So every Saturday, it just works in my husband and my schedules to eat out. He works an hour away from home, and I go to work with him on Saturdays. So instead of waiting an hour to get home and an hour to cook dinner, we eat out.

I have tried making healthy choices out to eat (salads, grilled meat, etc.) and I have an out to eat guide, but I am having a problem.

My husband is overweight and eats whatever he wants. Last night, he ordered a bacon cheeseburger and bacon cheese fries...while I ate grilled chicken and broccoli. Well, he tried to be nice and put the plate far away from my reach, but I was still tempted. I ate a couple cheese fries.

Before, I would have shared the nasty plate with him, so to just eat a couple is improvement. I'm looking at it as a victory, since I didn't pig out and REALLY sabotage myself.

Any tips for eating out with others not on program?

I have had this same problem! My husband is skinny and eats whatever he wants and never gains weight - ugh!

I think you did great by the way!!!!! I do much of the same, maybe take a bite or two of whatever looks so delicious and then back to your meal. Just close your eyes and picture you at your goal weight and keep eating that healthy meal! You will feel so much better after eating that than a burger!
Sorry...that wasn't really helpful, more reassuring I think you did great in that situation!

At the beginning this was difficult for me as well. My husband is skinny and can't eat anything and does...right in front of me. I made it very clear to him that he needed to help me through those moments. He is not suppose to let me have ANY...even if I ask, plead and beg. I figure with both of us keeping my willpower in check, we should be able to get out of mealtime without me spoiling the good intention by ordering my healthy meal. The other thing I do is like the previous person suggested...I literally picture myself as the skinnier version. I also think about the amount of grease that is on/in whatever he is eating. That tends to do the trick for me.

i dont think a couple of cheese fries hurt anything

Thanks for the reassurance. I am glad to know I'm not doing poorly by just taking a bite or two. :-) It is nice to be learning what I should be eating out...I feel like making healthy choices now will help me when I reach goal weight to stay there!

I once heard from someone that you can picture gross things on the tempting food like roaches, maggots...whatever would repulse you. Way to go though!

Another suggestion.....why not get a cooler and pack up some sandwiches, veggies, fruit, etc. for you guys and maybe you could have a picnic? It doesn't have to be every week but maybe every other week? I think that's a fair compromise.

If you've gone from sharing the whole plate to having 2 or 3 I think you're doing great!

I eat out on the first Sunday of every month after church with a whole group of friends (we call it "Biker Sunday" because many of us ride). There is a couple in my group who have been very successful in MRC and got me started on it. I sat beside the lady of this couple today while others ate peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream for dessert. She mentioned that one bite is usually enough for her, just a taste, but if she doesn't get that taste she dwells on it all week. So I took her advice and ate one spoonful of my DH's dessert. I asked him to get me a nice mix of the fruit, the crust, and the ice cream. Sure enough, a taste was really enough, as I was already full! Two cheese fries will NOT ruin your program. Brava for you, you are already making healthy choices! My hubby is so proud of me, he makes sure I get rewarded in other ways (like the trip to Victoria's Secret yesterday.) Find what works for you.

Good job ... I've heard before that after two bites, you really don't taste it anymore, so if you can do 1-2 bites it may indeed stop you from obsessing over things.

I think there is a fine line between just a bite and letting yourself eat the whole plate. For a while, I strongly believed that even a lick of the "forbidden food" would ruin my entire diet. Sometimes, I was so tempted that I would start with a bite and then another one, and on the third one I would think that I already ruined everything so might as well eat a couple of plates of it. WRONG!

I have a different approach now...When I am tempted to get an olive, a taste of ice cream, a fry...I would just take a portion as small as my finger nail and it stops there! I feel satisfied that I know what it tastes like and I just move on! So far, since August 20th, I have lost 27 lbs and I do not believe that this approach has slowed my weight loss. I can't forget to mention that I get a taste of this bad food very, very rarely and certainly not every day or even every week.