3. Don’t skip breakfast

At cocktail parties, stick to three or so items (or six if the appetizers are doubling as dinner) to keep calories in check. Skip the fried foods and go for items like shrimp cocktail, vegetable-stuffed mushrooms, or hummus and veggies. Before holiday meals, go easy on the munchies.

Do you ...

Many holiday meals are served buffet style, with a variety of dishes on offer. The typical advice is to have a little taste of everything, but there’s some research that shows this can leave you feeling less satisfied.

When you’re exposed to too many different flavors in a meal, you don’t ...

You don’t have to immediately eat all the cookies, breads, and chocolates that friends and neighbors deliver during the holiday season.

Many goodies freeze well, so you can enjoy them over the next few months rather than the next few days:

• If possible, divide the treats into ind...

You’ll fill up on foods that are packed with vitamins and minerals and lower in calories, leaving less room for less unhealthy stuff. It doesn’t need to be boring, though.

For instance, if dinner is at your house, try making the first course a festive seasonal salad, with goodies like pome...

For some families (mine included), this is a holiday tradition. It’s a nice way to bond with relatives and helps you sneak in some activity. But it also does more.

It takes some time for the brain to recognize how much you’ve eaten. If you go straight from the meal to dess...

There are all sorts of ways to insert healthier ingredients into your meal without sacrificing much by way of flavor.

• For example, use balsamic vinegar and olive oil instead of store-bought dressing, which is often high in sodium. 
• Yogurt can replace sour cream in creamy dips ...

It’s true that the holiday season and tempting treats go hand in hand, but you probably won’t be faced with them every day.

If you have plenty of healthy ingredients—vegetables, whole grains, beans, and fruit—you’ll have an easier time making your meals extra-healthy. That will help offset...

Your brain sometimes has trouble distinguishing thirst from hunger, so at parties and holiday dinners, sip a glass of water before you have a cocktail or eat anything.

And if you do drink alcohol, stick to one or two, sipping a glass of seltzer between each one. That will keep you hydrated...