Healthy Snacks
Some "diet" snacks seem too good to be true--and they are!
It may come as a surprise, but many foods packaged as "healthy" or "diet" are actually just junk food in disguise. Don't let yourself be fooled by slick packaging…or your own wishful thinking. More often than not, these un-diet products don't even taste as good as real, fresh food. So why bother?
The worst offenders:
1. Chicken Hot Dogs. Unfortunately, just like pork and beef hot dogs, poultry dogs often include skin and fat, so they're no healthier than their "authentic" counterparts. Opt for low-fat or fat-free franks instead. Avoid these not so healthy snacks!
2. Salad-in-a-Bag. These are great for a fast meal, but they can pack a caloric wallop: 510 calories and 45 grams of fat in one package of Dole Caesar Salad Kit. Instead, buy a bag of pre-washed lettuce and use your own low-fat dressing.
3. Bags of Air-Popped Popcorn. Air-popping is fat-free, right? But companies add the fat after the popping is done. That's why the popcorn is butter- or cheese-flavored, and sold next to bags of potato chips. Pop your own at home instead.
5. Reduced-Fat Peanut Butter. The fat that's removed is replaced by carbohydrate filler, so there's no reduction in calories. And the fat in peanut butter is the healthy monounsaturated kind. So check out the BLC recipe for peanutty butter instead, which thins out the calorie count with tofu.
Savvy eaters know that if it looks too good to be true...it's fake.
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