Survive a lunch date without compromising your fitness plan

You're invited out to lunch and you can't wait to order the fried calamari - it's all you're thinking about.  Your plan is to go off track just this once - just until morning.  After all, you've been so good.  Once you cheat at lunch there's really no point in eating a healthy dinner, right?  Wrong!  Trade that calamari for something else and read on…

• Plan ahead.  Wear something you feel good in.  You'll reduce your chances of giving in to food temptation when you feel so good about yourself.  Yes, this includes your favorite lip gloss - perfect for sipping a Perrier on the rocks (sorry guys, that was between us girls).
• Help pick the restaurant.  Check out the menus on-line.  Plan ahead and pick a restaurant where menu items are both healthful and tasty.  They do exist.
• Don't let guilt sink you.  Don't give in and choose a high calorie meal just to make your lunch date feel better about their choice.  Be strong and confident in your new lifestyle and don't let anyone make you feel guilty about treating yourself right and ordering light.
• Ask for dressing on the side.  On second thought, ask for everything on the side (sauces, butters and creams).  If you can't control your dipping and find the 'side' empty by the end of the meal, then ask them to hold it instead.  Did you know, in order to make some pasta and meat dishes taste so incredibly delicious many restaurants may add a fist size portion of butter?  Yikes!
• Mix and match.  If you see a vegetable offered with another menu item that you want ask for a substitution to your meal - make your own perfect dish.  All they can say is no - then you can ask to see the chef and start schmoozing.
• Don't skip dessert - just make a smarter choice.  For dessert, skip the chocolate cake and go for fruit, sorbet or a cup of tea with lemon.  Sometimes you just need something sweet to finish off a meal - fruit is natures candy!

If you're just starting out on this fitness road, it may be difficult to get back on track once you derail.  So, don't allow a lunch date to set you up for failure.  If you can commit yourself to make smarter food choices you'll start to recognize that lunch/dinner dates, holiday parties, summer barbecues are all social events and not food events. 

Remember:   By following these guidelines you'll still have a great time and you'll feel so much better about yourself in the morning -- when you awake for your morning workout.