Do you want to start off January and February paying for bad holiday choices? Selective cheating on your diet and proper planning keep you from flying off the rails when a party or holiday dinner looms ahead. This year, get tough, be firm, question your habits, and don't bow to social norms by using these strategies to stay on target:
Finagle Gatherings
Of course, you're going to go to the big event at grandma's house, but that doesn't mean you have to go to every party and gathering you hear about. If food is all there will be, skip it. If you go, arrive after dinner. Your friends, coworkers, and family have more to offer than food.
If you're going to several gatherings, map them on a calendar and measure how much damage they can do so you have more motivation. Knowing you have another party in 3 days should help you say no to that slice of pumpkin pie. Even better than just avoiding the most unhealthy offerings, bring your own food or eat before or after.
Offset The Damage
If you're going to eat a bad meal, make up for it the rest of the day. Don't just do your normal diet. Cut carbs and fat hard so you build a caloric buffer, but don't cut protein. You may not offset the whole meal, but even a 500 calorie head start mitigates the damage.
Stoke The Fire
If you know when surplus calories are coming, get more active. Extra exercise sessions, walking, or even yard work helps. If you can workout before or after the big feast, fewer of those calories will turn to fat. Even a long walk helps. Activity can't offset a two-thousand-calorie surplus, but you can put a couple hundred calories to good use and you won't feel as lethargic the rest of the day.
Decide Your Level Of Indulgence
If you can skip all the bad stuff at a big holiday dinner and just eat a quarter pound of turkey (without gravy or cranberries) and a salad with light vinaigrette, you probably don't need to read any further. For the rest of us mere humans, let's get realistic about our willpower when surrounded by piles of pies for five hours.
Before seeing the food, be honest with yourself about what you can stick to. Portion size, food selection, servings, and plate size can all affect the final calorie hit. Maybe you can limit yourself to healthy dinner foods, but can't say no to pumpkin pie. Or maybe you've been looking forward to half a plate of stuffing all year, but only need one bite of each dessert. Work with your preferences and make a plan you can follow. Even though it probably means missing your daily calorie count, a small success is better than a big failure.
Pot Lucks
If you need to bring a dish somewhere, you can make something healthy, but you better be a whiz in the kitchen to keep from taking most of it back home. Or... you can go for protein. Most pot luckers avoid bringing protein because of the cost, but if you can make a mediocre lean meat dish, people will eat it. Of course, if you know there will be too much food, instead of bringing a dish, help with the dishes or give the hosts some cash, a bottle of wine, or gift card.
Another good option is to make a fresh fruit dessert with whipped cream, melted chocolate, or fruit dip. Others can overindulge in the chocolate or dip while you get just enough to taste on your plate full of fruit. Not only is it somewhat healthy, but now you can avoid the pies! The difference could be a thousand calories. Fresh fruit can't compete with butter, sugar, and flour so make a small amount and use the fruit's color to make it pretty!
Avoid Leftovers
As a guest, it's easy to avoid leftovers, but when you're hosting, it can be tricky. People always make too much food for holidays so start the battle early by making less this year. Leave out boring dishes and stick to a handful of crowd-pleasers. Plan on a large single serving for each guest and make peace with running out of Mac & Cheese before your uncle can get his third helping. Make 1 or 2 desserts so people aren't overwhelmed with variety. Don't worry about forcing your life choices on other people a tiny bit because they have other holiday meals to attend and bags of candy and cookies at home.
No solid headcount? Buy Styrofoam containers. After dinner, package the leftovers and hand guests to-go meals when they leave. Most will love the idea and if you tell your guests ahead of time, they may not stuff themselves.
