If you can skip the bad stuff altogether, great! Most people can't and their best bet is to indulge some, but not go completely wild. Now that you're at the party or dinner, follow these tips to land the final blow in the battle against holiday weight gain:
Get On The Wagon
Alcohol, sugary sodas, and sweet tea provide a lot of calories. Two beers to relax beforehand, a couple glasses of wine with dinner, and a large soda to wash everything down after dessert can cost you nearly 1000 calories! That's before you even get to the food!
Drink only water with dinner. You'll enjoy drinks more by sipping on them in isolation and their flavor will get lost in the assortment and power of the food. Assuming you haven't switched to diet sodas and Truvia for your tea, skip them or limit yourself to one, perhaps as a replacement appetizer or dessert. If you have to drink alcohol at social gatherings, you may be an alcoholic and need help, but assuming that's not the case, limit yourself to one glass and strategically pick when it'll be most enjoyable.
Pick The Unusual
Holiday dinners hold so many choices that we often try to get a little bit of everything. Instead of stuffing a plate with foods you eat all year, only take items unique to the holiday. For instance, skip mashed potatoes, green beans, and bread rolls, but go for the sweet potato casserole and stuffing.
Don't Do Mediocre
We all have family whose cooking is nothing special. Others are bad cooks or bring store-bought goods. Don't taste everything or worry about politeness. If you're going to blow your calorie budge, blow it on the good stuff and get only the best! It's not your familial duty to consume 400 calories of dry, flavorless stuffing or those grocery store cookies. Be picky! If anyone says a word, remind them you're on a diet.
Portion Control
The hardest part of a holiday meal might be portion control. If you've done some of the other suggestions, you'll already find your plate is less packed. Your best bet is to take small bites, eat slow, and talk a LOT. You'll enjoy the tastes more and feel full sooner. You can also try one of these strategies.
A tiny taste of everything:
Get 1-2 bites worth of everything interesting and then go back for bigger portions of your top 1-2 items. You don't get to feel like you missed out on anything and get to indulge on some.
Cream of the crop:
Get big servings of the top 3-4 items only. You'll feel pretty spoiled and may forget about all the things you didn't get.
Nothing touches:
Fill your plate with whatever you want, but don't let any food touch another. It'll keep your portions from getting out of hand and require more trips back to the buffet than some other methods. If you're shy about going back, you box yourself into a good corner with this one.
Small plate:
Use a dessert plate instead of a dinner platter. Even though you'll fill a few times, you'll eat slower and be more selective on what you get. Just don't stack the food.
One trip to the buffet:
Get 1 plate and fill it as full as you want, but no stacking. Yeah, you're going to do some damage, but that's better than last year when you got 3 plates piled high with rolls, right?
Dessert first:
Most people stuff themselves at a holiday dinner without leaving room for dessert... and then stuff it down anyways because it tastes so good, even compared to the feast you just devoured. It goes against society, but by indulging in dessert first, you won't cram as much at the end and after that cheesecake, your sister-in-law's green bean casserole won't tempt you. The rest of the meal might be a letdown, but that's how you end up eating less overall.
Don't Stare At The Food
If food is going to be served or available for several hours, find something to do so you don't just snack away. Invest in the football game, start card and board games, or play with your nieces, nephews, and grand kids. Interact with other people or things so you're so distracted you forget the food is there. If it won't rush anyone or step on any toes, offer to put the food away. Get it in the fridge and out of site fast so it doesn't tempt you.
