Christmas Party Moments

I had a great time on Friday night hosting a dinner party for a fabulous group of friends. We spent the evening enjoying delicious food and drinks.

My friend (and fellow Clean Eater) Joanne Lusted and her fantastic catering crew from Nella Cucina Toronto prepared a fantastically clean spread for us including a plethora of yummy apps, spinach salad with goat cheese and nuts, broth-based soup, and a choice of beef tenderloin or halibut with mashed chipotle sweet potatoes and a bunch of in-season roots veggies. Joanne and I chose a menu with in-season and locally available options. Joanne's clean, citrus cheesecake dessert (can you imagine!) topped off the evening perfectly with coffee and tea.

I really enjoy hosting dinner parties, but they can be stressful so I chose to keep the decor simple. After setting up the tree in the great room I set the table with festive red linens, sparkly chargers and warm candles.

My husband and I opened up my home to our closest friends. It was a late night, too! The party didn't close down until 1:30. Well, that's late for me considering I usually wind up in bed somewhere around 9 or 10pm.

Holiday parties can make maintaining your Clean-Eating habits more than difficult, unless you are the one choosing the menu. When I am attending a party that I know will not have clean food I do my best to fill up on clean foods all day before the party so I am not starving for food at the event. I will nibble on the cleanest food I can find at the party. Otherwise, I will make that meal my treat meal for the week.

As wonderful as the holidays are, they can also be difficult when high stress and little rest takes over. Keep your clean treats with you when you are on your shopping hunts, and limit your decadent splurges. Feeling good about yourself will make the holiday more enjoyable AND may help you focus on other resolutions other than weight loss when you ring in the New Year.