Plan Z Diet: 15 Strategies for Enjoying the Holiday Party and not Blowing Your Plan Z Diet

Follow these tips and you'll be able to keep your Plan Z Diet on track during the holidays

By: Zola
Chief Dieter
Plan Z Diet

Some of these ideas are meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Others are dead serious. I’ll let you decide which are which, but I guarantee you, they ALL work on the Plan Z Diet.

Hang out by the shrimp cocktail. This is a low calorie way to get your protein and fill up fast. I’ll even give you a Plan Z Diet recipe so your shrimp cocktail is different from the plain version, and those who eat it will rave about it.
Dunk raw veggies in that chip dip. Stay away from the chips and the crackers.
Eat your protein first. Even if you are at a seated dinner party you can strategically manage your food so you won’t have to go back for seconds. Eating your protein first will fill you up. Leave the potatoes until last and hopefully you’ll be too full to even touch them. But if you must eat some potatoes read up on my Plan Z Diet potato facts here.
Dress to impress. If you dress up you’ll feel better about yourself and be less likely to drown your sorrows in cocktails or face-plant into the cookie platter.
Bring your own entrée. If the party is a buffet, the hostess won’t mind if another dish arrives. The Plan Z Diet Creole Meatloaf is my new favorite. Everyone loves comfort food. You can slice this into 1” slices and then cut the slices in half. Display them on a serving dish and garnish with a pile of fresh basil and everyone will think this meatloaf rocks. Save one full piece for yourself. That way you’ll fill up on healthy food.
Wear a bright lipstick (if you’re a woman). You don’t want to have to keep touching up your lipstick and it doesn’t look good once it starts to wear off, so that might keep you from overeating.
Eat 5 fries and walk away. If you’re eating out, you may order a dish that comes with fries. If you can’t tell them to leave the fries in the kitchen, then eat 5 fries and let your friends have the rest. Another good strategy is to eat your protein first (sound familiar?) and leave the fries until the end. No one likes cold fries.
Weigh yourself the morning of the party. That always takes care of my urge to overeat.
Talk a lot. No one can do a good job of eating while they talk. And it’s impolite to talk with your mouth full anyway.
Arrive Early. Leave Early. If you arrive as soon as the party starts you’ll probably be there an hour before the food frenzy really begins. You can say you have more than one party to go to that night and bow out early.
Arrive Late. I did this at Thanksgiving once. I told my mom I would be traveling and had to arrive later. Everyone had eaten by the time I got there and not one person (not even my mom) noticed that I never ate dinner. I had eaten my diet meal before I left home so I was not hungry.
Drink club soda with lime out of a rocks glass. Everyone will think you’re drinking a martini or vodka soda.
Bring your own little meal to the big family dinner. Put one of your favorite Plan Z Diet recipes like the Plan Z Diet Ranch Chicken and Plan Z Diet Sauteed Swiss Chard with Peppers and Onions in one of those plastic meal containers. Go into the kitchen and take your food out. Put it on a plate. I bet someone will ask you where you found the foods in your little meal. Send them on a wild goose chase. That will be fun.
Have the party at your house! That way you can cook what you can eat.
Last but not least, serve a dessert you hate. Then you won’t feel badly when you don’t have any of it. Eat fresh berries for your dessert. That's the Plan Z Diet way! My husband, Chris, and I make the Plan Z Diet Orange-Strawberry Dessert all the time. It's light, refreshing and slightly sweet. Perfect!

You’re actually getting three recipes this week! In addition to the Plan Z Diet Italian Shrimp Cocktail and the Plan Z Diet Creole Meatloaf, this Plan Z Diet Vegetable Soup recipe is a perfect way to use up leftover turkey. When you pick the carcass clean there are always all these little “bits” of turkey that aren’t pretty but still taste good. Don’t let those delicious bits go to waste! Use this vegetable soup recipe and add all those yummy turkey bits. Everyone in the family can enjoy the comfort food.