When you first start out on the weight loss journey it seems as if life as you know ceases to exist, especially where food is concerned.  You can no longer agree to go out with your friends for a meal on impulse, instead you must plan ahead.  You can no longer reach into the cupboard or fridge when you get an attack of the nibbles late at night.  Your entire life has to change, but even though it's not so easy at first, it is a change for the better.

There's no reason why you can't go out for a meal with your friends.  You just have to put a little planning into it first.  A few days beforehand, try and ease up on what you eat so that you have a few extra calories, points, fat units or whatever unit your weight loss plan uses.  This will allow you to have a little extra on the night of the meal without going too far off your weight loss plan.  Know your weight loss program.  This is key to being able to be a little more flexible when you are eating out.  Know what the worst things are that you could eat, and avoid them!  Choose something that isn't covered in sauce, and if it comes with a sauce, ask the waiter for this to be placed on the side of your plate or in a dish so that you can add as much or as little of it as you need.  Find items on the menu that aren't cooked in a lot of butter or fried.  If you are having a dessert, choose something with fruit that isn't covered in syrup!  At least eating the fruit you are covering one of your main food group items.  For the two days after your meal out, keep your weight loss program slightly under what you are allowed, just to even out any extra that you did eat that night. 

Water is something that everyone should be drinking more of, and if you are on a healthy eating plan, one of the best weight loss tips is for you to drink as much water as you can.  The experts say that everyone should aim to drink about 8 glasses of water a day.  Water does weight heavy but if you start to put enough of it into your body, it doesn't stay there.  Instead it flushes the toxins out of your body and so you start to feel healthier. 

Other great weight loss tips are to take a multi-vitamin every day so you are sure not to miss out on any essential nutrients and minerals that your body needs, keep a food diary so that if you do happen to gain weight during a week when you feel you ate healthy you can check back to your journal and see what you ate that could have caused the problem, and to start an exercise program as soon as you feel able.  This doesn't have to be a full one hour workout, just 2-5 minutes a day for the first week and then doubling that the second week so that you gradually work up to a full workout session. 

If you are following a healthy eating plan with a proper weight loss program, ask your leader for any weight loss tips that they may have that are proven to work with their program.  This can help you get a great start on your program and motivate you to keep going down to your goal weight.