Okay, it’s summer and everyone else is eating ice cream - so why can’t you? If you were actually eating an amount in keeping with your daily calorie counting, it would be less than the standard scoop at any respectable ice cream stand. Well, never fear. While your neighborhood ice cream slinger may not stock anything less than a zillion calories, your neighborhood grocery store does. So here’s the best… but first, some ground rules:

The first thing to keep in mind is to check the calorie content for whatever frozen delight you’re slurping. Some ice creams labeled “light” are only “light” in reference to their color, not their calorie content. For example, as much as we love Vermont hippies, the Light version of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food packs 210 calories per half cup, which isn’t exactly, er, light.

That said…

Breyers has a whole line of Light ice cream with less fat and less calories, and all your favorite usual suspects are there: Vanilla, Rocky Road, and my personal downfall, Butter Pecan.

Dreyer’s Slow Churned ice cream is also a good bet. With half the fat and 1/3 fewer calories, Dreyer’s slow churning adds air to the ice cream and makes it creamier - which makes it less dense and have fewer calories.

Finally, check out the Healthy Choice ice cream family of products. I say “family of products” because while their ice creams may be yummy, their ice cream BARS are the real winners. Try the Ice Cream Vanilla Bar with Fudge Coating. At only 80 calories, 13 grams of carbs and 1 gram of fat, it’s my go-to treat poolside.

Whatever you choose, make sure you enjoy it! And if you can’t, break out the good stuff (I get the Godiva Sampler delivered right to my door thanks to Ice Cream Source), and resolve to make it up somewhere else. After all, who says you can’t have ice cream for dinner at least once a year? Not Mrs. X.

***Picture thanks to Plan 59***

This entry was posted on Monday, July 7th, 2008 at 8:19 pm and is filed under Chocolate Doesn't Make You Lose Weight?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.