Diet Tip #14: Eat Wiser at Parties

Bring logistics and strategy to the next party you hit. By logistics, we mean carry a clutch purse, since that will occupy one hand and your drink will occupy the other...and you'll have no way to grab every piece of food that comes by. As for strategy:

• Snack before you go. Eat something filling with about 150 calories—a small apple and string cheese, a half-cup of high-fiber cereal with skim milk—so you won't be ravenous when you arrive.

• Choose hors d'oeuvres wisely. A reliable estimate is that they're 100 calories each. Eat four, max, and have a cocktail, and that's enough calories for dinner. (If they're the prelude to an actual dinner, just have one.) Look for the healthiest option, with protein, like chicken satay or shrimp cocktail. Avoid anything baked, cheesy, or made with puff pastry—or all three.

• Serve yourself at the dinner party. If the host is plating food for everyone, offer to help her...and make your plate with half the portion of protein and a quarter portion of the starch. It's a lot easier to start out with a half portion on your plate than to try to leave half of it.

(courtesy of allure.com)