How to Survive: The Potluck

We are smack in the middle of “The Holidays.” I get asked many times to do speeches and seminars on “How to Survive The Holidays.” But what are we trying to survive? And I think the answer is Stress. We are doing our dead level best to try to forget anyone when buying presents, sending cards, traveling and of course we have a sharp Increase in the number of Potluck Dinners and get togethers.

There is nothing more American than a good ‘ol down home Potluck. Let’s all get together and eat and we will each bring a dish and eat and if there will be 20 people, each person will cook for twenty people and eat. And because we are stressed and out of time, we need to make something quick and easy. We look in the pantry and see noodles, soup, cheese and crackers; Enter….The Casserole.

Ok, I know we are in the South and there is an innate and honest affinity for The Casserole. The emergence of The Casserole is a blog for another time, but it is a practical solution for feeding the masses. However, if you are a math whiz, you’ll quickly realize that if 20 people cook for 20 people that is now 400 servings of quick and easy food. So how do we watch our waistline when 90% of our options are super-high calorie and low caloric value foods?

We runners and athletes and those wanting our jeans to fit in January like they did in October have to develop a strategy so we don’t have to be a recluse to avoid the social weight gaining that is “The Holidays.” Of course we have exercised earlier that day, so we have burned what we could, now here is how to not overdo it:

A) Go through the Potluck line First. There is always a tiny bowl of salad or a Vege Tray (the one that you brought) that you need to get to first. There won’t be many vegetables that aren’t cooked in butter or wrapped in bacon, so you have to get there first before what little healthy food there is gone.

B) Drink 16 oz of water before you eat. If The Casserole is a happy memory of your mama’s cooking and you want to have a little, then have a little. But drinking water beforehand will keep you eating only 200 calories because you’ll be full and you won’t eat 800 calories.

C) Be Selective. If there is BBQ, just take the meat and eat it with a fork, and forgo the bun.

D) Stalk the Table. Subtly yet politely, make mental notes of what you see on the table, and then decide what you want beforehand. The temptation is to take a little of everything, but your plate is full and you’re only halfway through the line. HINT: If it’s covered in Tin Foil beforehand, proceed with caution.

E) MEN: Eat your wife’s dish. ‘Nuff said.

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