How to Throw a Healthy Holiday Party

From the Halloween candy to Thanksgiving stuffing, pumpkin pies, Christmas eggnog and honey-glazed hams, packing on the pounds is hard not to do during the hoildays. Holiday weight-gain plagues many people, and it has made losing weight a top New Year’s resolution. What’s more disturbing is that new research has indicated that people don’t generally shed the pounds, and it tends to add up over the years. This season, avoid temptation by throwing a healthy holiday party that will leave everyone feeling satisfied and guilt-free.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Fruit and vegetable trays are a healthy party staple and should be well-stocked. Because fruits and vegetables are high in fiber, they’ll leave people feeling fuller longer. Throw in some low-fat cheese cubes and flatbreads to add more variety. Plus, the color provided by the produce gives a mouth-watering appeal to any buffet.
2. In addition to fiber-filled foods, make sure to include plenty of protein-packed items. Some wholesome party options are shrimp cocktail, baked chicken wings, meatballs made with lean ground beef and turkey. For the vegetarian partier, include some soy options, which can be found at most grocery stores.
3. Huge weight-gaining culprits are dips and sauces that are served with many party foods. A low-fat yogurt or cream cheese dip goes well with the fruit trays, and ranch made with fat-free sour cream makes a healthy vegetable dip. Try a marinara sauce to go with the lean meatballs instead of something creamy and heavy. For the baked chicken wings, a lemon-pepper sauce is more nutritious than a buttery wing sauce.
4. Beverages are another item to prepare with caution. It’s easy to guzzle down a thousand calories just in drinks alone. When it comes to alcohol, the smaller the proof, the fewer the calories. For mixers, try diet soda or water instead of juice or regular soda, which has 150 calories per 12 ounces. Tasty nonalcoholic beverages can be strawberry lemonade made with Splenda instead of sugar. And either homemade or store-bought fruit juice should be made with a 100 percent fruit. When it comes to the holiday favorites that only roll around once a year, like eggnog and hot chocolate, go for a half a serving instead of a whole.