<p>My boyfriend doesn?t know this, but tonight I?m going to take him to an Eggnog Anonymous meeting. <br/>The fact is every December he starts to mysteriously expand horizontally, and I?m sure I know the culprit. <br/>I love him ? I really do ? but around this time of year, when the department stores are full of next generation Tickle Me Elmos and the radio starts to play ?Santa Claus Is Comin? To Town? one too many times, the supermarkets do them one better and stock their shelves with unlimited quantities of everyone?s favorite holiday beverage, eggnog. <br/>Or almost everyone. I get queasy every time he proudly displays a new carton of eggnog, which is about every two days. <br/>Since I don?t understand the appeal of eggnog, I started to do some research on the drink. <br/>Typing ?eggnog? into the Google search engine reveals 1.7 million hits, meaning that thousands of people worldwide have pages devoted to the drink and I must be living in a cave. <br/>Eggnog supposedly originated in Britain and is descended from a drink called posset, which consists of milk, eggs and ale or wine. Today?s recipe for eggnog is eggs beaten with milk or cream, sugar and usually some kind of alcohol such as rum or brandy. <br/>By the 1800s, eggnog was quite the social drink in America, and it wasn?t just consumed on Christmas. Young men in Baltimore would traditionally call on all their friends on New Year?s Day and many of the houses would serve alcoholic eggnog as part of the camaraderie. As men went from house to house, they would get more and more drunk until they couldn?t visit any more friends. <br/>Legend also has it that George Washington cherished eggnog and had his own crunked-out recipe, complete with sherry, rye whiskey, and rum ? not for the faint of heart. <br/>All right, maybe eggnog is a staple of American culture, but that doesn?t mean it won?t make you ... well, as fat as Santa Claus. <br/>So in an attempt to break the hypnotizing hold that this destructive drink has on my boyfriend, I?m desperately trying to find holiday drinks that are a better alternative. <br/>I immediately thought of the triumphant trio of wintery wonders at Starbucks ? the Gingerbread Latte, Peppermint Mocha, and Eggnog Latte. <br/>Scratching that last one, I went to the Starbucks Web site and balked when I read how many calories the Gingerbread Latte and the Peppermint Mocha contained (430 and 470, respectively) and how many grams of fat they had (both have 22). Of course, those numbers include whipped cream, but still. <br/>A healthier option is either hot cider or holiday punch. I found one cider recipe with only 163 calories and 0.2 grams of fat. Not too shabby. <br/>Holiday punch is good for parties and for the body alike. Sans alcohol, these drinks can contain pineapple juice, cranberry juice and raspberry sherbet. <br/>But let?s be honest, it?s much more fun to get in the holiday spirit by adding some pizazz to your drink. As my boyfriend likes to say, ?You and the captain make it happen.? <br/>My friends are a vast resource for alcoholic-themed holiday drinks. <br/>There?s ?The Grinch,? which contains Midori, lemon juice and sugar syrup; the ?Dog Sled,? which is a mix of Canadian whiskey, orange juice, lemon juice and grenadine; and the ?Candy Cane Martini,? a blend of vodka and Peppermint Schnapps. <br/>But wait. Alcohol packs on the calories too (as evidenced by my boyfriend?s emerging beer belly at every other time of the year besides eggnog season). <br/>So am I back where I started? <br/>Then it came to me in the middle of the night, when all through the sorority house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. <br/>In my childhood, we?d leave milk and cookies for Santa, and he?d only drink the milk. <br/>Milk contains nutrients such as vitamin D, which are essential for bone health. It also has vitamin B12 and riboflavin, which are important for cardiovascular health and energy production. <br/>In fact, studies show that there may be links between low-fat milk consumption and a reduced risk of obesity. <br/>So maybe Santa had it right all along. Now I just need to convince my bulky boyfriend. <br/><hr><i>Fylstra drinks six glasses of milk a day to prevent osteoporosis. E-mail her at .</i></p><br><br><a href='; target='_blank'>;