A little of this and absolutely none of that!

It's amazing how deceiving packaging on food can be. Portion sizes and labels really mean nothing, unless you know exactly what you're looking for. Just because something says "Low Fat" or "Diet" or doesn't mean it's a healthy choice.

Here's a shocking little detail...last week I went to brunch and had a small caramel roll as an indulgence (about 1/2 the size of my palm). It was homemade and delicious. When my food log came back I saw it had 310 calories, 11 grams of fat and 4.5 grams of saturated fat. It was an indulgence, but I felt okay about it. What I did not feel okay with, was the two (that's right two) Andes mints I had after dinner which had 157 calories, 9.7 grams of fat and 8.2 grams of saturated fat. Those two little unimportant mints had twice the saturated fat of my decedent caramel roll. Eeek!

This just goes to show you how important it is to read the labels on everything! Ignore the packaging and "healthy catch-phrases" manufactures put on their products - and above all, just because something looks small, doesn't mean it's not loaded with scary things. It should be against the law for chocolate after-dinner mints to have more fat than a caramel roll. Seriously.

In an effort to avoid any more scary run-ins with unruly, fat-laden mints, I'm reading the book "Eat This, Not That -Supermarket Survival Guide". One of my boot camp buddies was sweet enough to let me borrow her copy for a few days, to do a little research. Boy, did I learn a few things. The book compares everything from popcorn to pastries. What brands to try and what brands to avoid like the plague.

 I've also tried to do most of my grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. The labels have ingredients you can actually read, it's cost effective and the food is really yummy. Which brings me to my new love this week: Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic Hummus with Whole Wheat Pita Bread - Delish!

I never thought I'd like hummus, but this stuff is amazing! It's creamy and just garlicky enough to satisfy your craving (minus the extra garlic dragon breath) . If you haven't tried it, you should!

*MUAH*