I'm finding almost the opposite, after 18 months of low carbing -- there are so many low carb-friendly treats on the tables at holiday parties!! Things I've enjoyed this year: Cheeses, dips, celery, cauliflower, and pepper strips, chicken liver pate', mushroom pate', chicken, beef, or pork on a stick, shrimp (use the savory dips instead of the cocktail sauce), baked artichoke dip (eat it with a fork, not crackers) and so on. About that eight course meal -- you are so lucky. You have a great reason to eat very lightly and pickily from the start, so that you will enjoy each course. The people who fill up on the breaded things and the carbs will be miserable before course four. A great book that complements any low carb way of eating is Will Clower's The Fat Fallacy. Not for the specific things he suggests eating, but for the advice about how to eat as the French do, for pleasure, in small amounts, over a long period (because of the courses), with lots of great talk and connection among people. Your eight course meal is the perfect opportunity to see if that can work. Savor each small bite, plan never to get full. I tried this during a five course meal at Thanksgiving this year, with five friends. Our lovely meal and conversation lasted seven hours (including a walk in the middle). I felt great during, after, and the next day, yet it was truly celebratory.

All the best -- it's a hard time of year when you're new at this, but it gets easier and easier, and before long you'll be feeling just slightly more sane and cocky than other people around you, who are letting food get inside their heads in ways that make them miserable. The science and experience of low carbing will soon take over for you and help you out!