How to maintain your balanced diet when your friends indulge: 7 social eating tips
Is healthy eating around your friends challenging?
It’s true that eating often with friends keeps you close to tempting high calorie meals. That’s not a reason to avoid any form of social eating though. Remember, it is perfectly alright to have your favourite meal or dessert in special occasions!
Learning to keep your balanced diet in social settings is a necessary skill for a successful fitness journey in the long term. Restaurants, delicious foods and friends who indulge in front you will always be there. We will never live in a healthy eating bubble!
You deserve to be around your friends regardless of your eating habits!
Taking care of your body shouldn’t mean self-isolation. In an ideal world, your friends wouldn’t eat anything tempting in front of you. The truth is at least some of them will and this is a very sensitive topic to discuss:
There is a difference between “friends” A, who discourage you from eating healthy because “you don’t need it and who cares” and friends B, who just live their life and eat what they love as usual. You may want to reconsider your relationship with friends A. Friends B may have different eating habits and goals from you, it doesn’t necessarily mean they do not support you. In any case, your feelings are valid!
So let’s see a few helpful social eating tips.
Some of them aren’t about the calories, but about setting your boundaries! Remember what you eat is your business. You don’t have to explain yourself for what you are choosing to eating. If you don’t feel comfortable with discussing your dietary changes, you don’t have to.
1. Think about what you actually want to eat beforehand
If you were going alone to the restaurant today, what would you actually order? What is your real craving? Answer these questions before going out for dinner.
When you already know the restaurant you are going to eat with your friends, things are easier; if the menu is available online, you can take a look and choose what you like before your friends affect your decision!
When you have already thought your food choices through, it easier to set your boundaries when you see your friends overindulge and resist unnecessary temptation.
2. If you are sharing plates, offer your friends a few more bites!
Sharing plates is a tricky situation, because everyone expects you to eat exactly what you have paid for. Here is what can you try if you would like to save dozens of calories (but waste some money!):
Step 1: Join the conversation to decide the plates you will order for sharing. Suggest dishes with lean protein sources as a main ingredient (eg. Chicken, fish, hummus or other lentil-based dishes) or vegetables.
Step 2: Eat your share from these dishes (or similar dishes your friends may order).
Step 3: Eat a few of bites from dishes which are traditionally high in calories at restaurants. These plates are based on pasta, chips and savoury pastries.
Step 4: Kindly say you feel full at the moment and your friends are free to have a few more bites from these “high calorie” dishes.
3. Are you ordering your own meals? Stick to your main dish!
It is much easier to control your food intake when you ca order whatever you want. The trick to stick to just your main dish as much as you can:
- If you can go for a main dish based on lean protein and vegetables. Keep in mind that creamy pasta dishes in restaurants could contain up to 2,000 kcal/ portion!
- Avoid side dishes, especially chips and pastries. You can save hundreds of calories and you don’t usually need them to feel full.
- Prefer vegetable-based appetizers (if you need an appetizer).
4. Share your takeaway order
- Ask if any of your friends wants to share a pizza or whatever you are eating. Someone may not be that hungry!
- Feel free to eat a small part of anything you order and take the leftovers with you at home. Remember: You don’t have to explain yourself for eating less than your friends.
- If you are able to order something healthier, go for it. It is usually a bit harder to find tasty and healthy options in takeaway menus though!
5. Eat slowly and let the time flow!
Here are two important reasons to focus on having a conversation and enjoy your meal slowly:
- You give cholecystokinin, an important satiety hormone, to be secreted. It takes about 20 minutes to feel its action, this is why sometimes it takes a while to realize how full you are. After that, you will be less likely to ask for seconds!
- You distract yourself from eating more and from what your friends are having.
6. You are in control of your drinks!
You can save hundreds of calories according to the drink you choose at a restaurant. Prefer black coffee or coffee with semi- skimmed milk, sugar-free soda and up to two small glasses of dry wine, if you drink alcohol. If you avoid cocktails, sugary drinks and mixed fruit juice you can save the calories of a small meal!
If you are going out with friends just for drinks, it may be even harder to control your energy intake. Alcohol can be quite calorie dense and it can be served with other high energy snacks and side dishes, like crisps and nuts.
- Try to have a small balanced meal with healthy carbohydrates or healthy fats before going out for drinks. It is a good social eating tip to prevent hangover! You also will be less likely to have many crips or full portions of side dishes. However, safety first: If for any reason you are hungry, it is alright to go for a snack/side dish!
- Drink slowly and up to two glasses, if possible.
7. Eat a low calorie and high protein snack before going out
Investing up to 150 kcal calories on a protein bar, a hard-boiled egg or even a glass of milk can save you more calories later. If you go to a place full of delicious foods completely hungry, it is perfectly normal if you want to try everything. Especially if your friends overindulge right in front of you! You will be more likely to eat mindfully if you had a filling snack before. And this small snack will probably be less calorie dense than restaurant appetizers!
Check this post for more social eating tips!
