You may end up wondering why you still aren’t losing weight when you’ve made all of these healthy changes to your diet.

Our food supply is abundant. With the popularity of the “healthy snack” niche on the market, you may get fooled into consuming too many calories from snack choices. There is always a new bar popping up, or a new product in the organic food section, that leads you into believing you’ll have ‘instant health’ by consuming it.

Sneaky Healthy Calories

  • Are you loving hummus or hard cheese as a snack? These are good for you, but they also add up. A typical 2 TB of hummus offers up 50 calories, and its easy to consume four times that amount, adding up to an extra 200 calories. A one ounce chunk of hard cheese provides 150 calories.
  • And how is the hummus or cheese getting into your mouth? Via cracker? While a nice whole grain wheat cracker is great, these can sneak too many calories into you too. Six crackers provide about 120 calories – so keep count. Or better yet, use vegetables to scoop your hummus. Slice up a red, orange or green bell pepper into strips, or try cucumber slices.
  • Nuts, granola or trail mix. Nuts are healthy right? Right! But they are also high in calories. Just a small handful can add up to 250 calories – as much as a candy bar. Enjoy a few nuts every day, but count them out (1/4 cup trail mix, 20 almonds, 25 peanuts, 50 pistachios).

Liquid Calories

Sure, a glass of red wine could be good for your health, and coffee and tea has been shown to be beneficial, but chances are you may ignore the calories that could be coming from your beverage choices.

  • Coffee and tea are calorie-free, but the things added to them may not be. Creamers, flavored syrups, chocolate, whipped cream and milks, all add calories. It’s great to enjoy a latte once in a while since the milk provides both calcium and protein, but watch out for the extra sweet drinks and the larger “Grande” and “Vente” sizes. A 16-ounce Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks® will add 380 calories to your day. Go with a Short instead (8-ounces) and you’ll get 7 grams of protein at a reasonable calorie intake (180). A 16 ounce Chai Latte has as many calories as a candy bar (240).
  • Don’t be fooled into thinking plant-based drinks are doing you any favors in terms of calories and health. A 16-ounce Starbucks® Almond Protein Blended Cold Brew offers up 270 calories.
  • Every 5-ounce glass of wine contributes about 150 calories. Today’s pours are often over 5-ounces, so keep track. And, the health guideline for alcohol is one glass for women, and up to two for men per day. Don’t overdo it too often.
  • Smoothies are still popular, and even the ones you create at home may be adding calories to your diet than you realize. If you are picking up a smoothie between meals, pay attention. A medium Strawberry Banana Smoothie from McDonalds® is 240 calories. At home you can use nonfat Greek yogurt, smaller amounts of juice, and fresh fruit to reduce calories from sugar.

If you enjoy a latte, or a smoothie as a meal replacement once in a while or occasional snack, it’s fine. But if you are randomly guzzling these kinds of liquids thinking “It’s healthy!”, think again. Homemade smoothies made with yogurt, juice, vegetables, and then topped with protein powders, can be upwards to 500 calories a serving. If you are consuming this as a supplement to regular meals, you may be going overboard without knowing it. Liquids typically don’t fill you up. You may be better off eating a more satisfying 500 calorie lunch (turkey sandwich on whole wheat, a cup of watermelon, and an 8-ounce glass of 1% milk or maybe a beef-veggie stir fry with rice) for the same calories but more fiber and protein.

Rethink your drink. Pay attention to your liquid calories this week.