As we head in to the end of the year we are faced with many decisions. Chips, bread, dips, egg rolls, cupcakes, candy, you get the idea?FOOD.
Here are some tips that will help you to reduce the amount of calories that you are taking in at the most tempting time of the year.
Eat a Healthy Meal Before your Party
Eat small low calorie meals through out the day and then eat dinner. That’s right! Eat dinner before you go to the party so you avoid starving yourself all day and then consuming two to three thousand calories in a few hours. Focus on lean proteins and veggies and have a full belly before you arrive.
Don’t Be a Lush
Alcohol has calories. It doesn’t matter if you are drinking it straight or in a medley of sugary sweetness. Limit yourself to one or two drinks. Force yourself to drink water in between to make it seem like you are partaking in the festivities for longer that 20 minutes. If you want to extend the life of your beverages, consider adding club soda to your cocktail. Adding it to a margarita or even to wine (spritzer) reduces the calories by quite a bit.
Don’t Stand Next to the Food
When you arrive at the party find out where the food is and go the opposite direction. Out of sight, out of mind right? If you are sitting there watching people eat bacon wrapped shrimp or red velvet cookies, you are likely to allow yourself one, maybe two even if you aren’t even hungry.
Chew Strong Mints
Often times having a really minty taste in your mouth can stop you from eating. Sometimes a certain flavor doesn’t even sound good after you have brushed your teeth or chewed an Altoid.
Bring a Healthy Appetizer
If you think you just won’t be able to withstand it, bring something you can eat. Bring a fruit or veggie platter with a low-cal dip and force yourself to stick to what you brought.
Share Your Meal
If you are going to a sit down dinner, plan on sharing your meal with a friend. It is much easier to have half of a meal when you sit down to start eating that it is to tell yourself you will only eat half.
Hydrate
Drink half of your body weight in ounces of water each day. Keeping yourself hydrated partnered with eating lean protein and veggies will help curb those pesky cravings.
Bring Your Fat Fighters
Just in case you fail miserably, bring your Fat Fighters to help reduce the amount of carbs and fat in your tummy. You may want to bring extra for friends.
You may choose to try one or all of these tips, but really any and every little thing you can do will help you ride in to 2013 with a little less weight in your tailgate. 🙂