When you order a healthy or low-calorie item in order to give the appearance of sticking to a healthy eating pattern, then load it up with fattening ingredients in order to make it taste better or delude yourself into believing that the proxy food is still healthy. Gives the outward appearance of a healthy choice, when in reality it has as many calories and as much fat as the not-so-healthy meal that you really wanted in the first place.
Jordan is on a diet, so she ordered a salad. However, she really wanted a hamburger. So, she ordered the salad in order to look like she's sticking to her diet, but then she topped it with lots of cheese, bacon and ranch dressing. Now her salad has as many calories as the burger that she really wanted in the first place. Her friends praise her for sticking to her diet by ordering the salad, not taking into account that all the extras have put that salad into fat-bomb category. Jordan is 'eating by proxy', whereby the salad is the 'proxy' for the 'fattening' hamburger.
by For Whom the Bell Trolls June 21, 2013