Eat, Drink, and Still Shrink

At a Party

Cosmos and crab puffs and cake, oh my! It's a diet minefield of appetizers, cocktails, and (cue the scary music) the buffet. Those petite plates look innocent, but two scoops of spinach-artichoke dip with a handful of pita chips, a couple of slices of bruschetta, and -- yikes! -- you just downed nearly 500 calories. The worst part? The skimpy snacks don't even fill you up.

Work the room. Marcy Luhrs Brye, 30, an advertising executive in Richmond, Virginia, makes a beeline for friends she hasn't seen in a while as soon as she arrives. "Nonstop chatting keeps me too busy to overeat," she says. "It's always the parties where I'm bored that I find myself mindlessly wandering over to the dessert table."

Spread yourself thin. University of Minnesota studies found that you're more likely to overdo it when you see a variety of foods, so pick just a trio of safe bets: Think special-occasion foods like shrimp cocktail, prosciutto-wrapped melon, and caviar. You'll feel like you're indulging, but they're often lower in calories than such fried faves as chicken fingers and crab cakes, Fernstrom notes. Same goes for cocktails. Your skinniest pick is a flute of Champagne (about 85 calories).

Schedule a sweat session. Rebecca Lillis, 28, a teacher in Greenport, New York, books a training session for the morning after a bash. "It keeps me in check all evening," she says, "because I know I'll be wasting time and money if I'm too full or hung over to have a good workout." So make plans to go for an a.m. jog with a pal.