by Emily Wemhoff

Breyers All Natural Vanilla Ice Cream, not Häagen-Dazs Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Häagen-Daz ice creams contain only a few simple ingredients; problem is, those ingredients are heavy cream, egg yolks and sugar, making their ice creams the most calorie-dense at the grocery store. The peanut-butter blast packs an astonishing 1,440 calories into every pint-size carton. Compare it with what Breyers has to offer, for a third of the calories.

 Starbucks Venti Caramel Macchiato, not Starbucks Venti Salted Caramel Signature Hot Chocolate

Starbucks’ monstrous hot chocolate creation consisting of salt and caramel contains more than a day’s worth of saturated fat and as much sugar as nearly four Hershey’s chocolate bars. The hot chocolate also packs 600 calories and over 350 milligrams of sodium. By simply choosing a venti caramel macchiato, you are saving 360 calories and 180 milligrams of sodium. Skip Starbucks altogether if you can, to avoid drinking empty calories that will not fill you up.

 Chocolove Strong Dark Chocolate Bar, not Hershey’s Mr. Goodbar

Chocolove’s Strong Dark Chocolate is the perfect dessert—dark enough to have cocoa’s benefits, yet sweet enough to enjoy. Dark chocolate is a far richer source of epicatechin, an antioxidant that helps blood vessels relax, and studies show it might reduce your odds of developing diabetes. Swear off milk chocolate altogether. Even though both chocolates have a similar amount of calories, Chocolove’s dark consists of only eight grams of sugar. Hershey’s milk has 23 grams of sugar.