If you are the hostess…

• Hors d’oeuvre selections should include lots of healthy fresh vegetables with a low-fat dipping sauce (go to one of those on-line recipe sites for help with this); shrimp cocktail; some pita and tortilla creations using chicken and low-fat cheese and salsa and a tray of fresh cut fruit. Again, go to the web for other low-fat/low-calorie suggestions.


• Think about serving lower-calorie and lower-fat (which are usually lower in calories) foods, such as chicken and salmon (broiled or grilled; not fried) for the main course; steamed vegetables (forget that creamy green-bean-mushroom-soup-fried-onion casserole) and baked potatoes (without large dollops of sour cream and chives) for accompaniments and desserts cut in smaller portion sizes. Better yet, make a less-rich dessert. One of my favorites is a scoop of lime sherbet in a stemmed glass with champagne poured over it. It looks festive and it’s good, too!


• Send the extra food, especially the desserts, home with your guests. If this isn’t possible, you should know that your garbage disposal is your friend. (Don’t even feel guilty about all those starving people somewhere!)

If you’re a guest…

• Never arrive with an empty stomach. Eat something healthy—a salad, some veggies, an apple, a cup of low-calorie soup—before you go.


• Go to the buffet (or appetizer) table only once and make good selections. (You know what they are!) Holidays are, first and foremost, for bringing together family and friends. Concentrate on the people, not the food.


• Bring a healthy dish, even if you’re not asked. This will be appreciated by the hostess (or host) and will provide you with at least one good food choice to fill up on.


• Limit your alcoholic consumption. This will not only help your waistline (alcohol seems to settle in this region…think beer gut), but will keep you alert for the drive home. And definitely forget the spiked eggnog. Eggnog has lots of calories and lots of fat so don’t drink it even if it’s alcohol-free.

These hard-learned tips will help you in entertaining situations, but how about all those cookies you have to or like to make? If you, like I’ve been know to do, eat the dough in the making process and devour most of the cookies after they’re baked, maybe you should find a new tradition. I have. I now make pumpkin bread, which is really good, but not quite as good as cookies. If cookies are your thing, however, be strong. Don’t overdo! After all, your goal is to feel proud of yourself—and what the scale says—when January 1 roles around.