Holiday Dilemma # 5- The Cocktail Party

Nell,

Please don’t tell me my only option at the holiday party this year, since I’m now Paleo, is water.  One of the things I’ve been trying to get across to my colleagues is how this way of eating/living is not restrictive, but if they see me sipping water, I’ll never hear the end of it.  Actually, to clarify, it’s not just that I don’t want to seem odd to my workmates, I actually enjoy a drink or two now and then.  Hoping you’re not going to say Pellegrino is my only option!
Thanks,

Betsy,
New York, New York 

Don’t despair!  I, too, enjoy a festive drink now and then and no, it needn’t be fizzy water in a green glass.

• Of course, red wine would be the best option as it actually has health benefits (like a potent dose of antioxidants & resveratrol).
• Clear, neat spirits (gluten free) are also an option, such as grain-free vodkas (Karlssen’s, Chopin or Ciroq, for example), tequila or rum.   
• Do your best to keep the day leading up to the party as balanced and full of veggies, protein and healthy fats as possible; given that you’re planning on getting your drink on later, you needn’t include any more refined sugar than that!
• On another note, if you don’t actually want to drink, and you’ve got that one person who feels the need to hassle you about it and just won’t let up (even though they’re a grown person and not in high school….but whatever) an old trick is to use the old ‘soda-water-with-lime’ in a glass which you can pretend for the sake of quieting that one annoying person up is a hard drink.

The important thing is to have a plan, stick to it so that you feel fine the next day (as in, no need to go overboard and have eight neat drinks- one or two is enough) and can rest assured you’ve not set yourself up for the ‘oh, the heck with it approach’ which might otherwise have led you straight to the Christmas candy and cookies which are always far too plentiful at this time of year!