The Holidays are Coming: What’s Your Diet Plan?

Isn’t it ironic that women sometimes associate holidays with over eating? It seems that time flies and the “I’ll start my diet tomorrow” that we’ve been saying to ourselves during the rest of the year is catching up to us. Do family holidays always mean bine eating? The answer is, only when you let it.

Holidays mean parties, whether there’s a general occasion or not. People come over for thanksgiving, or for sports TV watching. If you are the one throwing the party, even with a party planner in tow, there are so many things that need to be done and these don’t require you to be holding a plate all the time. Fact is, it’s a lot easier to lose weight over the holidays if you concentrate on working during the holiday party than actually eating.

Here are some tips on how not to over-eat in your own party

1. Let others taste your cooking – Those small bites add up. Unknowingly, party planners and caterers eat several plates of food during parties — the first during cooking and several ones during the party itself.

2. Eat your fill before the guests arrive – Food is more delicious looking when you’re hungry. Eat a morsel each of the food you prepared and concentrate on serving the guests during the party itself.

3. Volunteer to man the Kids’ playpen rather than the buffet table – Dealing wih the kids’ activities during a big party means standing up, running around and spending a lot of your energy on keeping the toddlers behaved (and their parents sane).

4. Pack the leftover cake asap – Your family knows where to find it when they want to eat more, and keeping the cake on the kitchen table while you’re cleaning up means taking a small bite, then another… and then that one… last… bite. Resist temptation and give the cake away to those who want to eat more. Keeping it with you when you’re tired from all the activities could be anti-weight loss.