Best Food Treats that Won't Ruin Your Diet

Being a food-lover and trying to lose weight doesn't go hand-in-hand. One of the hardest things about losing weight is knowing how to distinguish wanting to eat from needing to eat. The difference being emotional eating and eating because you're hungry is usually the difference between being overweight and maintaining a healthy weight.

One really good strategy to use during this time is having food treats that won't ruin your diet. The calories, sodium, and carbs in these food treats are so nominal that, for practical purposes, they have no effect on your diet at all.

And when I say treat, I mean treat! No orange slices and celery sticks here. Don't get me wrong- oranges and celery are great diet foods, but sometimes we need a real treat.

Baskin-Robbins sugar-free hard candy. These sugar fee hard candies come in mint chocolate chip, cookies and cream, mango delight, pralines and cream, and espresso and cream flavors. One candy has 10 calories, 1/2 g of fat, and >4 g of carbs. But the best thing about them is the flavor! They really do taste like ice cream! Plus, since they're hard candy the flavor lasts a long time. You could have five of them- for only 50 calories- and by the time you're done your craving is satisfied.

Gum. Chewing gum is an old diet tip from the '80's that has stood the test of time. If you're not hungry, but you really want to experience some flavor, chew a piece of sugar-free gum. Remember this: "4 out of 5 dentists recommend sugar free gum for their patients who chew gum"? Not only is sugar-free gum better for your teeth, it's better for your waistline, too! The awesome thing is it comes in so many flavors like mint, cinnamon, and various fruits. You can get a lot of variety out of gum for only an average of 5 calories per piece.

Swiss Miss instant hot chocolate. Swiss Miss comes in single-serving size packets, which is great for portion control. Each cup of hot chocolate has only 25 calories and 1% of daily carbs. Sitting down and savoring a cup of rich hot chocolate is a treat in so many ways! First, there's the relaxation factor- you can't gulp hot chocolate. Secondly, there's the chocolate factor. Swiss Miss packs a lot of satisfaction into a small amount of calories.

Hershey's Kisses. Hard candy, gum, and hot chocolate are fine, but sometimes actual food- not a diet sugar-free version of actual food, but actual food- is called for. Hershey's kisses are real food. And don't forget about all the awesome varieties like milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and chocolate meltaways. The beauty of them is that four Kisses have only 100 calories. Sure, they have fat and carbs, but trust me, one 100 calorie treat does not ruin a diet. (Just remember to keep it to four Kisses, not the whole bag.)

Hot pepper rings or pepperoncinis. All the rest are sweet treats, but sometimes a spicy treat is just the right thing to sidetrack emotional eating. Hot pepper rings and pepperoncinis are very low calorie. Four pepperoncinis have only 10 calories. Wow! Talk about a lot of flavor with just a few calories! Plus, who can really eat four pepperoncinis in one sitting? (My mouth would be on fire!) Hot peppers are very satisfying. The only drawback is that they're high in sodium (17% daily value), but the sodium in four pepperoncinis will not ruin a day of dieting.

As with every food, these diet treats should be consumed in moderation.