Eating healthy and having a carefree social life...can it be done? You do well with your healthy choices at home, but your friends want to grab drinks at happy hour or there's doughnuts in the staff kitchen at work or maybe it's your grandma's birthday and you're eyeing that ice cream cake post the chips n' dip appetizer. You may wonder how staying on track is possible while still having fun and not receiving judgmental looks for only having one drink. Balance is the key word here, but it's not always easy to achieve. So how do we achieve balance in our social life while staying healthy and still having fun?

 Lets start with eating out. If you know where you're going out to eat prior to arriving do some research on what the food joint offers and choose the more nutritious meal options. If you already know what you want once you arrive to a place it will keep you from making an impulsive, non-healhty decision. When ordering a salad ask for the dressing on the side so you may dress as much as you prefer, a lot of unnecessary calories come from dressings. You want a burger and fries? Order it protein style, this way you'll actually have room to finish the amount of fries you want without feeling like you may birth a food baby. If you are going for drinks check the skinny versions offered on the menu or order a glass of red wine. Red wine actually has heart health benefits due to the antioxidants present from the resveratrols. Is it a dessert kind of night? See how you're really feeling that day, does ice cream really sound good to you? If so then don't deprive yourself, have a scoop of your go-to flavor and enjoy until satisfied. If you aren't feeling it then maybe invite the crew over and try out a new healthy recipe you found online and bake for them. This will help with spending too much money on eating out as well. If it's doughnut Friday in the office be sure to make yourself a filling, nutritious meal that morning so you won't feel the need to munch on those empty calories. If you feel left out then make yourself a nice cup of coffee or tea and use a special sweetener to make it your own personal treat. Say a doughnut is really calling your name this week, then go ahead and cut one in half or even take a whole one and enjoy it, but always be sure to fuel your body before so you aren't running on sugar all day.

Your friends and family may notice your healthy alternatives and question why you aren't having a bigger piece of cake or why you decided to order the salad over the nachos. This can lead to judgmental looks and comments, but don't let that stop you. You must do what feels right for your body, if anything these comments are arising from their own insecurities. The best thing to do in these situations is to not judge them for their food choices, be confident in your journey, and if it really starts to bother you tell them how you feel-if they're good friends they'll support you and who knows maybe you will start to inspire them!

Stay positive and listen to your body. Some days veggies are going to sound enticing and other days you're going to crave french fries and a cupcake! Listen to your body and don't deprive yourself.