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Need to Drop a Few? Ban Ben & Jerry's

Posted on Dec 1st 2008 7:00AM by Jacki Donaldson

Filed Under: Diet & Weight Loss, Nutrition & Supplements

Derail. You know the word. Let's face it, most of us working toward good health through diet and exercise have an intimate relationship with the word. Diet derailers are everywhere -- in your house, in the grocery store, at work, at play, in your head even. Here, we'll address the very things that throw us off course. Together, we'll learn how to avoid our diet traps -- and how to get back on track when we can't.

Bought my hubby his favorite Ben & Jerry's ice cream the other night -- a treat for the guy who normally eats very well and in the past year and a half has lost 40 pounds. Everything in moderation, right? Well, yes. But I'm here to tell you that there is nothing moderate about the little pint of goodness my husband savored a few evenings ago, probably for the last time. The "death pint," he called it, after examining the stuff packed in this seemingly harmless container. How bad can it be? Ah, let me share.

Scanning the nutritional facts listed on the back of the New York Super Fudge Chuck pint, you'll see numbers like: 300 calories, 19 grams of fat (11 of it saturated), 29 grams of carbohydrates, and 24 grams of sugar. Scary stuff, eh? It's gets worse. These stats are for just one serving. And there are four -- count 'em, four -- servings in that little bucket pictured above. There's just no way my husband can enjoy a half cup (that's the serving size) of this ice cream and then call it quits. Not the worst scenario for him, since ice cream indulgence isn't an every-day occurrence for him. But for those of you who are close friends with Ben & Jerry, well, you better watch out, because 1,200 calories and 96 grams of sugar just are not fit for good health.

Here is what I suggest you do: Ban the Ben & Jerry's. And if you can't do it, aim for one serving -- less, if you can manage it -- and don't ever keep a whole bunch of this stuff in your freezer if you lack even an ounce of self-restraint. It's just not worth it. There are so many other ways to satisfy a sweet tooth. There's dark chocolate, which if we stretch a bit, might even be considered a health food. There's fruit -- keep grabbing some for dessert and before long, you'll be craving it. There's gum, which can sweeten your diet efforts with its ability to fight off cravings. Or you could try these natural, more nutritious alternatives to sugar.

Tell us what you do to avoid sugary snacks. And check out this gallery of 15 healthy snacks that definitely won't derail your diet.

15 healthy snacks(click thumbnails to view gallery)

4 Comment

Tags: Ben Jerrys, BenJerrys, diet-derailers, ice cream, IceCream, Jacki Donaldson, JackiDonaldson

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

MishaLee 12-01-2008 @ 11:50AM

Check out http://ChezMichaLee.blogspot.com for healthy living tips, food and wine info and receipes low in carbs and low in sodium...from a medical doctor and chef!

njbeachbetty 12-01-2008 @ 9:19AM

I bought a ben & jerry's 4oz container (220 calories per container) but I only ate three bites last night. Now I know the rest sits waiting for me when I get another craving. I remember the days in college I'd eat a whole pint.... now I can control myself.

u262f 12-01-2008 @ 3:37PM

I love sugar, and when I get the craving, unsweetened and unsulfured dried fruits often do the trick. Apples, pineapples, and ginger work particularly well for me. Trader Joe dried unsweetened unsulfured pineapple rings (which are almost always sold out) are excellent, and one ring is very satisfying even though one serving contains five rings! Granted, there's a lot of sugar, but there's also a decent amount of vitamins and fiber to make the sugar worth it.

I firmly believe that the problem isn't so much just eating fat and sugar: it's eating "empty" fats and sugars without enough nutrition that's the problem. When I was trying to keep my diet low in fat, I kept gaining more and more weight because removing fat removed too much nutrition from my diet too. Nuts are very fatty, but they're also packed with lots of nutrition. I was just unable to lose weight until I started eating nutritious fatty foods such as nuts. As long as the amount of nutrition is worth the amount of fat and sugar, eating fat and sugar isn't a problem. The problem with fast food and ice cream and such is that there is way too much fat and sugar for the amount of nutrition those foods give.

Steve Young 12-03-2008 @ 2:45PM

Another option is to try the low-fat/low-sugar/yoghurt variants of the same flavors. Obviously not exactly the same, but the significant reduction in calories easily compensates for the minimal drop in taste. Both Ben&Jerrys and Haagen-Dasz have quite a few of these varieties.