Healthful hints: how to enjoy a truly happy holiday season.(eye-opening discoveries on health and fitness)(Column)

Christmastime is almost here--the most wonderful time of the year! It's the most emotionally charged holiday that can bring lots of joy, but it also has the most potential for leaving us feeling depressed, especially if we bail on our healthy good intentions. Reminders of the holiday are everywhere throughout December, and you can't avoid it even if you don't celebrate it. It brings out our inner child more than any other holiday, and with it our inner BRAT! You know who I'm talking about. That little demon living inside of us, screaming, "I WANT WHAT I WANT WHEN I WANT IT!!"

Last month, we talked about the temptations and risks of overindulging during Thanksgiving weekend. Well, Christmas is a whole different story. Christmas is not just a weekend; it's a season. It's a 6-week onslaught of hedonistic holiday saboteurs determined to derail your greatest efforts to stay healthy happy and looking your best. You have to navigate through minefields of homemade fudge, baked hams, office peanut brittle, holiday eggnog, hot toddies, smoked cheese logs and platoons of armed and dangerous gingerbread men. Not to mention all the other stresses that come with the season: no time, lack of sleep, crowds, shopping, traffic jams, cold weather, flu season, no place (or time) to exercise and--last ball not least--Aunt Lily!

Well, never fear! Here's my take on these holiday health saboteurs and what we can do about them.

Avoid the Bad Stuff

If you've been eating healthier and your palate has adjusted to fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes, then holiday junk/pleasure foods can be an assault on your taste buds. It's similar to an alcoholic having a drink after months of abstinence. You can easily slip back into craving the bad stuff. You'll also be tasting flavors you grew up with and risk triggering nostalgic childhood comfort zones. One bite and you could find yourself watching Miracle on 34th Street, cuddling with Mom and your old Frosty, the Snowman blankie. Mom might love it, but Frosty, will be embarrassed.

The trick is, don't have the really bad stuff in the first place. You don't need it. That might be hard to believe until you've actually experienced a junk-free December and discover yourself bursting with energy and an abundance of euphoria that lasts into January. Not to mention better skin and a healthier body!

Learn to enjoy new pleasure foods, which are actually old pleasure foods, such as baked yams with a touch of real maple syrup; pumpkin pie made with, believe it or not, pumpkins; and chestnuts roasting on an open fire. There are plenty of choices that nature provides for us. Sometimes, we forget that nature is where real food comes from.