How to Eat Healthy When Everyone Around You Isn’t

Here Are 7 Strategies To Help You Eat Healthy While Others Don’t 

Your family has asked you to go out to a restaurant for dinner. Your first thoughts are, “Oh no! I can’t go out to eat! There are so many temptations, and I just don’t think I can stick to the diet I just started!” 

This is waaay to common for women who are trying to lose weight. 

Well, of course, if we wall ourselves off in our houses, we can be successful in our weight loss efforts… until we venture outside. (yikes) 

SO… if you are on a mission to finally lose the inches and get healthier, and you find yourself venturing outside your house… a restaurant or party is the last place you feel like going to. Am I RIGHT??? 

So many temptations. 

So many pressures. 

Other people are eating whatever they want. 

Friends are going to ask your why you are – or aren’t – eating or drinking certain foods. 

And if you’ve been on the diet roller coaster, the last thing you want to do is tell them that you are “trying this diet thing… AGAIN.” 

So how to eat healthy when everyone around you isn’t?? 

1. Ditch the Dieter’s Mentality 

You have to ditch the all-or-nothing mentality, and definitely ditch the word “diet” from your vocabulary. 

The original Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of “diet” is “food and drink regularly provided or consumed.” Unfortunately, “diet” has been turned into (also a definition) “a regimen of eating and drinking sparingly so as to reduce one’s weight.” When you hear the word “diet,” you probably think of deprivation and sacrifice… never eating your favorite foods every again… sounds exciting right? Sign me up… not. 

Ditch the dieter’s mentality. 

2. Set Yourself Up for Success 

Yes, you will need to make some changes. If you don’t change, you will stay exactly where you are.  

But you can decide what you are willing to compromise on, and what you can do without. 

When you are setting up what you will and won’t eat, be honest about what you can realistically do. If you decide that you will only have dessert one time each week, and that feels like something you can do, start with that. 

If you go out to eat, and you tell yourself you are only going to have a salad, but you are dreaming of a bacon cheeseburger with fries and dessert… you are going to have serious thoughts of deprivation… ESPECIALLY if someone else orders a burger. 

Make your small goal achievable. 

3. Order What You REALLY WANT 

You CAN lose weight and still eat your favorite foods. It just might not be in the same portion size as you would normally have. 

If you want the bacon cheeseburger, you have options:  

• Get it without the bun.
• Eat half the burger, and take the rest home for lunch tomorrow. 
• Cut the burger in half, and share it with a friend who’s there with you.

4. Negotiate With Yourself 

I do this all the time. If I am eyeballing a delicious dessert, then I will have a healthful entrée like grilled chicken and broccoli with yam fries or some other complex carb. Then I’ll have the dessert. 

It does not need to be all-or-nothing. 

5. Your Goal Needs To Be Bigger Than Your Desire For Certain Foods 

To win the fat-loss game, it’s all about delayed gratification.  

And choosing to eat healthy. Don’t give in to the instant pleasure that the dessert, bread, pasta, or whatever-your-thing-is offers – it’s just going to keep you on the same path you are on now. 

You can have that food anytime you want! We live in an age when you can order something from across the world and have it in two days! 

You need to have a goal that will override your instant gratification so you can get to your ultimate goal. 

6. The Most Important Thing

Your thoughts are making you feel something… deprivation, sacrifice… As simplistic as it sounds, it really is about what you are thinking about. There is a great quote by Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.” And he was right.

What are your thoughts about your weight-loss plan?  

Do you think it is hard? 

Do you think you can’t go out to eat because you can’t trust yourself around restaurant food?  

I’d love to know what you think about this… share your thoughts in the comment section below! 

7. You Have A Choice As To What You Are Going To Eat 

If you’re sitting with other people, and they are eating foods that will not help you on you lose weight… that is their decision. 

It has nothing to do with you.   

If you have thoughts like “I can’t eat that…,” it’s dieter’s mentality, and it’s also your primal brain having a temper tantrum. 

Giving into your primal fit will not get you closer to your weight loss goals. 

Instead, focus on your sophisticated brain, which makes more rational decisions, helps you get closer to your goals – and helps you eat healthy while others don’t.