever

I think you can do it without telling them what you are trying to do if you feel uncomfortable sharing that, but it does make it easier to give them hints

hey guys, thanks for the advice, its nice to know other people have the same issue. when i first lost weight, i did not drink, loosing was more important, but now i have lost alot i need to rebuild my values on loosing weight, and even though i can still go out need to remeber my ultimate goal, over being drunk.

You can always look up the nutrition information of most restaurants to see whats in yoru range. I also check the calories of shots/drinks to know what i can have.

Balancing my diet with my social life is the HARDEST part of losing weight for me, hands-down. I don't drink much, but much of my socializing revolves around yummy food. It's hard.

Well i am very annoyed at myself today because I only started my diet last monday but I had my flat warming party on Saturday night and drank way too many cocktails and party food i'm also upset because i have really bad back just now and dont know what kind of excersise i can do to help me work off those cocktails!! any ideas anyone??
Cat
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