How Skinny Women Navigate Holiday Buffets

Even if you know to steer clear of the bread basket, it turns out the average restaurant meal clocks in at a whopping 1,128 calories—yep, 1,128—making it easy for even the most health-savvy among us to think we’re eating well while eating out, when we’re not.

Enter nutritionist-author Heather Bauer, of Bread is the Devil and Bestowed fame—and our culinary compass. Each week, Bauer steers us toward the healthiest choices on restaurant menus of any type.

Last time, it was what to eat at a Chinese food restaurant. This week, it’s a holiday party! Here’s what you need to know before you get in line for the buffet. Happy holidays, everyone.

Heather Bauer’s holiday party menu navigational nugget:

Assuming there’s a buffet or a huge spread set out for you to help yourself, “do a walk by before you start putting food on your plate, so you can check out what’s there,” she says. It’s possible that a gorgeous plate of grilled salmon is hiding at the end of the table. Take it all in and strategize about what healthy options you can fill your plate with.

The Golden Rule: Divide your plate with half greens, a quarter protein, and a quarter carbs. And remember, alcohol counts as a carb, too!

Note: If this is a single-file line kind of fete, try to be the last person in line. “When you’re first in line, you’re first eating, which means you’re first up for seconds,” she adds. Click through for Bauer's best and worst foods to fill your holiday plate with at Well+GoodNYC's Healthy Menu Navigator: Holiday Party

The original article:

http://www.prevention.com/food/cook/best-and-worst-foods-holiday-buffet