How to Enjoy your Holiday Parties without Disaster
The
holidays are coming and it’s time to party. Whether it’s a super-posh annual
office dinner or a friend’s holiday gathering, you’re going to confront the
enemy.
I’m
referring to that decadent dessert that always proves your diet downfall. It
will be at the party, testing your willpower.
Here
are 9 strategies to help you stand strong when temptation strikes. (And make no
mistake: it always strikes around the holidays.)
1. Bring your own dish to share. Potlucks
are the perfect opportunity to “sneak” in a healthy veggie dish or that new
chicken recipe you’ve been dying to prepare. If it is not a potluck still offer
to bring something, the hostess will appreciate it!
2. Eat before you go. Think about your
last dinner party. It probably started an hour late, which meant you felt
famished by time the salad arrived. Take control and go to your next social
function pleasantly full. You can still enjoy the food, but you’ll bypass the
temptation to devour stale fruitcake cookies as you wait for dinner.
3.Wear fitted clothes. Beware the elastic waistbands! If nothing else, they give you permission to
indulge in second helpings of holiday pie. Instead, wear your most fitted
little black dress or the slimmest (and slimming) jeans you can find. You’ll
think twice before devouring that gooey rich dessert.
4. Alcohol last. Indulging at the
beginning makes you a more relaxed party guest, but it can also create lapse of
judgment where you absent-mindedly nibble on Brie and crackers while making
small talk. Save the pinot noir till dessert and you’ll reduce your risk of
caloric overload. Sugar with alcohol is
a surefire strategy for fat gain.
5. Follow the 2:1 rule. Hangovers happen
because; you drink too much, but also because you’re dehydrated. For every
glass of pinot noir or shot of tequila you drink , have two glasses of water to
match. You’ll meet your water quota and the water will put the brakes on the
booze.
6. Bring your best friend or spouse to call
you out. Face it: even the best of us lapse in judgment sometimes, and
brutal honesty can be your best defense against succumbing to a pear-cranberry
streusel.
7.Go for the healthy stuff first. Just
because you have an all-you-can-eat invitation doesn’t mean you need to do so.
One trip through the line and call it quits. Fill up on lean protein and leafy
greens and you’ll be less likely to crave the candied walnut sweet potato
casserole.
8.No freebies. “I’ve eaten really well
all week, so I’ll just splurge at brunch on Sunday.” Then suddenly, a cheat
meal becomes a cheat day. Take the word “cheat” out of your vocabulary. You’re
setting yourself up for psychological disaster and the hormonal imbalances
trigger further cravings.
9.Stick with the skinnies. Think about the
five people you spend the most time with. Guess what? You are a conglomerate of
those people. So if your best friend’s idea of a night out involves Cheesecake
Factory and oversized margaritas, chances are you’re NOT making a New Year’s
resolution for fast fat loss. During the holidays, hang out with friends who
skip pumpkin lattes and sip green tea.
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| Wendy Lynn |
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