Fit Into Your Holiday Party Dress Fast

That holiday party is right around the corner and the little dress you've been waiting to wear is still a tad too tight. Fortunately, you have options besides binding yourself into a corset or blowing your budget on a last-minute shopping spree. Our ten no-fail diet tricks will help you slim down fast.

Number 10: Make Your Own Meals
When every calorie counts, making your own food can give you a diet advantage. When you prepare your own food, you can more easily control portion sizes, avoid salt and bloating carbs and you can use low-fat cooking techniques like steaming instead of sautéing or frying.

Number 9: Skim the Portions
A typical plate of pasta in a restaurant often holds several servings and can add up to as much as a day's worth of calories in one dish. To save calories and avoid overeating, limit yourself to single servings only of meat and carb-heavy foods, like bread and pasta. What does a proper portion look like? A single serving of meat should be the size of a deck of cards, and a helping of pasta is the size of a tennis ball. You can fill the rest of your plate with low-calorie steamed veggies.

Number 8: Eat Healthy Salads
A salad is a dieter's staple and if you make the right choices, you'll get a healthy dose of protein, filling fiber and water-rich veggies. Some general salad rules to live by? Use vinegar for dressing, avoid processed meat, croutons, bacon bits and salads served in a taco shell.

Number 7: Add Extra Workouts
You'll give your diet a helping hand by adding some extra workouts to your week or extending your exercise sessions by 10 minutes or more. Increasing your activity level will not only burn more calories and boost your metabolism, but it can also help you shed water and gain energy.

Number 6: Shake the Salt
A guaranteed way to beat bloat is by limiting your salt intake. It's easy enough to avoid adding salt to your food, but many processed and frozen foods contain high levels of sodium, so be sure to check the labels.

Number 5: Lighten Up Your liquids
Specialty coffee drinks, soda and sports drinks are all calorie-wasters. While on your mission to slim down fast, avoid drinking empty calories. Use no-cal sweeteners in regular coffee and switch to diet soda or no-cal seltzer and when you exercise, drink water.

Number 4: Can the Carbs
When you're trying to slim down fast, one easy way to beat bulk is to ease up on the carb-heavy foods. While carbs can be great for boosting your energy, they also make you retain water. Cut back on carbs while loading up on water-based veggies.

Number 3: Skip the Spirits
When you're trying to drop weight fast, avoid drinking your calories. Cosmos and other fruity martinis generally contain a few ounces of liquor plus sugary syrups which can add up to 800 calories. Hold off on the alcohol until you're in your little black dress.

Number 2: Try a Diuretic Drink
Add this to your arsenal of quick slim-down tricks: a cranberry-based diet drink that 'Biggest Loser' trainer Jillian Michaels swears by. This safe diuretic drink will help you shed water weight, which will help you look at your slimmest at that holiday gathering.

Number 1: Dine Out Lighter
When you're eating out, making a few smart tweaks to your usual restaurant order can trim hundreds of calories from your meals. Some easy ideas? Avoid sushi rolls made with cream cheese and excess avocado, hold the mayo and cheese on sandwiches, order thin-crust pizza loaded with veggies and grilled chicken.