I was just wondering how you guys deal with the pressure from friends or family to eat or drink certain things on special occasions??? I ALWAYS struggle with just saying no to people.

For example, I am going out for Mexican this week with a friend. She wants to celebrate and I know this means she wants to drink. I really don't care either way about drinking. I prefer not to because it is extra calories and makes me hold water... but how do I go "celebrate" or be social with friends and not order a drink with them? I always get the "you're not going to order anything?!" lecture and get treated like Debbie Downer... so annoying.

I would do the explaining before you go out. Tell them that you are changing your lifestyle and the way you eat AND drink. Hopefully they will respect you and help you in your decision!

My solution would be order 1 drink and make it last then have water. Get a low calorie beer or a diet soda and liquor of your choice.I have even seen a girl order vodka and water before, I have never tried that one sounds too strong for me. But I like having a drink and prefer to avoid the whole "your making us look like pigs conversation".

Let us know how it goes.You can have fun anyways.

If they give you THAT hard of a time, walk in, hit the bar and get a diet coke with a slice of lime in it. Keep getting your own refills

I just tell them partially the truth - I'm not feeling up for liquor right now. I don't want to have a rough day. They understand and if they don't, poop on them!

I'd go with light beer or a wine spritzer (I really enjoy red wine mixed with diet sprite/7-up) so you can enjoy a little bit of alcohol while limiting the calories. But if you don't want to drink at all, that's fine too - just say something like "oh, you know me, I'm not that much of a drinker!"

Or you could offer to be the designated driver so she can splurge without worrying about it? You can say that she can return the favor for you sometime but that doesn't mean that you have to actually take her up on it.

If your friends can't have fun unless you are also drinking then I think they're the ones with problems not you.

Don't let them guilt you into eating or drinking something you don't want. You're still out with them and there are always things you *can* eat and drink while you're with them. Like Roxie said, get a diet coke with a slice of lime - it's no one's business but yours and the bartenders what else is in that glass. And every menu has something healthy, just stay away from the nachos supreme.

I find it harder to say "no thanks" to family members who want to share something special. Grandmother's Famous Chocolate Chocolate Cake isn't just a huge load of calories it's part of the social glue that ties everything together. But it's possible to beg off entirely with a variety of excuses or to escape with a tiny (but delicious) slice.

Hmm... thanks. Maybe I'll just get the one drink and try to make it last. LOL. I have heard that vanilla vodka diet cokes are about 65 calories... that's not too horrible I guess.

Good idea... this would work better if my sister wasn't the bartender for the place we're going. LOL. Just the same, I get what you mean about not letting them pressure me. It doesn't matter if they want me to drink or not... it's my choice.

Okay, let's rehearse this. How will the drinks be ordered? Are you going to be in a group, and the waitperson is going to ask you one by one, so everyone knows what the others are getting & adjusts accordingly?

Or are you just going to slide up to a bar & put in your orders, one by one?

The first situation could be high pressure. In that case, hunker down & stick by your principles. Act like it's no big deal & be sort of offhand. But be prepared for their reaction. And I actually don't see why you have to explain why you don't want to drink. Yeah, you may get a minute or two of grief. But it really won't be prolonged. You're anticipating some cognitive dissonance, so in your mind, you may be making it worse than it will actually turn out to be. (Anticipated pain is like that.) People will move on. They have other things to think & talk about.

The other situation will be easier. Just put in your order & let them guess what it is. I always get seltzer with a twist of lime. Looks like gin & tonic, one of my former drinks.

I never get grief, but this is probably because I'm older than you may be, and my friends have seen some things in their time. They understand about trying to live more healthily. They understand about people who are trying to drink less, or not at all. So it doesn't draw remarks as it would when someone younger becomes abstemious.

I'm 26 and it's just a social outing with one of my girlfriends. We will be going to the restaurant my younger sister works at. Meaning, we will be sitting at the bar where she is bartending and eating dinner at the bar so we can talk to eachother and my sister. So they will be aware of what I am drinking... so I guess I just have to plan my limits ahead and put my foot down.

It will take a bit of time but soon they will forget the "old you". I was always the girl to eat big and drink big...."here, finish my drink, or finish my meal"...and I would. But now, they've all forgotten that. They don't expect me to be that person anymore. Now they know. when we go out, I'm a bird. Just little sips here and there and always helathy eating. They know I'll always order my meal special....you know, no cheese or everything on the side. It used to feel weird to do this but I just don't care anymore. The process was tough. "Low cal Lorie is boring"....well Low cal Lorie has a great tushy now.....so there.