One of the biggest obstacles to your fat loss goals can come from your loved ones. Here’s how to overcome the peer pressure to eat unhealthy.

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Thursday night.

Work is over. Time to relax. Chill out.

And check in for a little happy hour.

You’re enjoying some quality time with friends while catching up, trading war stories and busting each other’s chops a bit.

The drinks are flowing.

Laughs are plentiful.

Good times are being had by all.

You’re even indulging with a few beverages of choice yourself (because you read my guide about alcohol and fat loss).

And then the food menu comes.

“Pete’s not going to eat any of this stuff. Calorie deficit! Nothing healthy here, right, coach?”

We’ve all been there.

The overwhelming peer pressure to eat unhealthy presents one of the most common, and difficult to navigate obstacles in your fat loss journey.

And simple phrases like “live a little,” brought on by co-workers, friends and even family members seems well-intentioned, it can be problematic to your own relationship with food.

How you choice to handle these comments and social pressure will go a long way in your goal to get in shape, or stay in shape.

You’ve likely received the comments mocking your adherence.

Urging you to “enjoy yourself.”

Or to just “start your diet on Monday.”

If you are going to stick to your diet, you’ll need a few tools to battle back these diet haters.

This article is all about dealing with that negative peer pressure to eat unhealthy and go off-plan so you can find the right balance between enjoying yourself, spending quality time with loved ones, not feeling guilty or left out and seeing it through to your goals.

Let’s get into it.

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“Everything I teach and preach and do is about balance. So I include foods like these from time to time and still maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

Imagine if I used that measured response to battle back the diet haters after about two or three bourbons and beers?

Yeah, that’s not going over very well. At all.

What I post on the social media drugs of choice will not play out in real life.

Instead, you’ll need some actionable tools to overcome that social pressure so you can stick to your diet in peace.

But before you take action, you need to identify where your loved one is coming from.

Reluctance to change

Some of the peer pressure to eat unhealthy comes from loved ones being reluctant to change, even if that change is coming for you, not them.

Any change in mindset or even physical appearance can alter the power dynamic of a relationship. Sometimes that change is small. Other times that change is measurable.

People should grow. Constantly. They should learn new stuff. Experience new cultures and things.

But, take a look around you.

How many people in your general social circle are enriching themselves and evolving along with life as they age and (hopefully) mature?

Exactly.

When they see someone else going through a metamorphosis, it can lead to level of insecurity.

Insecurity

Much of the hate is coming from another one’s inability to see it through to a goal themself.

So many people have tried to lose weight. Only to end up giving up. Again (and again and again).

Instead of looking inward for the reasons they failed to achieve that goal, they project their insecurities on you because you are able to stick to your diet plan.

When you indulge in a side of fries because you understand that balance is the key to sustainable weight loss success, your friend is reminded of her own failure.

She’s insecure and unhappy with herself.

And the result is a negative comment seemingly aimed at you, but really just aimed at herself.

So let’s figure out how to beat this peer pressure to eat unhealthy.

Just say no

Tough love.

You have control over what goes into your mouth. Period.

And it is okay to tell your friends and family that while you are enjoying the beverages, you are going to pass on the food.

If you want to toss in a few simple quips to get them off of your back you could go with humor:

“Nah bruh, there was a study that showed eating potato skins after enjoying a bourbon leads to erectile dysfunction”

Or you could go with something more direct:

“Not really hungry for that, going to enjoy this drink, though.”

Or in some cases, changing the narrative from diet to a challenge can work best:

“I’m doing this 30 day challenge where I’m not eating any foods from a restaurant.”

Find your sweet spot and stick to your guns.

Educate them

Occasionally, a loved one is just generally interested in how you are doing this and maybe they want in on the act.

In this case, you can have a basic conversation about your goals and how you are achieving them.

Direct them to my content and tell them there is a better way to lose weight than just cutting out all of the carbs and restricting themselves.

And having balance is okay along the way.

Enjoy the food

If you’ve learned nothing from my content, at least remember this:

Food is more than just fuel. It’s comfort, culture, religion, fun, social times and experiences. And food is meant to be enjoyed.

You can eat fun foods from time to time and still stick to your diet overall.

Progress can still be made if you indulge in pizza, fries and burgers in moderation.

So take a beat, make the decision that if you truly want the food, you can have that food.

Then adopt the never miss twice rule and get back on track with your next meal.

Join a supportive community

You are a product of your immediate surroundings.

If your social circle hates carbs and all things healthy lifestyle related, it will be truly hard to stick to your plan.

In which case, you might need to look for more supportive peeps with equally aligned goals to help build each other up along the way.

Which is where my private and free Lean4Life Facebook Group can help.

Click here to join and jump in with free workouts, fat loss guides, accountability from me and support from like-minded individuals ready to ditch the awkward peer pressure comments to help you stick to your diet plan.

Fuck the haters.

You’ve got this.

Let me help you learn how to overcome the peer pressure to eat unhealthy … 

I’m here to help you out. 

If you have any questions, reach out. I answer all of my emails at pete [at] petecataldo [.] com … Hit me up with the subject line “Peer pressure to eat unhealthy” and I’ll answer any questions you have to make this work for you.

Or you can hit me up anytime on the socialz on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

If you enjoyed this post, maybe you’d like more knowledge bombs from me. I’d be honored if you join my mailing list to get regular updates every time I post something pretty dope.