By Stephanie Patek

For most of us, the holiday season is filled with family…and food. Unfortunately, the edibles aren’t always the healthiest, as we munch on cookies and pies, and we sip eggnog, cocktails and other high calorie and high fat options. The key word is options – and you do have them. You can choose to make, purchase and eat healthier treats.

Here are a few suggestions:

When mixing your favorite beverage, use low-calorie mixers, seltzer, and low-fat milk or evaporated milk versus cream or half-and-half.

When baking cookies or other desserts, use lower-calorie, more natural substitutes such as low-fat plain yogurt in place of oil, and brown rice syrup instead of sugar. Use neufchatel cheese (light cream cheese) versus the full fat type. Cinnamon also gives a sweeter taste, so you can reduce sugar and use this for added flavor in many dishes.

Swap out higher-calorie choices for similar goodies. For example, instead of a slice of pumpkin pie, try this extremely quick and easy pudding:

Pumpkin Pudding

Combine 1 cup canned pumpkin with 1 sugar free or fat free vanilla pudding pack. Add pumpkin pie spice (or sprinkle on cinnamon and clove) to taste. This recipe is so easy, you can make as little or as much as you need, without difficult calculations.

Visit www.cookinglight.com or www.epicurious.com for other healthy holiday recipes and tips.

You are capable of getting through the season without guilt! Be sure to compare labels and look for the lower sugar and lower fat choices.

To view the “naughty list” of holiday foods, visit www.webmd.com/food-recipes/slideshow-naughty-list-of-holiday-foods.  If you do choose to splurge, find out how many calories you are actually consuming (and how long you’d have to walk to work them off). Visit http://walking.about.com/library/cal/blholidaycalories.htm.

Ease@Work offers nutritional coaching for employees with access to our EAP or wellness services as a benefit through their employer.  For more information, go to www.easeatwork.com.