With Thanksgiving around the corner, we are entering the holiday season. The holiday season can spell trouble for those of you who are trying to watch your weight - or even if you are just trying to eat healthy. For the next 1 1/2 months, I’ll be giving you some tips to help you make it through the holidays without getting stuffed like a turkey.

Some good news…
We always used to say that the average person gains 5-7 pounds during the holiday season, however newer research has shown that we only gain one pound (though I’m sure there are still people who gain 5-7 pounds!). The problem is that we don’t take this one pound off. Hence, creeping weight gain as the years go by.

Thanksgiving Day calorie facts
The average American will consume more than 4,500 calories and 229 grams of fat on Thanksgiving Day alone, according to the Caloric Control Council. Yikes - 229 grams of fat! And a lot of that is saturated fat (the kind that can clog arteries). And most of these calories don’t come from the actual meal itself, but rather from the snacking before and after the meal.

Here are the calorie counts in some typical Thanksgiving Day foods:

Of course, many of us consume alcoholic beverages with our Thanksgiving Day meal. Can’t forget about those “sneaky little calories” that contribute empty calories and often end up making us eat more.

Calories in alcohol:

Ok, so now you know how many calories are in typical Thanksgiving Day foods. In the next few days leading up to Thanksgiving, we’ll be talking about how to handle the actual day, as well as the entire holiday season. Stay tuned…

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We all have them -  the friends that trigger excessive eating or drinking (or both!)  I call them my “eating and drinking friends”. When the call or text comes in from one of these friends, I know I’m in for a night of potential excess.  However since I’m a nutritionist and am “supposed” to know how to handle these situations, I tell myself I’ll just have one glass of wine and a tuna tartare and call it a night.  

However, “eating and drinking friends” have a way of dissolving your best intentions. Here is an example of one of my eating and drinking friends:  A  is really fun, entertaining, has lots of good stories and to top it off  - she is an event planner for a major NYC restaurant. Have you ever hung out with an event planner who knows just about every chef, maitre d’ and bartender in the city?  Here’s what happens: larger and more frequent pours of wine, often times complimentary drinks, food and desserts….. Say no more! (pic is of A eating something that was obviously finger-licking good)

Here is was the sceniero from last week: Met the event planner (A) as well as 2 other friends at BLT Steak for a cocktail. One cocktail turned to several and we then ordered appetizers. We started off with good intentions by ordering tuna tatare and yellow tail ceviche (both delicious BTW). Then the platter of popovers appeared in front of us on the bar. (pic is of Julia trying a popover for the first time. She appeared to enjoy it.) 

It continues  - more drinks and then the desserts - chocolate expresso cookies and some kind of mousse (very good!) Say no more….

So what can you do about “eating and drinking friends”?
So does this mean you should avoid hanging out with your “eating and drinking friends”? Of course not. However there are some tactics you can use to minimize the damage. “Eating and drinking friends” often can subtly exert some pressure to get you to join in on the festivities as it is more fun when everyone drinks and eats. They often don’t like the excuse “I’m on a diet” or “I don’t want to feel hungover tomorrow”. If that is the case, you will need to come up with some creative tactics as how to avoid overindulging. Or perhaps it’s not their influence at all. Maybe you are just having so much fun that you forget about what you are eating and drinking. In any case, you will need to come up with some tactics to minimize the damage.  (pic is of cityboy who was dining by himself at the bar. After an entree, he ordered 2 desserts. Obviously he doesn’t need eating and drinking friends to stimulate his appetite!)

Here are some tips, tricks and fibs to help you minimize the damage from hanging out with your “eating and drinking” friends:

1. You have to get up really early the next day. Tell your friends that you have an early 7 am meeting the next day so you can only stay for one drink as you need to get to bed early so that you can be at your best the next morning.  Or say that you can only stay for one drink because you have to go home and work on a presentation that is due the next morning.  (Pic is of a hand picking at popover. See my previous post on popovers at BLT Steak)

2. You are having blood work done the next morning and really can’t have alcohol or fatty food in your blood as that will affect the results. Of course, you can’t use this excuse all the time or people will start to get concerned for your health. However, in general, people (even eating and drinking friends) tend to be more understanding if you present a health or business reason for not joining in 100% with the festivities.

3. You had a really late lunch so aren’t that hungry. But now you must stay strong and not eat that much, otherwise you can’t use this excuse any more as you lost your credibility.

4. Arrive a litte late. That way they have already had a drink or two. Less time in the bar = less alcohol consumed.   (Pic is of me tasting dessert. You can see the hands that were forcing the plate my way!)

5. You are dehydrated. Say you just came from the gym and really dehydrated (as evidenced by feeling slightly dizzy). You need to first have several big glasses of water prior to starting in on the adult beverages. Let them have another glass of wine while you drink your water.

6. Order a drink that you know you will drink more slowly. For example, I drink red wine more slowly than white wine.

7. Do not stand near the snacks at the bar. Let your friends sit at the bar near the tempting bar snacks or food and you stand. You will be less likely to keep reaching over them to eat the food.

Here is a real story that happened that night at BLT: one friend (nameless) was doing the right thing by standing away from the bar, therefore she was eating a lot less than the friends who were sitting at the bar. A complimentary dessert had just been placed in front of us. The two friends at the bar ate most of the dessert. The standing friend finally decided she wanted to try it. She leaned forward and got a BIG forkful of the mousse (which was quite jiggly). As it was traveling to her mouth, it feel off the fork into my other friends open handbag (Prada!!) on the floor. Gloppy mouse in expensive handbag is not good! Lesson learned - don’t reach long distances to get food.  (pic is of dessert that feel into Prada bag!)

8. Assuming you are just meeting for drinks or light appetizers, try to pick a place that has healthy options or doesn’t have tempting snacks at the bar.

9. Exert your willpower. Just say no. Let the eating and drinking friend feel bloated the next day on their own!

10. Worst case sceniero, use caller id and don’t pick up if your eating and drinking friend calls!

11.  Check out these other 2 posts for more tips:
Beware of bar snacks
Dinner out with the girls

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• Recovering from Your Superbowl Splurge (1)
• Question on How to Handle Holiday Eating (1)
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• Is Your Glass of Wine Really “One Serving” of Wine? (3)