5 Calorie Slaying Christmas Nibble Ideas for Dieters

It may well come your turn to entertain and supply the Christmas nibbles, but if you're careful about your waistline, don't be ashamed to cook how you eat for the remaining 11 months of the year.

Snacking between the major meals is where it all adds up, so your friends will be thanking you come New Year that you were conservative on the fats, and stingy on the chocolate - remember, by eating a 35 selection box of chocolates over Christmas will add an extra 1/2 lb to your waistline.

Christmas nibbles 1: The Dips

Scrap the crisps or the Pringles and replace them with veggie crudités and the like to compliment some delectable savory dips.

Low fat dips using fat free fromage frais or low-fat natural yogurt will really curb the carbs.

Season with black pepper, lemon juice, spices and fresh herbs for some tantalizing flavors.

Christmas nibbles 2: Tarts, pies and pastries

Meddling with filo pastry can be an art form in itself, so opting for mince tarts will save you a mission and also shave off the calories.

For mince tarts why not mix the mince meat with a little stewed apple to lower the calories and fats and raise the nutritional content.

Christmas nibbles 3: Using the leftover turkey

Soups are a great filler between those long waits especially on a winters day, but be careful not to use the leftovers to create high fatty fillers like bubble and squeak.

Instead, use the low calorie turkey meat to make some lovely vitamin rich soups, like turkey soup or turkey curry with brown rice or even a jacket potato with salad and balsamic vinegar.

For turkey sandwiches use whole grain bread and refrain from using butter, instead choose some low fat cranberry sauce with the turkey breast, not the dark meat and tonnes of salad and a little mustard of your choosing.

Christmas nibbles 4: The nut bowl

Nuts are in general great sources of natural protein and healthy fatty acids but you will gain weight eating them, especially if they're salted.

Therefore choose unsalted and mix them up with raisins or dried spices.

To make them a chore to eat, buy them in their shells, like the brazil or walnut.

Also add some gherkins, olives or pickled onions, band make sure you buy the olives in a water based jar, not olives preserved in oil.

Christmas nibbles 5: Vol-au-vents, sausage rolls, quiche, spring rolls and flans

In short, all of these Christmas snacks are best avoided, especially if they're all laid out on the dining room table at 11am before you start the main course around 2pm.

Not only will they fill you up before lunch but they all pack a calorie punch.

Try instead to just only fill one plate with some alternatives like salads, ham, smoked salmon, lean beef, chicken, turkey, fresh prawns, crudités, French bread but no butter or mayo, instead try bread sticks, salsa and tzatziki's.