Is Healthy Choice as Healthy as We Think it Is?

I was so excited when I first found my coupon for Healthy Choice Fudge Bars. Since starting my diet I've found it's just safer all around to stay as far away from the ice cream aisle as humanly possible, and I had no idea they even existed. What a great idea for a low calorie snack on a hot day! Cold, chocolatey, creamy, and not enough calories to throw off my weight loss. All that and a dollar off, too!

I was grocery shopping with my mother when I remembered the coupon I had stashed in my purse. We ventured down the dreaded corridor of tempting frosty delight, my eyes focused on the signature green box that stood out as Healthy Choice. I snatched the box and proceeded to do the one thing that distinguishes a dieter from other grocery patrons, I flipped the box over and began to read the nutritional information on the back. "Look at this, Mom!" I called her over. "90 calories, no fat, isn't it amazing what they've done here?" Sure, I only had the one coupon, but I was pretty sure I could swing them in the grocery budget every once in a while. And then, always the dependable voice of reason, my mom interjected with, "Um, how many calories are in a regular fudge bar?"

At the same time both intrigued and offended, after all, what does my size 2 mother possibly know about the struggles of post-baby weight loss, I put the Healthy Choice Fudge Bars back in the freezer. I made my way down the aisle to my grocery store brand's fudge bars, nestled among the Drumsticks, Creamsicles and other off limits novelties and began to skim the nutritional information. Of course, a grocery store brand fudge bar had to be more than 90 calories. And sure enough, it was. It was 100 calories. But the fat content, I can't discount the benefits of being fat free. And grocery store fudge bars are far from fat free. In fact, they have 1 whole gram of fat. My mom mused, peering over my shoulder, "I thought those things were basically nothing." And sure enough, a mother's wisdom prevailed.

Yes, it's 10 more calories and 1 additional gram of fat, but with the $2.50 per box I will save buying the regular fudge bars instead of the Healthy Choice only slightly healthier option, I'll just do the extra 3 sit ups.

The moral of this story is, before you get caught up in the hype of what is healthy, low calorie and low fat, save yourself some money and do your research before you break your budget. Those of us who are trying to find a happy median between losing weight and controlling cravings are easy marks for big business; we're willing to spend most anything to achieve our goal. And, as in the epic battle of Fudge Bar vs. Fudge Bar, it just might end up that there's really very little benefit.