Dealing With Peer Pressure. 252.2 pounds. - 1.6 pounds today, - 3.6 pounds this week, - 5.4 pounds this month, - 27.8 pounds since May 1, - 81.8 pounds from my all-time high of 333 pounds.

Peer pressure can come from the strangest places and when you least expect it. Last night I went out for dinner with a old friend of mine at a wonderful restaurant, The St. Paul Grill. I had never been there before so I was excited to eat there. Knowing I had a date with the scale this morning, I looked at the website earlier in the day to see what I could have that wouldn't derail my weight loss. I decided on a large Caesar salad as my meal. I had asked the waitress about the size of it when I arrived and she assured me that it was a big salad.

When my friend arrived and it was time to order he went first and ordered a salad and a main dish. The waitress then asked me and I confidently ordered the full Caeser salad. Then it happened. The peer pressure was about to be released. "And what would you like for your main dish?" She asked in an assuming voice. I felt trapped. I wanted to say, "Nothing else, thank you," but then I felt like I would have to justify this decision and share that I'm losing weight. She looked at me and started with suggestions of how I could load up the salad with various extras, or try a soup. I've always loved wild rice soup so I ordered a cup rather than a bowl. When the meal came I thoroughly enjoyed both the soup and the salad. I thought to myself, "Well, if I gain weight, so be it." I had prepared earlier in the day by skipping lunch, knowing that I was going to be eating after 5 p.m. The questions was, what would the scale say this morning?

Imagine my delight this morning when I saw that my efforts at sticking with my eating, sleeping, and exercise plan paid off. I lost over 1 pound on the scale and I feel great. Forewarned is forearmed, as the saying goes. I just hope I can do the same this weekend.

Today and the next 2 days are going to be trying for me. I am going deer hunting with my son and this will take me out of my normal patterns of eating, sleeping, and exercise. It is possible that I could lose weight over the next 3 days, but I'm not counting on it. I need to eat in moderation, and perhaps I can skip a meal here and there, but we typically eat snacks and go out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner both days. We'll see what happens today and we'll see what the scale says on Monday!