Christmas Day is a testing time. With family, friends and The Sound Of Music to contend with the last thing you need to worry about is blowing your diet come mealtime.

Did you know that a Christmas dinner with turkey, roast potatoes, stuffing, bacon, bread sauce, cranberry sauce, carrots, brussel sprouts and gravy contains around 620 calories and 25.8g fat?

And if you're a pudding lover and can't resist your portion of Christmas pud and brandy cream, this will set you back another 516 calories and 31g fat.

Top it all up with a couple of glasses of wine and we're talking about a grand total of 1306 calories and 56.8g fat.

These start tips will let you enjoy your meal and watch your fat and calorie intake at the same time.

1. A portion of roast turkey with skin on has 5.8g fat, by cutting off the skin will you will make a fat saving of more than 50%.
2. By saying no to a slice of streaky bacon, you will save 84 calories and 6.7g fat.
3. An average portion of potatoes roasted in corn oil contains 9g fat whereas a baked potato will only contain 0.4g fat. Try baking small potatoes instead of the traditional large ones.
4. You could save yourself another couple of grams of fat by making your bread sauce with skimmed or semi-skimmed instead of whole milk.
5. Go for larger servings of brussel sprouts and carrots. These are low in fat and high in antioxidant nutrients provided you don't boil them to death. They will fill you up and you won't need to ask for seconds.

By taking into account the above fat/calorie-saving tips your meal should only contain around 446 calories and 6g fat.

Not bad, but what about dessert? If you go for custard made with semi-skimmed milk instead of brandy cream or butter, you would be looking at almost a 50% reduction in the fat content (16.3g) and a total calorie count of 448.

Believe it or not, Christmas dinner is one of the most balanced meals you'll have. Provided you chose wisely, turkey is low in fat and potatoes are a good source of starchy carbohydrates, which keep your gut healthy and are rich in B vitamins.

You will have notched up two or three servings of veggies (out of the five a day you need) and if that isn't enough, your glass of red wine is another good source of antioxidant nutrients, which help protect against the risk of heart disease.

Go forth and enjoy!