Smart holiday feasting

During the holidays it’s easy to overindulge given all the festive foods surrounding us at home, at work and at parties. If you are worried you may be overdoing it and would like to better control the number of delicious calories you consume at your next holiday feast, here are my top five tips for smart holiday feasting.

Top 5 tips

• Use a smaller plate
• Use smart serving sizes
• Don’t skip breakfast
• Drink water (or tea)
• Bring something healthy to the party

Use a smaller plate

Research proves that simply using a smaller plate will result in half as many calories being consumed. This also works for bowls and drinking glasses too. Want to force yourself to eat even less? Use a napkin, rather than a plate — you won’t pile up as much food on the napkin.

Use smart serving sizes

Use smart serving sizes at least for your first plate — you always can go back for seconds if you are still hungry. Also, don’t feel like you have to try every single dish offered.

Don’t skip breakfast

If you show up at the party starving, you likely will eat more food than if you already have something in your stomach. People think that skipping breakfast and/or lunch will save them more room for the feast. Most often this results in overdoing it at dinner, and crashing soon afterward.

Drink water (or tea)

Alcohol, cider, eggnog, fruit punch and juice all have calories. Rotate a glass of water or hot tea in between each beverage, to cut your liquid calories in half.

Bring something healthy

Chances are you aren’t the only person who will be watching what they eat at the feast. Bring a plate of raw veggies, an appetizer salad, fruit skewers/kebabs, a light soup, deviled eggs, sparkling water, a selection of hot teas or a festive bowl of homemade popcorn.