Diary Entry

Well, it looks like the plateau may be over. At my last weigh-in, I'd dropped 6.2 pound over two weeks. I'm not going to get cocky, but hopefully this is a sign!

The yard work is helping. I've got an entire yard to get into shape before July 1, when the grandparents come to visit. My better half and I have this issue every time they come to visit: she's mad to get the house in shape, and I'm desperate to get the yard done. This time, I've promised to devote equal time to house and yard ... but as I'm the one keeping track of my time, I might possibly fudge a little bit.

Did you know that weeding is great exercise? The bed where my dinner-plate dahlias are planted has a healthy dose of compost in it, and the weed seeds that come along with it. Every day, it seems, I get a good 10 minutes of bending and stretching just from pulling out anything that's not a dahlia. Exercise is everywhere, if you look for it!

We All Scream

I have rhapsodized at length over in Short Orders about the wonders of ice cream. Sweets are not, as a general rule, my weakness ... but ice cream is the exception. Now, cheap ice cream holds no allure whatsoever for me, but I can sense a pint of Ben and Jerry's in the freezer from several hundred yards. So having full-fat ice cream in the freezer just isn't an option. It doesn't help that I share the house with someone whose ice cream tooth is as undeniable as my own. Between us, we can polish off a half-gallon in two nights.

But late in the evening, the sweet tooth gets to chanting, and very soon it drowns out everything short of a brass band. So what's a long-suffering dieter to do? Certainly none of those "diet" ice cream treats are worth eating, are they?

I've got good news, kiddies: Today's low-cal, no sugar added and/or low-fat ice cream treats are light years away from the bland bricks of flavorless dreck that populated the freezer case just a few years ago. I have suffered through a month or two of rigorous testing, and I'm now prepared to let you all in on the best selections to be found in the freezer.

The treats out there basically fall into three categories: bars, sandwiches and cones.

Bars

This is where most ice cream makers do their best work, because there are plenty of ways to cheat. An ice cream bar is a small portion, and without a cookie or cone they've got room to play with coatings of dark chocolate or other luscious options.

Far and away the best of the bunch is Blue Bunny's new "Supremes" line. There are three flavors: Peanut Butter Cup, Raspberry Cheesecake and Turtle, and I defy you to figure out where the Bunny folks cut the calories. The cheesecake is my favorite, with incredibly rich cheesecake flavor and a dark chocolate coating that'll make you forget Godiva.

Yes, these DO cost more than the usual treats, but they're worth every penny. You and I both know that when you find that one treat that does the trick, a couple extra quarters is no big deal.

Sandwiches

Ice cream sandwiches are one of the true delights of childhood. If you were lucky enough to get to make them with homemade cookies, there's not a doubt in my mind you can remember them.

Sadly, the diet crop of sandwiches won't quite meet that standard, but there are two that are truly worth having on hand in the freezer.

The best by far are the Healthy Choice Caramel Swirl sandwiches. With rich vanilla wafers cradling vanilla ice cream with a caramel swirl, they'll hit your sweet tooth where it lives. Healthy Choice pulls off a genius move by going vanilla with the sandwiches, thus removing the problem of comparison to the chocolaty goodness of our memories.

Skinny Cow, however, goes right up to your childhood memories and conks 'em on the noggin. Their sandwiches, conspicuous for their generous size and the round plastic tube in which they're sold, come within inches of being just as good as the full-fat versions. The ice cream lacks a bit in the creaminess, and the cookies are just a shade too cakelike for my memories, but all in all they're a satisfying snack.

Cones

Cones are where most diet ice cream lines go down in flames. Either the cones are flavorless and mushy or the ice cream is horrid or the toppings are almost nonexistent.

In this category, the Skinny Cow moos its way into sole possession of first place. I'm not sure what sort of voodoo the bovine flavormasters are using, but they manage to make a vanilla caramel cone with a rich topping, honestly creamy ice cream and a crisp cone that's even got the chocolate lining that made Nutty Buddys one of my best pals growing up.

This was pretty much the easiest category in which to make my pick. Nobody else even got close.

You may wonder where the Weight Watchers ice cream treats are in this group. Judging from the shelf space they get at my local grocery stores, they must sell fairly well, and they're backed by one of the biggest names in the diet business. So where do they rank?

Dead last, kids.

The first problem I have is with the product descriptions. The cones, cups and bars are almost uniformly marketed as "GIANT," yet they are no bigger than those from other companies, and certainly not warranting of such hyperbole. The flavors certainly aren't giant, either. The most disappointing to me were the ice cream cones, which rarely held together from start to finish and lacked both flavor and texture in the fillings.

That's not to say that the WW doesn't have good dessert offerings. If you look in your grocer's freezer where the pies and cakes are kept, you'll find the Weight Watchers Smart Ones desserts. The chocolate eclairs and Key lime pie are superb, but all of them are certainly worth a spot in your dessert rotation.

So there you have it, fellow sweet fiends. Remember: moderation is the key! Any of these will make you fat if you polish off a box at one sitting.

Got a question? Comment? Topic you'd like to see covered? Drop me a line anytime!