Have you made plans for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner?  Or have you opted for a casual get-together with a gal pal?  For women especially, your choice of a Valentine's Day dinner date might affect your diet.

What Women Eat When They Dine with Women

Ladies who have opted for a casual night out with girlfriends may want to beware.  Women tend to eat as much as their dining partner if the dining partner is a woman.  In fact, according to a new report, if the woman is a new friend they even match the companion's eating pattern bite for bite.  So, if you're on a diet, you may want to find a friend who eats light.

When Women Eat When They Dine with Men

But what if your Valentine's date is a man?  Studies have suggested that women eat less in the presence of a man.  A study conducted in Ontario, Canada observed that women tend to choose lower calorie foods in front of a male dining partner.  Men, on the other hand, were unaffected by the gender of their eating companion.

How to Dine Out Without Busting Your Diet

Regardless of who you choose to be your Valentine's Day dinner date, there are a few ways to stay on your diet when dining out.  Try these calorie-saving tips.

• View the menu online before going out to eat. Choose your meal in advance.  Look for foods that are roasted, steamed, or broiled.  Try to avoid foods that are fried, battered, or sautéed in butter.

• Ask your server for help. Most restaurants are happy to accommodate special requests.  If you are not sure how a food is prepared, ask your waiter.  Or inquire about his/her recommendation for lighter fare.  You may also request that dressings and sauces be put on the side.

• Choose your entrée from the appetizer menu. Portions at restaurants are often too large.  Rather than splitting a high calorie meal into two smaller meals, choose an appetizer as your main entrée and supplement with a small green salad.

If you are looking for more tips and advice about weight loss, check out the new About.com Weight Loss page on Facebook or follow About.com Weight Loss on Twitter.  You'll find trending topics and have opportunities to ask questions or comment on current events and hot issues related to diet, exercise and weight loss.

About.com Weight Loss on Facebook

Even if you are not a Facebook user yet, this is a great time to get connected on this popular social media site.  Once you set up an account, go to the About.com Weight Loss page and click the "Like" icon in the upper right corner.  Once you've done that, join in the discussion about topics like these:

• If you could choose anyone to be your weight loss coach, who would it be and why?
• What time of day are you most tempted to snack?

By participating in these discussions, you'll not only connect with dieters who are managing the same weight loss challenges that you are, but you'll also benefit from learning tips and advice from others.

About.com Weight Loss on Twitter

The fast pace of Twitter makes it a perfect social media option for dieters on the go.  Twitter provides users with short, quick blasts of information.  Often these are links to websites or simply just helpful tips.  Twitter users can also submit questions to people or organizations that they are following.

It's easy to set up a Twitter account.  Once you've done so, find About.com Weight Loss at @AboutWgtLoss.  Click on the "Follow" icon to begin tweeting about weight loss related issues.

Your plate size probably won't change the way you eat.  A new study has debunked the diet myth that a eating off of a smaller plate will help you to consume fewer calories.  New research published in the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics found that plate size had no impact on the calorie consumption of either normal weight or obese individuals.

For years, dieters have been advised to choose a smaller plate at mealtime in order to limit the amount of food that they eat.  The theory was that your meal will look larger on a smaller plate and you'll be less likely to overeat.  But according to the new study, both normal weight and obese individuals consumed roughly the same amount of calories on both small and large plates.

Even though your plate size won't help you eat less, there are other ways to control portion sizes of the foods you eat.  If you find yourself eating too much, try one of these tips:

• Read nutritional labels. The nutritional label will give an exact measurement of a reasonable serving size.
• Avoid buying in bulk. Try to purchase smaller packages of less healthy foods.  If the food is not in your house you're less likely to eat it during a weak diet moment.
• Order small portions when eating out. When eating in a restaurant, you can always save half of your large entrée for another day. But better yet, don't order it in the first place.  Choose your main meal from the appetizer menu.

If you bought smaller plates to increase your chances of losing weight, don't despair.  Remember, plate size had no impact on calorie consumption, so you won't be eating more on small plate either.  But you'll want to retire this diet myth and move onto more successful methods of managing how much you eat.

This weekend, you may find yourself shopping for snacks for the Super Bowl or for the week ahead.  If you're trying to find a few healthy options, you'll want to avoid making one of these giant snack mistakes.

• Snack-sized treats. Some manufacturers have begun packaging foods into small sizes and advertising them as low calorie or diet -friendly.  You'll see some "100 calorie packs" on store shelves.  The problem is that most people don't eat just one pack.  The foods are often low in nutrients and high in salt and sugar.  Be sure that you read the nutritional label before you buy and multiply the calorie count by the number of packs you will realistically eat.
• Fat-free pretzels. The phrase "fat-free" is tempting when it comes to buying diet friendly foods.   Buyers might be tempted to buy fat-free pretzels instead of potato chips or tortilla strips in an effort to decrease their fat intake.  While this isn't necessarily a bad idea in theory, snackers often fall into the trap of thinking that because a food is fat free that they can eat more of it.  Pretzels are very high in sodium.  This option is likely to leave you loaded up with too many calories and too much salt.
• Trail Mix. The term "trail mix" seems to be a catchall phrase for any mix of high salt, high fat, high sugar finger foods.  The mixes often contain ingredients that sound healthy, like nuts and granola.  The problem is that most of the foods are very high in fat and calories.  And because it is eaten as finger food, it is easy to overeat.

Looking for some healthier options?  Check out these tips and recipes and remember that portion control is key when losing weight or trying to avoid weight gain.

Photo: Morguefile