So, for all of you dieter's out there - here's my advice. Tell your friends you're dieting. Don't keep it a secret or simply neglect to say anything because you don't want to be a downer at the dinner table. I met a friend for Vietnamese food last night - not the worst of the Asian cuisines for dieters, but not the best either. Most everything is sauteed in lots of oil. But, to make a long story short, we decided to order two entrees and an appetizer of fresh, soft spring rolls. I suggested the Papaya salad as my choice and she picked a curried beef for hers. And we were going to order two beers.

Although she didn't say it, I could tell that she wasn't too excited about the salad - so I decided to tell her that I was on Weight Watchers, which is why I was going to order it - but that she should feel free to eat as much or as little of it as she wanted, and if she wanted something else in addition, she should order it.

Well, that's all I needed to say. She was so supportive! Suddenly, the salad was fine with her, she offered to change her curried beef dish to a grilled prawn dish so I could enjoy it, asked for the sauce on the side, and decided that we could both save 2 points by not ordering the beer. We had a fabulous meal, I was able to pick at everything and we both left feeling satisfied but not stuffed. Good thing I said something - it made the whole night more fun and more relaxing.