Clever Christmas canapes

Avoid piling on the pounds at every office drinks and festive catch up with Lowri Turner’s guide to clever christmas canapés

Ok, so you’ve got your LBD and you’ve been hitting the gym to ensure you feel fab in it. But then, just at the point when you look your hottest, arrgh! You’re felled by the dreaded Christmas canapé.  A few parties’ worth of those and it’ll by a miracle if you can still get one arm into that dress by New Year’s Eve.

Never mind the rivers of alcohol that flow at Christmas, it’s the party nibbles that really pile on the pounds. Everything from cocktail sausages and deep-fried pastry wrapped prawns to pulled pork sliders and even humble cheese and crackers seem designed to expand your waistline. So how do you still eat healthily?  Here are my top tips:

1. Eat before you go
Yes, it’s a bit boring, but it stops you a) getting so starving you eat whatever comes your way and b) getting completely plastered so you eat whatever comes your way.

Good ideas include:

A two-egg omelette with a little sprinkle of cheese gives you protein to fill you up and fat to line your stomach to keep you sober for longer.

Oatcakes and full-fat humous. The oats will give you some energy for a long night of partying while the chickpeas in the humous are filling and will help the liver, which may be about to take a pounding.

That old staple: a glass of milk or a full-fat yoghurt will provide protein and some fat to slow down the effect of the alcohol you are about to drink.

2. Nothing fried!

Once at the party have a ‘nothing fried’ rule as these are the snacks that really pack on the pounds. This means no:

Crisps or nuts

Pasty wrapped or tempura anything

No mini samosas or pakoras

Falafel

3. Ban pastry

Pastry is a real no-no as it contains white flour and fat, basically. Hardly a healthy combination. So avoid:

Quiches

Vol au vents (does anyone still serve these? Perhaps they’re making a comeback)

Sausage rolls

Miniature tarts

4. Discreetly deconstruct your canapés

Eat some bits and not others.  So, go for protein, but skip the carb part.  For example:

If you are being served smoked salmon on toast, eat the smoked salmon and leave the toast.

If you’re served sushi, eat the fish and leave the rice.

If you’re served mini burgers or hot dogs, eat the meat and leave the bun.

5. Build your own 

If there’s a buffet, rather than a series of plates going round, you may be able to build your own canapés. Good options are:

Raw veg sticks with just a dab of dip.

Smoked salmon ‘salad’ (steal the garnish off other plates if that’s the only greenery on offer).

6. Pace yourself drinks-wise

As mentioned above, if you drink too much you tend to eat too much, or the wrong things or both. Plus the morning after you will want a comfort breakfast to soften the hangover which adds up to a calorie double whammy. To slow down your drinking:

Don’t front load your evening by drinking before you go.

Do alternate alcoholic drinks with ‘party water’ – that’s sparkling water with a slice of lemon and ice.

Don’t buy two drinks because it saves time as the queue at the bar is so long.

Do ask for small sized glasses of wine. With large ones, you may be drinking 1/3 of a bottle in one go.

Don’t drink alcopops or cider – both are astronomically high in sugar and calories.

Lowri Turner is a nutritionist/hypnotherapist, specialising in hormone balance and weight loss. To make an appointment to see her, please go to www.lowriturner.com.