Healthy Eating and Dining Out with Friends...

This can be challenging and extremely stressful!  Your out with your friends and they offers you tastes of their butter-soaked fettuccine alfredo. They hand you a fork and beg you to share the chocolate tower truffle for dessert.  It's tough to stick to a healthy eating plan when those around you are indulging. It's even tougher when they're bent on making sure you indulge, too. But don't stress about it. Here are a few tricks will help you stay on track without alienating the not-so-healthy eaters in your life. Heck, you may even inspire them to join your cause.

Prepare to be firm!

If you have a habit of caving in when pressured by your friends, make sure you're not sending mixed messages. Come prepared with a game plan that defines in your mind what you'll eat and how you'll respond to temptation. This way, they won't interpret your hesitation as a cue to push the chips and dip your way.  It's also helpful to guard against common diet saboteurs, including sleep deprivation, stress, and proximity to unhealthy food options.

Bottom line: If friends are pressuring you to indulge, it's probably because they want you to enjoy yourself. The best way to respond is to keep the dialogue positive. Rather than saying you can't or shouldn't have something, say you aren't hungry or it's not your favorite. They can't argue with that.

Go on, take a bite!

Indulgence loves company, so expect a guilt trip if you pass on a temptation your friends gave in to. Make it easy on yourself, then: Pick up your fork and have a small piece of whatever is being served.

If you say, "I'm stuffed, but this looks so delicious I can't pass up a bite," you'll avoid peer pressure by turning the situation around—you're indulging, not depriving yourself. And you won't make your friends feel bad by rebuffing their generosity. Besides, one bite of dessert won't make a dent in your diet.

Until Monday - keep thinking veggies and protein!