Food is more often than not the center of holiday gatherings and parties. It is not a bad thing to enjoy food during the holidays, but these holiday parties happen so often during the month of December that you don’t want to break the calorie bank every day. The small appetizer type foods are the ones that can especially add up. For example, you can eat the amount of calories you should eat in one meal from appetizers before you even sit down for dinner! It can add up over a whole month!

Below is some info on what is good and bad about appetizer type holiday foods:

Hummus and Veggies

The Good: Hummus is high in protein, fiber, zinc, and magnesium.

The Bad: One tablespoon of hummus has around 25 calories – so…portion control!

Nuts

The Good:  Heart-healthy fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

The Bad: Portion control! 1 oz. has 164 calories.

Chips and Dip

The Good: Not much.
The Bad: High in calories and fat – the calories add up easy and fast!

Spinach Dip

The Good: The spinach—and that's about it.

The Bad: The spinach is usually drowning in mayo and cheese, which means its surrounded by calories.

Frozen Goodies

The Good: They are convenient.

The Bad: Prepackaged foods, especially baked goods, are especially high in trans and saturated fat, refined sugars along with other preservatives.

Chocolates

The Good: It is good for your soul.
The Bad: It is hard to just have one! Lots of calories, sugar and fat for not a lot of volume.

Cheese and Crackers

The Good: Cheese is a good source of protein and calcium.
The Bad: Cheese can be high in saturated fat and calories and it hard to eat just a little.

Shrimp Cocktail

The Good: Good source of Omega-3’s and lean protein.

The Bad: Shrimp is high in cholesterol and be weary of high sugar/high sodium cocktail sauce.

Nachos and Cheese

The Good: Salsa can be low in calories

The Bad: Everything else. Chips and cheese are high in fat and sodium. Portion control is always hard with chips and dip too, it’s easy to eat a lot without noticing!