'Tis the season to be merry, and being merry usually involves copious amounts of food and drink. While there might be a salad or veggie tray at your disposal, it's more likely that the spread at your next holiday party will be stocked with unhealthy stuff, like egg nog, cookies, cheese and junk food.

What's your Holiday party weakness? Here's what you told us:

• 27 percent of you have a soft spot for Christmas cookies.
  
• 24 percent of you are crazy about chocolate -- but what else is new?
• 14 percent of you say alcohol is your vice.
  
• and seven percent of you said all of the above -- here, here!
  

Thanks for sharing!

Yummy. Delicious. Insanely flavorful. I feel silly gushing over potato chips, but "Oh my God!" Kettle Brand just introduced some new baked chips, and I was blessed with a bag of both Hickory Honey Barbeque and Sea Salt & Vinegar flavors.

To be honest ... even with my super-human-like fitness guru discipline, it was really hard to stop eating them. I had to physically place the bags in another room to avoid devouring every last chip. I'm a salt-loving type of lady, and I was ecstatic when the world introduced baked chips. Are they as pure and nutritious as fresh blueberries? No! But are they a much healthier version of something most people really enjoy? Absolutely.

If you are a lover of chips and a hater of fat thighs, Kettle Brand Baked Chips are going to float your boat. Each serving of "around 23 chips" contains only 120 calories, and only 25 come from fat. Have high standards and when party time comes, serve some of these. Dip will not be necessary!

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I love this kind of news. I don't really believe it ... but I love it. Apparently, eating a little dark chocolate can help you keep your weight down.

In one study, 16 men participated in two sessions. In the first, participants ate dark chocolate after fasting for 12 hours. Then, they reported on their appetite for the next five hours. In the next session, they repeated the experiment with milk chocolate. In both sessions, two and a half hours after eating the chocolate, the men were instructed to eat as much pizza as necessary to make them comfortably full. (Chocolate and pizza? Where can I sign up?) The men ate less pizza after eating dark chocolate than after eating milk chocolate. Researchers felt the findings were significant and reported that the men felt like eating less sweet, salty and fatty foods after having dark chocolate.

I don't know. Sounds too good to be true to me. On the other hand, a small amount of dark chocolate can actually be good for your health. So if you want to have an ounce or two a few hours before eating, then give it a try.

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We all have overwhelming cravings from time to time. And it's okay to cave in and let yourself have a treat from time to time. After all, food is meant to be enjoyed and appreciated. But when treats change from the rare occasion to the norm, you've got a problem.

Most people don't tend to crave the healthiest foods. Chocolate, salty snacks, and sweets tend to be the foods we ache for. Good Housekeeping has a fun tool that provides suggestions for craving substitutes. You can satisfy your sweet tooth (or salty tooth as the case may be) with some alternatives that are a little less hefty in the fat and calories department.

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When it comes to satisfying that salty tongue these days, just pick up a processed food item and you are sure to get your fix. That's because sodium makes almost anything taste good, and it really is appealing to the senses -- like taste.

But, with all that sodium can come high blood pressure and other unwanted abnormalities -- like high calories. Can you find a salty snack that has a trivial amount of calories with lower sodium but still tastes good?

Most likely, yes. Head over to this suggestion arrangement for some tips than set your sights on finding a low-cal, low-sodium snack you can pack with you without tipping the scales in the favor of more weight.

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Salt has a bad reputation but in truth it's necessary for the healthy function of the human body. The problem comes in how much salt we all eat, and what kind -- because not all salts are created equal. The common table salt we see everywhere has little to no nutritional value, other than the fact that it's usually iodine fortified. But sea salt, on the other hand, provides many trace minerals such as iodine, iron, copper, zinc, manganese, cobalt, and selenium. And some forms of sea salt even contain significantly less sodium than table salt, and that's always a good thing!

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I've come to realize that there are two types of people in the world: the sweet and the salty. No, I'm not talking about their disposition, I'm talking about their cravings. Some people have a major sweet tooth and when they're craving something, they reach for the chocolate or the ju jubes. Others crave salty things and will go for the chips. That's not to say that sweet people can't crave salty and vice versa, but they usually have one or the other as their default craving.

My point? I'm a sweet, so I've done a few posts on low-cal sweets that can satisfy this palate of mine. But I though I'd give the salties something to munch on and offer these suggestions, which include:

• Edamame, which is steamed soy beans lightly sea salted
• Roasted pumpkin seeds with a dash of salt
• Reduced-Fat Triscuits
• Light microwave popcorn (or air-popped -- even better!)

Salties, what's your favourite indulgence?

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Ladies, next time you find yourself overtaken by irrational cravings for anything sweet, salty, savory or just plain bad for you, check the calendar--it's probably that dreaded PMS rearing it's ugly head yet again. Myself, I crave carb to the point where I could pretty much consume a loaf of bread on my own, but don't.

AOL has put together this guide to the most common cravings and suggests healthier choices that should satisfy the craving just as well. Chocoholics should try for some chocolate-covered fruit to get their coco fix with along with some vital nutrients as well. Salt fiends should try some nuts. And carb-fiends like myself should opt for whole grains and limited servings.

What helps you through that time of the month?

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