| Posted March 27, 2014 | By Sarah Neil Pilkinton, R.D. | Categorized under Men's Health, Women's Health |

Brian Wansink, the author of the best-selling book Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, says one way to stop mindless eating is to change your environment to promote healthy food choices. But when doing business over meals and cocktails, you may not have a choice of environment.

I agree with him that business meals and drinks can be detrimental to your well-intended healthy eating initiatives, but they don't have to be. If you have to conduct business over food or drinks, keep in mind these four tips to help prevent your diet from getting derailed:

1. That's my plan and I'm sticking to it.

Go into a business meal with a plan in mind. Tell yourself you can have dessert, but you are only going to eat four bites of it, for example. The most important thing is to remind yourself you are there to do business, not to eat, so use that time for what it is really about.

If your work entails lunches, dinners and happy hours where business is conducted, it is arguably harder to walk a straight line when it comes to diet and nutrition. You might be fine eating a salad at your desk on a typical day, but get invited to a fancy steakhouse for lunch with people you don't know to talk about a subject that might be stressful and everything changes, right? It doesn't have to.

2. Arm yourself with information.

There are a few things you can do to make sure the business meals don't derail your diet, but all of them require you to be armed with the plan so the temptations don't get the better of you.

If you are at a restaurant where someone else is paying for it, you are going to be more willing to get an appetizer, an entrée, a drink and dessert. After all, you want to get your money's worth, right? But this leads to mindless eating, which is a major factor when it comes to overeating and making the wrong food choices.

I have a few things I recommend that are especially applicable when the social factor of the meal might add in an element of nervousness or stress, which will contribute to overeating and making poor choices.

One thing you can do before you even get to the restaurant. Get on the restaurant's web site and look up calorie counts. Decide what you are going to order before you get there. Sometimes foods can be misleading. For example, a salad, which seems like a healthy option, might be one of the higher-calorie options on the menu depending on what's on it.

3. The sky is not the limit.

Keeping items such as chips and salsa at arm's reach is another great way to cut down on mindless eating. How many times have you sat in front of a bowl of chips and eaten the whole thing before you even knew it? It happens to everyone. If the food isn't conveniently located, it's harder to eat. Same goes for the bread basket. If it gets passed around, just keep passing.

As for placing your order, it's important to know how the food is prepared. Is it baked or fried? Does it come floating in a sauce? Is it cream- or tomato-based sauce? Just knowing that ahead of time is a game-changer. Watch out for words such as creamed, battered, and breaded. Those are full of hidden calories you don't need.

In some cases, the food selection might be pre-determined, such as a meeting where there is a buffet. In that case, portion control is your friend. Just because there is an entire pan of mashed potatoes in front of you, it doesn't mean you need to pile them up on your plate. The size of your fist is a good serving size estimate.

4. Don't overdo it during happy hour.

If your business dealings take you from work to happy hour, there are ways to play it safe there as well. If you are going to drink alcohol, alternate it with water to cut down on the amount of calories and alcohol you consume. Red wine is a smarter choice than most and many restaurants are now offering options such as the "Skinny Girl" brand margaritas.

It's also always OK to say "I don't care for any, thank you." If you are offered a drink just ask for water. It is calorie-free and won't in any way impede your ability to do business.