When it comes down to eating healthy, we’re all a little guilty for eating –eh- not so healthy every once in a while. If you were to keep a food diary of everything you ate over the past five years…EVERYTHING…would you pass the test of being a relatively healthy eater? Even the people who think that they are eating healthy diets are sometimes seeing the world through “rose colored glasses.” This is due, in large part, to the fact that most people cannot honestly tell food apart from being healthy versus not. And those that can simply justify their eating habits to themselves so that they don’t feel as guilty when they slip up. So, what are some examples of some bad food choices that people make compared to some of the more healthy alternatives?

When it comes to losing weight, the first place that most people head to in the supermarket isn’t the produce section; it’s the frozen food section. That’s right. They have heard about all of those Lean Cuisine and Pepperidge Farm frozen meals and figure that they’re automatically a safe bet because: a) they’ve been advertised as such and b) they’re portioned better so that portion control isn’t necessarily left up to you to figure out. Life’s pretty easy now, huh? Wrong. What a lot of people fail to realize is that although many of these frozen meals advertise otherwise, there are A LOT of additives in the food which help to give it the flavor or preserve it beyond simply being frozen. For example, go to your local supermarket and read the labels on the back of any frozen food box. What does it say? Are there names in the ingredients that you can’t even pronounce? Compare this to choosing out your own ingredients to make your own meal. At least you know what you’re putting into something. It might cost you a little extra money out of pocket, but isn’t your health and well being worth it in the end?? Additionally, many frozen foods will add sodium as a preservative, and too much sodium is never a good thing.

If you’re thinking about stopping off at McDonalds and getting some “all natural chicken strips” because they’re supposed to be healthier than the McNuggets, you’re, once again, justifying a poor meal choice in exchange for one that’s not much better. Did you know that a standard five-strip chicken strip meal has approximately 630 calories and 11 grams of fat in it? That’s almost as much as a Big Mac- and that doesn’t even include the calories and fat in the dipping sauce! Instead, why not opt for something else to snack on such as carrot sticks with a lite ranch dip. Or, you could even make your own chicken strips by baking boneless, skinless chicken breasts yourself.

Have you ever been to the Cheesecake Factory? It’s absolutely d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s ! However, you probably don’t even stop for a second when it comes time to order dessert to think about how many calories are in a single slice of plain cheesecake: approximately 610 calories! That’s almost 29 grams of saturated fat, which is equivalent to almost 1.5 days’ worth of what your fat intake should be! Instead, why not opt for a low fat or fat free yogurt? You’d be doing your body a favor.

BCBSNC and Blue Cross Blue Shield North Carolina.