(2) Tighten your belt (or wear a tight waist band) before you tuck into a large spread.

(3) Eat a piece of fruit, or have a salad with low-calorie dressing, half an hour before a meal.

(4) A clear soup starter is also excellent at taking the edge of your appetite so you eat less of the main course and fewer calories overall.

(5) To make it easier to skip pudding seconds, have a dark chocolate mint straight after your first portion of sweet. With the minty taste in your mouth you'll be less tempted to have anything else.

(7) Pile on the protein. At Christmas dinner this means an extra helping of turkey and at buffets, tucking into prawns, satay sticks and marinated chicken bites.

(8) Set fire to your Christmas pud. After you've laced the pud with brandy or rum, set a match to it. This burns off the alcohol calories but retains the flavour. If it's not burned off, 100ml of a 40% alcohol spirit contains around 220 calories.

(9) Swap a serving of brandy butter for a serving of brandy custard. This will save you over 100 calories, plus you'll get more bone-building calcium from the brandy custard - about a quarter of the Recommended Daily Allowance.

Source: Daily Mirror

Pic: thomas rola