That's Fit

I have a weakness for Girl Scout Cookies. The vanilla ones are my favourite, followed closely by those delicious thin mints. Sadly, I can't buy any because I know that I'll somehow convince myself that eating a whole box--or more!--in one sitting is a good idea.

But this year, there's a way you can support the cause and stick to your diet--Girl Scouts will start carrying 100-calorie packs of Cinna-spin cookies. I'm a little disapointed that they won't have diet-friendly versions of thin mints, but Fitsugar has a great idea for those -- freeze them so you're not tempted to eat them all at once.

If a Girl Scout comes knocking on your door this week peddling cookies, she may have an interesting tidbit of information for you: each serving of Girl Scout cookies is now trans-fat free.

By finding what they thought were suitable replacements for partially hydrogenated oils, the bakeries that create the addictive little cookies reformulated the recipes to reflect a healthier attitude. Not only did they want to sell a better product, Girl Scout leaders claim, but they also thought the change sent a better message the the girls in their programs. The Girl Scouts will also now be offering a sugar-free cookie and one that has reduced amounts of saturated fats.

Before you eat a whole row of Tagalongs or fill up on Thin Mints, remember that these cookies are still a treat. In fact, as the Girl Scouts themselves point out, they aren't even technically free of trans fats. Each serving has less than a half of gram trans fats, which allows foods to be labeled as trans fat free, but if you eat two or three (or four or five) servings, you'll be packing on 1-3 grams of unhealthy fats as well as loads of sugar. Kudos to the Girl Scouts, though, for making their annual sale a little bit healthier.