Seasons Greatings

It may be the season to be merry, but if you are not careful, Christmas can also be the season when you unwittingly find your waistband getting tighter because these days the festive whirl seems to begin earlier and earlier.

With mince pies in holly clad boxes appearing on our supermarket shelves from the end of October and invitations to Christmas parties rolling in from mid November, it is hardly surprising that come the big day, your special dress may be straining at the seams.

With this in mind I thought I'd share some of my 'season's cheatings'. Nifty little ways I've discovered to help negotiate everything from drinks with friends, seasonal visits to neighbours, buffet do's and the office party, so that you can have fun, join in and yet not come away with a girth as big as Santas.

Drinks with Friends

I find that Christmas is a great time to catch up with friends who you see little of during the year. Get togethers' are fun and sociable but I like to keep a close eye on what I'm drinking and inadvertently nibbling on. Here's how:

1. I usually try to avoid mulled wine and home-made punches. Although they can be delicious, you often do not have a clue what is in them alcohol wise. An innocent looking glass can easily have 1 and a half to 2 units of alcohol and because they are so easy to drink, before you know it, you have had the equivalent to four glasses of wine.



2. Talking of glasses of wine. One of the things which concerns me in bars is how the size of the glasses in which wine is now served. Whereas a glass used to be 125ml (which is the equivalent to 1 unit of alcohol), most glasses are now 175ml or even 250ml is size. It is easy to drink either of these thinking that you are 'only having a glass' and suddenly find that you are feeling rather dizzy. I am always really careful to check the size when the first glass arrives.



3. I found out recently that the coldness of ice in drinks opens the valve at the tops of our stomachs and encourages us to gulp rather than sip drinks. For this reason I tend to steer away from shorts with mixers and ice and chilled white wine, going instead for a glass of red wine which takes me longer to drink.



4. My favourite drink of all at Christmas is a glass of Laurent Perrier Ultra Brut Champagne. Because it contains no sugar it has just 60 calories a glass and when people serve champagne, you know you are getting the 125ml serving!



5. Of course when you go for drinks, there are always nibbles there to tempt us. My strategy is to never go to a drinks party starving hungry. If I do, I simply hoover up all the nuts in sight. With a 100g bowl giving us 563 calories, I inevitably leave feeling pounds heavier. Just a little snack to take off your hunger is good idea. A slice of multigrain toast with peanut butter is my favourite pre-party munch.



6. If you are tempted to nibble then stay away from salty things like crisps, olives in brine and tortilla chips. Anything salty will make you want to drink more and you may end up almost unknowingly having an extra tipple as a result. Stick to naturally salt-free crudite instead.

Buffet Do's

There is nothing like the free-for-all buffet with its massive array of party food to get your digestive juices flowing. It looks good, smells good and there is every chance that it will taste good. But hang on. My first tip is to slow down. The table of food is not going anywhere. Before grabbing your plate and piling it high as though it was your last supper, take time to think and apply some basic rules:

1. If a tempting morsel is wrapped in pastry, has been deep fried or smothered in mayonnaise then I try to pass it by. A few cocktail sausage rolls, several mini samosas and a spoonful of coleslaw can notch up 830 calories.



2. Instead head for the carved meats. I opt for a good serving of gammon and turkey and if all else fails, a few chicken drumsticks. Two hearty slices of gammon and turkey will be just 330 calories and instantly fills you up.



3. Be discerning over dips. When I see a bowl of innocent looking taramasalata I always try to remember that even a tablespoon on my plate will be 227 calories on my hips.



4. I search instead for tzatiki, a yoghurt based dip which is great served with crunchy raw vegetables like carrot battons and strips of crispy green, red and yellow peppers. A serving has just 50 calories all in.



5. If there is a salad on the buffet table take a nice big serving and accompany it with some boiled potatoes if they are on offer. I prefer boiled potatoes to a chunk of French stick because they are lowish GI which means they keep us feeling fuller for longer.



6. On the pudding front I usually seek out a little bowl of trifle, some jelly or some of the grapes on the cheeseboard. These will give you around 100 calories compared to tucking into a slice of cheesecake with a 511.

The Office Party

If you are lucky enough to have your boss treat you to a sit down meal then there is one major thing to bear in mind. Leave your "I'll get my money's worth" attitude at home. Just because it is free is no reason to go completely mad - leave that for Christmas day itself. This is how I approach the restaurant style festive lunch I'm being treated:

1. I avoid having a drink until I've really read the menu and decided what I am going to chose from the starter right through to the pudding. This way I'm thinking carefully and once I've got my meal plan in place, I'm less likely to be thrown off course when people around start saying "oh go on, have the X, Y or Z instead".



2. The things I tend to select are melon or soup based starters. Almost all restaurants have one or other on the menu or a variation of these like melon with Parma ham.



3. I have a glass of water until the starter arrives so that I don't get tempted to tuck into the baskets of bread.



4. For main courses, often the most healthy choice is actually roast turkey. A few roast potatoes will be fine. By taking the skin off your turkey and having it with plenty of vegetables you can have a really 'good for you' lunch. Bread sauce and a little bit of cranberry sauce can make it feel seasonal enough that you do not need to go for the stuffing and sausages wrapped in bacon.



5. Pudding time is usually quite straight forward. Most restaurants serve simple dishes like crème caramel or a few scoops of ice cream if you ask nicely. These will have just 150 calories compared to a serving of Christmas pudding with a mince pie and brandy butter with at least 792. This way you can tuck in, be sociable and not have people moaning on that you are skipping pudding.



6. When it comes to coffee time stick to a normal coffee with a bit of milk. Irish coffees can clock up an extra 200 calories at the end of an already filling meal.