Sneaky Foods That Can Make You Fat

Some foods that seem healthy can be just as fattening as their obviously indulgent counterparts. Here are six that may be sneaking up on your waistline.

Perhaps you've tried to cut calories by replacing regular soft drinks with diet sodas or by switching from subs to salads, but you haven't noticed any weight loss. You might be surprised by how quickly sneaky extras, such as lattes loaded with whip cream and bleu cheese salad dressing, can add up.

1. Diet drinks. Artificial sweeteners may cause you to overeat by making it harder for your body to naturally count calories and disrupting its ability to gauge the relationship between food intake and weight, according to researchers at Purdue University. Try drinking water instead.

2. Salads. A garden salad with vinegar and oil dressing has only 93 calories and 5 grams of fat, but a chicken Caesar salad from Chili's has 1,010 calories and 76 grams of fat more fat in one seemingly healthy salad than the average woman should have in a day. Choose vinaigrette dressings over creamy dressings, like Ranch or bleu cheese.
3. Natural snacks. Chips and munchies labeled natural may not be as wholesome as they appear. For example, a single serving of Multigrain Tostitos has more calories than Tostitos restaurant-style chips and has more sugar (1 gram) than any of its Four Wholesome Grains,' charges the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Light chips are usually healthier but only if you can eat just one serving, which averages 11 chips.
4. Cocktails or beer. What do you drink when you head out for happy hour? If you treat yourself to an apple martini, which is loaded with 235 calories, prepare to jog an extra half an hour to burn off those calories. Mixing apple-flavored vodka with soda water gives you similar drink for less than half the calories.
5. Coffee. Your daily coffee break could add up. A 16-ounce grande Caffè Vanilla Frappuccino from Starbucks contains 430 calories, more than most cheeseburgers.
For starters, get rid of the whipped cream; it'll save you more than 100 calories. Or switch to a more basic coffee, such as café au lait, which contains only 110 calories.
6. Hidden sugar. Yogurt and granola are healthy choices, but watch out for added sugar. Some types of granola bars and yogurt cups are loaded with sugar or candy pieces, detracting from their nutritional value. Look carefully at what's been added.