The weather’s hot, you’re feeling thirsty, you’re asked would you like an ice cream? How can you resist! Ice cream is a tremendous temptation but especially in the Summer months or on holiday. Ice cream, however can be very damaging to the waist line. Choose in haste and you may ruin a good dieting week. Choose carefully and ice cream can still be worked very easily into your diet and you will still benefit from a weekly weight loss.

Most ice creams are non dairy which means they do not contain milk, cream or butter fat, but are made instead with vegetable fat. This vegetable fat is usually palm oil. The ice cream has to state on the label that it contains non-milk fat to distinguish it from dairy ice cream. In ice cream labelled ‘dairy ice cream most of the fat must come from a milk source. Whichever ice cream you choose they are high in fat and therefore calories. They need to be a minimum of 5% fat and 7.5% non fat milk solids to be labelled ice cream. Otherwise they are known as a frozen or iced dessert, such as Wall’s Too Good to be True. These are growing in popularity due to their lower calorie content.

As with all treats, it is just a matter of counting what you have as an extra and not exceeding your daily calorie treats, to be still successful in your weight loss campaign. However, with ice cream it can be especially important to know what choice is available and you can then spend your calorie treats much more wisely!

Compare the calories between the high and the low fat version. It does not appear much but that is only per 1oz. Let’s face facts who is going to eat an 1oz! You can estimate that one small rounded scoop would be about 1oz and who would have one small scoop! For those of you indulging in a sundae. You have a minimum of 3 scoops, chocolate sauce, cream and not to mention the cherry on the top! Not a snip less than 500 calories, we would imagine!

If you are out and about and get tempted by an ice cream, beware of ‘whippy’ cornets. They come in all shapes and sizes and even a small one can be as big as Mount Everest! Rather than choosing a cornet which will invariably blow your day’s treats pick an ice lolly instead. Some lollies are extremely low in calories but you will not feel deprived! Here is a list of the lower calorie options which you can enjoy and still count well within your treats!

Let’s be honest, we can all choose a lolly from the low calorie list that we enjoy. You can now enter the summer months with knowledge of the ice creams you should ban and the ones you would be better choosing! Memorise 3 of the low calorie lollies you would enjoy. When you are out and about, a shop should have at least 1 of these 3 for you to purchase. So, no excuses!