Some of your favorite diet foods are shockingly high in calories and fat. Here is a guide to help you steer clear of the common foods with the healthy halos. Remember you can never go wrong eating whole fresh foods, fish, meats, veggies and fruit. Once you get into foods with labels you need to be careful. The longer the list of ingredients the less likely it is going to support your efforts towards fat loss and good health.

Here is the first four. I will send out the rest later in the week

DIET TRAPS 1-4

 YOGURT The sugar packed snack – Brace yourself- Plain yogurt naturally contains about 16 grams of sugar per cup, but if you eat the fruity ones you can add an additional 15 grams of sugar on top of that.

Better choice- Use Greek Yogurt – it has half the sugars and twice the protein. Use your own sweetener or just add some high fiber berries

The backpack bad guy: Trail Mix. Some of these concoctions contain deep fried banana chips, yogurt covered raisins, M&M’s and chocolate covered nuts. They are highly caloric, loaded with Palm oil trans fats and come in large bags that encourage  over consumption.

Better Choice- Toss your own trail mix with Apricots, walnuts, almonds and whole grain cereal. Add a few dark chocolate chips and you’ve got a great treat. Just limit your portion to one cup. Add this to your Greek yogurt and you have a satisfying mini meal.

Sugar free candy and cookies

Don’t fall for the no- sugar scam on the label. When they reduce the sugar they usually increase the fats to make up for the lack of taste. Look at the labels and see how much fat is contained in one cookie- you will be surprised. Also be aware just because its gluten free doesn’t make it a diet food. Some gluten free products contain more calories than their originals.  Be careful with sugar free candy as it contains Maltitol sugar substitute which is known to produce gastric issues and diarrhea.

Better choice- You are better off eating the real thing. Treats like biscotti, Fig newton’s, Ginger snaps, meringues and graham crackers are naturally low in fat and calories. Also if you can handle it try the 100 calorie pack versions of your favorites.

The Mediocre Munchie – Veggie chips. The rainbow hued chips are no better than regular potato chips. While they boast higher amounts of vitamins, they still will keep the weight on you because they are fried. They are usually around 150 calories and 10 grams of fat per handful.

BETTER CHOICE Go for baked tortilla chips or any chips from the Organic Company “LATE JULY” They are all natural and half the calories of regular chips.

Buyer Beware! Know what you are eating by reading the nutrition labels and calories on your favorite foods. Things aren’t always what they appear to be.

How much sugar is really in that food? How much fat per serving?

Don’t be fooled by the nutrition claims on the front of the box or the the manipulative marketing techniques they use to make you believe you are making healthy choices.