Potential Disaster: I frequently eat out in restaurants and am faced with huge entree servings.

Solution: Restaurant meals are completely out of proportion with real serving sizes. Don't even wait until end of meal - ask your waiter or waitress to bring you a Styrofoam container when they bring your food. Pack up most of it before you even start eating. If you're having a business lunch and packing a doggy bag might appear unprofessional, then don't order a whole meal. Order a healthy (not fried) appetizer, or a half sandwich, or a half salad (if they're available). Order a bowl of soup and skip crackers. And if you do order a salad, make sure to ask for dressing on side - and use it very sparingly! Also be aware of what you're drinking - a large non-diet soda or lemonade will only add empty calories. Let's not even discuss calorie content of most alcoholic beverages. Stick with water, tea or, at most, one glass of wine. Take your time eating - put your fork down and enjoy talking with whomever you are dining with. That way you won't eat as fast. Lastly, be aware that more and more restaurants are including healthy meal choices - choose grilled or poached instead of anything with a cream or butter sauce. See if you can replace rice or potato with an extra vegetable. And tell waiter to take away basket of bread.

Potential Disaster: When I go to a party, I can't resist hors d'oeuvres.

Solution: Have a bowl of soup before you head off for party. Soup is low calorie (just make sure you avoid soup made with cream) and fills you up so you won't have as much room for those tempting hors d'oeuvres. And be selective about which treats you choose - only take a single piece of your absolute favorite two or three choices and skip rest, or stick to veggie tray. And don't just graze mindlessly - have one piece, leave hors d'oeuvres table and return 15 or so minutes later for another piece of something different. Another thing you might consider is bringing your own, healthy dish - just make sure it's one of your favorites, something you really love but that won't destroy your diet. And again, once you've eaten a little, leave vicinity of table for a while. The less you see of food, less likely you will be to indulge. And be just as frugal with alcohol - not only are alcoholic beverages loaded with calories, they also stoke your appetite, so drinking gives you a double whammy. If you can pass up drinking altogether, then do so. If you don't feel festive without imbibing at least a little, then stick to one drink, preferably something made without other, high-calorie ingredients (in other words, a glass of wine or small scotch on rocks is okay, a pina colada is not). Focus on other festivities and don't make food focus of evening.

Once you get into it you may not want to stop with purely social dancing. More people all time are recognizing fun and physical fitness aspects and want to get more serious about it. For this you need a steady partner to practice and compete with and there’s even a website for finding a dance partner: http://www.dancepartner.com/?AC=1 .

If you really get into it, you’ll also need wardrobe. Matching Western shirts for you and him? (Buy it and he will come!) I can’t imagine dancing tango without a ruffled skirt, can you? (The rose in your teeth is optional!) If you don’t want to spend a fortune to outfit yourself, take a trip to your local Goodwill store. They may have just what you’re looking for, including cowboy boots.

How to begin? Find place, check out dress code, and show up. You may be a little nervous at first, depending upon how rusty you are, and especially if you’re a true beginner, but don’t worry, you’ll soon be out there doing Jitterbug with best of them. The teachers and atmosphere will make you feel at ease immediately, and chances are you’ll find nice people who are there to enjoy dancing in a friendly, healthy atmosphere that’s contagious.

Once you’ve learned basics and found venues, you can add dancing to your social schedule. What better way to work off that Thanksgiving dinner than to go dance night away afterwards?

Dancing makes a great family activity. There are at least two dance halls in my town that offer special family-friendly times. They offer food as well as drink, and it’s sweet to see dads dancing with their little girls in their arms, and toddlers taking floor solo to bounce to beat.

There’s also a chance to dance at local festivals. The recent Wurstfest in my area featured a huge dance floor with a 10-piece brass band imported from Germany that got everyone up and on their feet – from 18 months to 80.

As more people stay single for extended periods of time, line dancing is being offered more frequently. If you don’t have a partner, or just don’t want to dance with someone you don’t know, you can wait till they play Cotton Eyed Joe, Mambo No. 5, Strokin’ or Boot Scootin’ Boogie and get out there on your own.

But you’ll have most fun if you go ahead and ask someone to dance, and ladies, don’t be shy. It’s quite acceptable to ask men to dance. In fact I think guys appreciate it.

Whatever your goal, looking for friends or a partner, wanting to master new dances, or simply to get exercise and have fun, you can’t go wrong. It’s highly probable you’ll find all these when you go out dancing.

©Susan Dunn, MA, Midlife Dating and Relationship Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc . Offering coaching for men and women in dating, transitions, retirement and other midlife issues. Susan is the author of “Midlife Dating Survival Manual for Women,” available at www.webstrategies.cc/ebooklibrary.html . Mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc .