Thanks for the answer. In my own experience I went from eating out every day at work to packing a lunch and eating in the cafeteria. It didn’t mean less socialization at lunch but I did start eating with different people and I realize that is hard or not even an option for some. I set a rule for myself to only eat out once a week and that did the trick.
I also stopped going to a weekly bar event with friends and honestly haven’t talked to them nearly as much since then. Similar to eating out though I eventually replaced that with a watch party/game night/discussion club with a different new group of friends. Those events have drinks but not really as a focus.
I didn’t make all of these changes simultaneously though which reduced some of the challenge. None of it is easy though and I still feel bad for not keeping in touch with some folks I was previously close to.
It probably depends where you live and your social groups. In MT it seems that there are two main groups of people. Those who are into outdoor activities (healthier lifestyle) and your other group which is more adverse to the outdoors and prefer to socialize in Bars or at events. If you fall into the latter, it can be socially isolating if you want to lose weight or maintain a healthy eating habit.
I also stopped going to a weekly bar event with friends and honestly haven’t talked to them nearly as much since then. Similar to eating out though I eventually replaced that with a watch party/game night/discussion club with a different new group of friends. Those events have drinks but not really as a focus.
I didn’t make all of these changes simultaneously though which reduced some of the challenge. None of it is easy though and I still feel bad for not keeping in touch with some folks I was previously close to.