Christmas Party Do's and Don'ts

Do's

1 Eat A Big Lunch During The Day

That way you won’t have an empty stomach when you hit the big bash and you won’t get too hungry during the night. This will help you to avoid snacking on unhealthy food after you’ve had a couple of drinks.

2 Stay Hydrated

Keep a bottle of water with you and drink from it all day, so you don’t start the proceedings already dehydrated. Aim to drink at least 1.5 litres during the day.

3 Get Your Liver In Shape

Take regular doses of the herb Milk Thistle a few days beforehand – it has been shown to assist the organ in processing alcohol.

4 Pass On The Punch

 Punch bowls are notorious for containing a concoction of booze that surprisingly tastes great - but is impossible to gauge how much you have actually drunk and this will come back to haunt you the next day. Punch is also highly calorific, especially if a number of juices and mixers are added in.

5 Eat Mindfully

Eat a plate of food then put it down. Rather than standing near the buffet and tucking into it all night long – a sure way of over-indulging.

6 Collect Canapé Sticks

If it’s finger food, keep your canapé sticks to remind you how many you’ve put away - canapes are often quite rich, and have lots of calories for such a small mouthful.

7 Eat What You Like

Only eat what you actually like – not just what’s put under your nose. Remember eating is not compulsory at these events! Although having a small meal is advised to mitigate any effects of the alcohol.

8 Pace Yourself

A few festive cocktails to get merry is okay – but if you start to feel drunk and disorderly – JUST STOP! That way you’ll avoid any embarrassment and limit the number of unhealthy alcoholic drinks you consume.

9 Hit The Dance Floor

Even if you’re not a natural mover it will keep you distracted from food or alcohol. It’s also a great way to burn calories.

10 Pick Healthy Mixers

Stick to spirits with healthy mixers like slimline tonic or diet lemonade. Cocktails might seem tempting, but they are often a very high-calorie option, especially any made with creamy liqueurs, fresh cream, coconut milk or cream.

And, most importantly, enjoy yourself! Think of the party as a bit of a treat - if you follow these rules, you’ll be able to have fun and avoid adding inches to your waistline.

Don'ts

1. Don't get TOO drunk

It would be weird not to get drunk as there will probably be a free bar and turning down free booze is just plain rude.

Only you can know how drunk is TOO drunk but if there's a line where you become a liability and or safety hazard to those around you, don't cross it. If you're the office machine who can neck pint after pint though, don't let yourself down.

2. Ask for a pay rise

There is a time and a place to negotiate a change in your pay, the Christmas party is not it.

A change in contract if a delicate negotiation and pay rises would need to be backed up by facts and figures to show why the change in pay is deserved.

Drunken slurring about how you're the best employee to your boss while spilling your drink will have the opposite effect.

Even if you ARE the best employee. You need a tactile approach to a payrise involving spreadsheets, power point presentations and buzzwords that impress managers.

3. Invite friends when there is a free bar

This is really selfless of you and lovely to get your mates free drinks but it's not their Christmas party.

4. Make sexual advances to a colleague

This could lead to big trouble for the employee and the employer. But most importantly, just don't be a creep.

"An employer may be ultimately responsible for the actions of its employees at a Christmas party, just as it may be responsible for the actions of its employees in the workplace," says Mr John, senior associate with law firm, Darwin Gray.

"Therefore, by way of example, if Employee A sexually harasses Employee B at a Christmas party, Employee B could potentially bring legal action against the employer (who will ultimately be responsible for the action of Employee A) as well as Employee A.”

5. Eat too much at the buffet

You don't want to look greedy.

But if you are just mega hungry, play the long game - wait until people have stopped eating and then sweep as much as you can from the table and fill your face.

Just remember, too much food will KO you and make a night of drinking a real slog.

Secondly, the more you eat the more you will throw up if you ignore rule 1.

6. Talk about work

Admittedly, work is the only common ground you will have with some people and if that's the case then that's unfortunate.

But unless whoever you're chatting to finds at as cathartic as you to moan about their employer save them the misery of having to listen to you vent.

7. Fight

This is gross misconduct and also it's the office Christmas Party not WWE Royal Rumble, no-one has came here to watch you smack someone through the sausage roll table.

8. Gossip or bad mouth colleagues

This WILL happen, people always have work nemeses they love to whine about but don't get caught up in it if you can avoid it.

Christmas is meant to be a time of good will and cheer so don't be a mean spirited scrooge.

9. Not turn up

Remember that lots of people don't celebrate Christmas so if they choose not to go, that's fine.

Some people still turn up thought just to socialise with their colleagues. If you don't go just because you don't want to, it looks bad.

10. Forget to say thank you

Christmas parties don't organise themselves, someone probably went to a lot of trouble to make it happen so don't forget to say thank you to them or just buy them a pint.