This time of year is infamous for people who have lived a healthy lifestyle for the last 10 plus months to blow it at the multitude of holiday parties we are all invited to. We all deserve to have great fun with friends and family, but we don’t have to do it in such a way to create problems in the future with our health.

So here are 5 easy ways to keep your healthy lifestyle going while still enjoying the fellowship of your family and friends this holiday season.

1. Eat a small snack and drink 2 full glasses of water just before you go to the party. One of the worst things you can do is go to a holiday party hungry. This can lead to many different problems. Recent studies have shown that drinking a significant amount of water before you eat curbs your appetite will help your will power. Also eating something before you go will keep you from drinking something you shouldn’t on an empty stomach.

2. When you head to the food table, take the smallest plate available. This does many things. First, it makes you more conscious of how much food you are taking and second it makes you have to go back for seconds after a smaller first helping. Many times you will find the first helping will satisfy you and there will be no need for seconds. Also, split you plate up into 4 sections in your mind. There should be a protein, vegetable, fat or dairy section and finally a sweet section.

3. Start your party snacking with high fiber, high-density vegetables and a good protein source. Look for as many colors of vegetables as you can find. Also look for turkey, chicken and ham dishes as your protein source. Fill up on these things first, and then you can go after the high sugar content stuff.

4. Never stand around the food table while you are visiting with family and friends. Go into another room or at least go to the other side of the room. Standing next to the goodie table is a recipe for grazing even though you are satisfied already. Find some other type of activity to do with your guests. Play games or watch television away from the food table. This makes you take a special trip to get more food and many times your mind will have time to stop you.

5. Drink a glass of water between every alcoholic beverage you consume at your party. Just put the water into the same cup in between drinks. This way you can have a much better regulation of your alcohol consumption and also stay hydrated so the morning after can be a good one. Remember most hangovers are caused by dehydration.

So the bottom line is to preplan your holiday parties and enjoy them. Just don’t sabotage all the work you have done by spiking your blood sugar in hundreds of different ways.