Healthy Junk Food Choices

Love candy bars? Avoid the ones with nuts and/or peanut butter. Those have the most calories and grams of fat. When you do get a craving for a candy bar look for ones with a fruit filling. You can cut the calories and fat nearly in half.

Got a soft spot for cookies? Same as with candy bars – the ones with peanut butter or nuts are your worst choices. Two peanut butter cookies are packed with 200 calories and 11 grams of fat. Instead, go with Oatmeal cookies or Fig Newtons – a whole lot fewer calories and half the fat.

Instead of the typical greasy, salty potato chips, go with Doritos. You still get the crunch and the salty taste, but it’s all about calories and fat and Doritos gives you less of both.

Morning cravings? An urge for donuts, sticky buns or cinnamon rolls in the morning? Try Eggo pancakes instead.

You don’t have to go without. It’s the extra toppings that pack on the calories and fat – chocolate sauce, peanuts, whipped cream. It’s a better idea to go with plain ice cream. By avoiding the toppings, you cut the calories and fat in half.

Who can resist pizza? Avoid deep dish or thick crust pizza. Avoid pepperoni and sausage. Instead add vegetables to a thin crust pizza. You can cut hundreds of calories from just a couple of slices.

Cakes and pies with nuts, cheese or cream are the worst ones. It’s hard to turn down cheesecake with strawberry topping, but one slice can cost you 28 grams of fat. Instead choose Angel Food cake. Half the calories and it’s fat-free.

Who can turn down a good hamburger? I can’t, but it’s the toppings that’ll do you in. Cheese, sauces, bacon. It’s what piles on all the calories and fat. There’s 550 calories in a McDonald’s Big Mac and 29 grams of fat. Burger King’s Whopper has 670 calories and 39 grams of fat. A plain hamburger has only 240 calories and 8 grams of fat.