Your BFF Could be Making you Fat

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Order what looks appealing, but try to stick to an appetizer and a salad and just one drink, preferably wine, which usually packs less than half the calories of a margarita or a martini. Eat slowly, and savor your food, stopping as soon as you start to feel full. Take the rest home with you for another meal.

Your BFF also could be your BDD (biggest diet downfall). Fitness magazine shows you how to break the pal-pig-out cycle.

“Eating is a social experience,” said Dr. Evelyn Attia, director of the Columbia Center for Eating Disorders at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. “For some of us, it’s an activity we do with our friends.”

Unfortunately, group munching can cause the pounds to add up. When you dine with another person, you consume 35 percent more than you would alone, research shows.

Got a pal (or two) who pushes your all-you-can-eat button? Here’s how to ID a chowhound and give your friendship — and your diet — a food fix.

The Comfort Queen

You just lost your job. You broke up with your boyfriend. No matter what the crisis, your best pal can see you through — usually over a pint of mocha fudge ice cream or a package of chocolate chip cookies.

“Guys have drinking buddies when they’re depressed; women have eating buddies,” said Dr. Daniel Stettner, director of psychology at UniSource Health Center in Troy, Mich. “Unfortunately, what should be a supportive relationship turns into a situation where both women enable each other to eat — and eat and eat.”

Step away from the table. Instead of self-medicating with food, do some cardio.

“Exercise is a potent weapon against depression,” said Dr. Edward Abramson, a professor emeritus of psychology at California State University at Chico and the author of “Body Intelligence.”

Thirty-minute aerobic workouts three to five times weekly for three months reduce mild to moderate symptoms by nearly half, according to a study from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Sign up for a spinning class, or start training for a 5K, and invite your friend to join you.

In addition, stop the graze-and-gripe fests. If you need to spill, do it over the phone, or while the two of you are on a power walk.

The Party Girl

Your phone rings at 5 p.m. after a crazy day at the office. It’s one of your buds, suggesting you both blow off steam by meeting at your favorite watering hole. Three margaritas, a heaping plate of nachos and an order of chicken wings later, you head home feeling ill.

“Overdrinking and overeating are common ways to cope when you’re under stress,” said Dr. Stacey Rosenfeld, a psychologist in New York City.

Alcohol also loosens inhibitions, which means that you and your friend are much more likely to start diving into the chip bowl.

Step away from the table. Limit time with your partying pal to Friday nights only. If you go to a bar, pick one with few or no appetizers so you’re not tempted to overeat, Abramson said.

When you arrive, order a glass of wine and a glass of water and hold the alcohol in your non-dominant hand, said Jackie Keller, a registered dietitian and nutritionist in Los Angeles. “Most people drink less with this technique.”

The Restaurant Junkie

Melissa Gibbs loves to go out to eat with her friends, but the cost has been steep: She’s struggled with her weight for years.

“When we sit down to dinner, someone orders a round of fancy martinis at 300 calories a pop, then a round of appetizers, and suddenly there’s a day’s worth of calories sitting on the table, and the entree hasn’t even arrived yet,” said Gibbs, a 39-year-old business development manager for a construction company in New Orleans.

Considering that most restaurants serve gigantic portions and you’re likely to be distracted by conversation, you probably won’t even realize how much you’re consuming until it’s too late.

“In theory, if you’re in tune with your body and know when you’ve had enough, it shouldn’t be a problem,” said Judith Matz, director of the Chicago Center for Overcoming Overeating and author of “The Diet Survivor’s Handbook.” “But many of us don’t listen to those internal cues, and that’s where we get stuck.”

Step away from the table. Arrive at the restaurant hungry but not famished; snack on a mix of carbs and protein, like a piece of string cheese and an apple, an hour before to take the edge off, Matz suggests.

Order what looks appealing, but try to stick to an appetizer and a salad and just one drink, preferably wine, which usually packs less than half the calories of a margarita or a martini. Eat slowly, and savor your food, stopping as soon as you start to feel full. Take the rest home with you for another meal.

If you’d rather have an entree, choose grilled meat or fish, and ask for an extra serving of vegetables instead of a potato or rice. For dessert, order one or two sweets for the table to share.

Printed in the July/August 2009 issue of Fitness Magazine