People gain weight easily at the holidays, and it's no wonder. A reveler can easily put away a day's worth of food or more during a single holiday party or meal.

DietBites.com estimates there are nearly 1,300 calories in a traditional holiday menu with all the trimmings -- and that sits the light end of estimates. A study out of the United Kingdom estimated 6,000 calories in a Christmas Day celebration.

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Many guidelines for general needs suggest 2,000 to 2,200 calories a day.

You may think you are being good at a company party when you have just a few snacks from the appetizer cart. But one cup of eggnog has 342 calories, one ounce of fudge has 384 calories, an individual serving of pecan pie consists of 421 calories and a handful of almond bark pretzels has 234 calories, bringing the grand total of those small snacks calories to 1,381 calories, the University of Nebraska-Omaha Gateway reported.

But you can put the brakes on the upward climb of your bathroom scale this holiday. And chefs and dietitians say you can lighten up some traditional recipes to make this holiday season a little less taxing on your health.

Try A Little Of Everything

The experts said that rule No. 1 of a zero-sum scale reading over the holidays is to watch portion sizes.

"We hear it over and over again, but it truly does matter," said Cami Wells, a registered dietitian with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension in Grand Island, Neb.

Wells said holiday diners can try everything on the table, as long as they have just a little and skip seconds. She also suggests concentrating larger servings on the stuff you really like.

"Focus on eating (and) preparing the foods that are tradition in your family that are special for the holidays. Don't waste calories on foods that you have more often throughout the year," Wells said.

Also, drink a couple of glasses of water before you eat to make you feel full, and start meals with fruits and vegetables to load up with fiber and water, suggested Trevor Carden, a personal trainer at Omaha's Pinnacle Club..

Watch those alcoholic beverages, too. They can lower blood sugar levels by preventing sugar that is normally stored in the liver as glycogen from breaking down, a UK study reported. “A drop in blood-sugar levels sends signals to the brain that you are hungry. With alcohol in your system, will power can go out of the window and snack attacks kick in.”

Skinnier Recipes

A panel of chefs at Metro Community College Institute for Culinary Arts in Omaha, Neb. and registered dietician Toni Kuehneman with Alegent Health Immanuel Medical Center’s Heart and Vascular Institute, also in Omaha, took a look at a traditional menu. They devised skinnier versions of turkey with dressing, ham, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls, green bean casserole and pie, and then suggested one treat for Santa, so he can watch his waistline, too.

"My recipe for low-fat turkey is make full-fat turkey and then go for a walk," said Brian O’Malley, a chef instructor at MCC who led a team of chefs putting together the menu.

O'Malley said his team refused to give up any flavor or mouth feel as they worked to reduce the calories and saturated fat. He said all of the items created by his team -- which included Brian Young, Kevin Newlin, Alexander James Swanda, and Jen Velandra -- have been tested by the chefs for flavor. Click to see their menu.

"You never want to end up with somebody able to tell," O'Malley said of the attempt to cut calories. "We never said, 'Oh let's use yogurt spread instead of butter.' We went to fat-free sour cream, but the mouth feel of those things is one of the critical components of quality. Without some of the critical components, you're not going to say, 'Oh, this is excellent.'"

Kuehneman's approach went beyond calories and saturated fat to include lowered sodium and more fiber. Click to see her menu.

She said her traditional cornbread stuffing is the one she recommends because it avoids the addition of the high-fat products like sausage.

"I have lowered the fat content by using reduced-sodium chicken broth instead of sauteing in butter or margarine. Herbs like sage provide great flavor without added salt," Kuehneman said.

But, Wells said, it is the holidays, after all, and they are meant to be enjoyed.

"Having a higher-calorie meal at Thanksgiving and Christmas is probably not a big issue," Wells said. "However, the six-week holiday season, with all of the candies, cookies and beverages that go with them, can be more of a challenge. What you do one day isn't going to hurt you, it's what you do over time."

So indulge in your favorites, skip foods that bore you and try our expert-designed recipes this year for your holiday party.

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