It's that time of year again where Christmas and New Year parties abound, and the bulge gets harder to fight.

Year-end deadlines followed by office parties and family dinners will have your digestive systems and body rhythms up in arms. How does one maintain their body weight and yet indulge during this season of gluttony?

Here are some guidelines that will help you stay in shape and still squeeze into that new outfit you bought for Christmas even after the party's over.

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You have to want to maintain your weight. Instead of adopting the laissez-faire attitude of "it can wait till after New Year and then I will pencil it into my exhaustive list of my New Year resolutions", start right now by eating healthily and being consciously aware of what you bite into. Remember: For that extra 1,000 calories you consume daily, that's one kilogram of body weight gained in a week, which will take you another week to lose with diet and exercise.

Plan what you want to eat for the entire festive week before the parties and practise portion control. You are likely to dine at the same places at this time of year, be it at your parents', in-laws' or extended family's, and the modus operandi with regards to the menus is likely to be known to you. Make a list of what you intend to eat and where, and take portion control into account. You can still eat your favourite foods - but in moderation, of course. For example, opt for the fun-size chocolate bars instead of the full-size ones (fun-size Cadbury's chocolate = 79 calories, 4.5g of fat, full-size = 286 calories, 16g of fat).

Opt for calorie swops at the party. Swop the potato salad (340 calories) for a baked potato (150 calories), or a chocolate biscuit (120 calories, 5 g fat) for a pear/apple (65 calories, 0 fat). Pass up the gravy (100 calories) for a splash of lemon juice or oil-free vinaigrette (15-20 calories).

Don't starve yourself before a party. When you deny yourself of food or skip meals before a party, the body thinks it is in starvation mode. It adjusts itself by over-compensating for the skipped meal when the hunger pangs strike, and you often end up eating more than you intended to. Have a healthy pre-party snack like an apple, vegetable sticks, low fat yogurt or a hard-boiled egg, then wash it down with a large glass of water. This will fill you up so you become full faster at the party, making it easier to turn down the Christmas log cake and chocolate truffles.

Drink alcohol in moderation. Although alcohol does not contain fat, it is metabolised through the fat pathways, and any excess is converted to fat stores in the body. One gram of alcohol contains seven calories, which is halfway between fat (9g) and carbohydrates or protein (4g). A glass of champagne, dry white or red wine (125mls) averages 110 calories. Dessert wine is almost double that at 230 calories and the worst culprits are cocktail mixes as they come packed with a mixture of alcohol and sugars. A Bloody Mary contains 115 calories, whereas a Pina Colada is 265 calories!

Remember: the smaller the number of mixes, the less the calories. Limit your intake to just one or two glasses of dry wine/champagne (which already adds another 220 calories) at your festive meal, and have diet drinks or soda water plus a spritz of lemon juice over the rest of the evening.

Remember to exercise and stay active during the festive week. Your body will feel like a lead weight from the fatigue, but persist in burning the excess calories. Engage in aerobic activity, be it roller-blading, cycling, swimming or jogging, for about 30 minutes at a time at least three to four times that week. After the Christmas meal, suggest a family stroll in the park or neighbourhood. Or put on a festive music CD and boogie the night away with your loved ones.

Get enough rest. There is always the temptation to party into the wee hours of the morning and beyond.. Give in to your body's pleas and get plenty of rest. Fatigue can be a dangerous thing and can often act as a trigger to overeat as the body craves the endorphin-gush from comfort foods, which are rich in carbohydrates and fat.