You don't want to get fat over Christmas, yet you want to enjoy some of the festive feast. Here are 10 diet tricks for people who don't want to over-indulge yet fancy a tasty Christmas all the same.

1 Resist

Don't stock up on high-calorie festive foods until Christmas week begins. If you get stocks in early, you risk eating the biscuits and chocolates straight away and then you'll have to buy more for your festive guests. Plus, there's always a chance you'll be left with excess boxes of choccies and mince pies and you will feel obliged to eat them because they are there and, well, waiting to be eaten.

2 Regift

Chances are, you will get gifts of boxes of chocolates and cakes and bottles of wine from relatives, neighbours or work associates. Naturally, they think they are spoiling you. Yet these festive treats will be a terrible temptation to any dieter trying to maintain a healthy weight over the next couple of weeks. A simple trick is to regift these pressies -- pass them on to friends or relatives. If this makes you feel cheap, be upfront and tell them you were inundated with gifts, and throw in a novelty item as well, which you've paid for.

3 Chew gum

It's a tough time of the year for nibblers, who find it difficult to pass a plate without taking a taste at any time of the year. It can be very difficult to avoid nibbling when preparing meals for family and friends. Indeed, you can work your way through almost as many calories as a meal itself by nibbling. Avoid temptation by keeping your mouth busy by chewing a piece of sugar-free gum.

4 Drink lots

This is not a time of the year to forget to drink water. It can be easy to forget the recommended eight daily glasses of water to keep your body hydrated. With the number of parties and social events you're attending and the amount of wine and festive cocktails you're enjoying, you may feel as if your body is full up with liquids, thank you very much. Yet, drinking the recommended amount of water makes you feel full, which means you are less likely to indulge in too many high- calorie snacks and alcoholic tipples.

5 Be canape canny

Those cute-but-killer calorific mini fish-and-chip canapes and fried, tempura-battered vegetables need to be given a wide berth. Instead, opt for low-calorie smoked salmon, grilled tiger prawns, sushi, vegetable crudites and chicken skewers -- while ignoring the accompanying sauces. Go easy on appetisers piled high on bread.

6 Keep your balance

With so much food around, the temptation is to indulge at every meal. Yet this is a time to show some self-control. Eating very healthy meals when not at parties or festive dinners will help balance out the number of calories consumed over the next couple of weeks. Eat a salad or a bowl of low-calorie vegetable soup for lunch if you are going to indulge at dinner. Have fruit salad for breakfast, avoid fry-ups and look for the healthiest food being served at parties and make it the bulk of your meal.

7 Get fruity

For a low-calorie seasonal snack, choose a satsuma or tangerine rather than a slice of Christmas cake or mince pie. Both these fruits are packed with vitamin C, are virtually fat-free and contain around 20 calories each.

And if Christmas just isn't Christmas without a bowl of nuts on the table, then buy nuts in their shells such as walnuts, Brazil nuts and hazelnuts. You'll be less likely to over-indulge if you have to use a nutcracker each time you desire a nutty taste sensation.

8 Make a mean turkey sandwich

The turkey sandwich is a staple of any Christmas diet. Yet it doesn't have to be high in calories -- instead, make a leaner, meaner version by using wholegrain bread, low-fat butter, be mean with the cranberry sauce, pile on salad leaves and tomatoes, and use breast rather than dark meat. Can't you just taste it already?

9 Moan online

The internet is full of diet support groups, where correspondence with like-minded people is available 24 hours a day. And you can be sure that with all the pressures of Christmas, with what not to eat, when to eat and what to do now you've eaten, there will always be an understanding soul available at a tap of your keyboard to see you through these tempting times.

10 Get your skates on

This time of the year also brings opportunities to burn off calories. For example, an hour of ice skating burns an estimated 531 calories. Dancing at your Christmas party for two hours will burn approximately 600 calories. Don't do all your Christmas shopping on-line -- a 60-minute walk around the shops will burn 240 calories. And if you offer to cook the Christmas dinner, you will burn 320 calories during those two hours in the kitchen. Spend a half an hour washing up afterwards and you'll burn around 105 calories.

- Anna Coogan