You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream.

Once upon a summer’s day, chilren eagerly rushed up to the ice cream man to purchase their favorite frozen treats. Now, as adults, we either run from the fat and Calories lurking in the frozen sections of the grocery store, or guiltily pile our cart with its decadent treats.

Ice cream doesn’t need to be consumed guiltily (nor does any other food). Everything fits into a healthy diet in moderation. If you want to consume sugary treats more often, here are some tips on how to slim your favorite flavors:

Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia- One of the best selling Ice Creams in America, and the top seller of the Ben and Jerry’s line, Cherry Garcia consists of a cherry-flavored ice cream base with cherry chunks and chocolate flakes. It also packs 240 Calories and 14 g of fat (9 g saturated fat) in a mere half cup- and who really only eats ½ cup of ice cream at a time?

If you were to consume an entire cup of this frozen treat, it’d clock in at 480 Calories- the caloric equivalent of five slices of bread.

Try Dreyer’s Cherry Chocolate Chip instead. A ½ cup has only 130 Calories and 5 g of fat. That means that consuming a full one cup of this lighter pick tastes the same, but has the nearly same amount of Calories of a lesser amount of the Ben and Jerry’s version.

Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby appeals to Peanut Butter lovers, consisting of fudge-covered peanut butter pretzels with fudge and peanut butter ripples. This fat-laden pick doesn’t appeal to your jeans, however, which may become quickly too tight with 330 Calories in ½ cup, with a whopping 20 g of fat.

Again, dry the Dreyer’s version of the richer Ben and Jerry’s brand for similar taste with less Calories. Dreyer’s Slow Churned Peanut Butter cup boasts a light 130 Calories and 6 g of fat per ½ cup serving.

Haagen-Dazs is one of the more decadent ice cream brands stocked at most grocery stores. Its level of richness relies on cream as its first ingredient, whereas other ice creams rely on milk as a basic first ingredient.

Milk contains less Calories and fat per ounce than cream, making Haagen-Dazs much more calorically dense than other ice creams. So you’ll be eating a smaller serving of ice cream for far more Calories.

For instance, a ½ cup serving of Haagen-Dazs Dulche de Leche contains 290 Calories. Swap the Haagen-Dazs caramel-flavored treat for Dreyer’s Caramel Delight, which contains only 120 Calories per ½ cup- a saving of 170 Calories. It’s also lower in fat- a whole 13.5 grams less.

Even the Haagen-Dazs “lowfat” frozen yogurts contain more Calories per ½ cup than the standard Dreyer’s Ice cream. The average Dreyer’s Grand ice cream contains about 140 Calories per ½ cup. If you can’t stand to ditch the premium brand, try the new Haagen-Dazs single-serve cups to utilize portion control.

The cups come in a variety of flavors, including Chocolate, Vanilla, Dulche de Leche, Strawberry and Coffee. But even these small portions are Calorie-laden. A single portion contains just under 300 Calories.

Like a little crunch to your ice cream? Try Dib’s chocolate coated ice cream pieces instead of a Klondike bar. They contain about 170 Calories for thirteen pieces (depending on the flavor) whereas Klondike bars contain about 260 Calories per bar (again depending on the flavor). And with thirteen separate pieces to munch on, you may feel like you’re eating more, for less Calories.

Ah, the drumstick. Peanut and chocolate coated ice cream in a waffle shell. Sadly, they contain about 300 Calories per bar, which may be too many discretionary Calories for an everyday treat. Nestle has recently developed a new line of mini Drumstick cones, deemed “lil drums” which contain only 140 Calories per treat.

At Coldstone Creamry, skip the mix-ins and waffle cones and forgo the largest sized option, dubbed the “Gotta Have It” by the Coldstone company.
A “Gotta Have It” of the Cinnabun ice cream contains 890 Calories. And that’s without the chain’s large array of topping options.

Choose a smaller “Like it” size to save hundreds of Calories. A “like it” size of Cake batter ice cream contains 340 Calories. Some flavors are also available in reduced-fat versions. These are called “Sinless” options by the Coldstone company, and are lighter in Calories and fat. Sinless Cake Batter ice cream in the “Like it size contains only 190 Calories, saving you 150 Calories from the regular full-fat Cake Batter ice cream.

Coldstone also carries sorbet, which is naturally lower in Calories and fat. Watermelon sorbet, for instance, contains only 160 Calories for the “like it” size. The sorbets come in a variety of flavors, including lemon, raspberry, and Country time Pink Lemonade.



Dairy Queen is known for its decadent ice cream treats, including waffle bowls, malts, and blizzards. What it isn’t so well known for, however, is its horrific Calorie and nutrition data. Even the smallest size Cookie Dough Blizzard contains 710 Calories, and a Waffle Bowl Sundae contains 960 Calories and 110% of the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) for saturated fat.

Choose the smallest sixes available to slim your frozen treat. For instance, a medium sized Chocolate Dipped Cone contains 480 Calories, but the Kids Sized Chocolate dipped cone contains 190 Calories.

A regular banana split clocks in at a hefty 520 Calories, with its blizzard counterpart following close behind at 440 Calories. Trade either of these options for a banana sundae, which is a lesser 230 Calories.

Share a blizzard with a friend- even the small sizes contain a large amount of ice cream and sugary mix-ins, which are calorically dense and add up fast. Better yet, choose another treat with the same flavor as a blizzard (like the banana sundae listed above). Craving a Heath Blizzard (600 Calories)? Try a Heath Dilly Bar instead- the frozen bar option contains only 280 Calories.

The same goes for waffle cones. Dairy Queen is famous for dipping theirs in chocolate. A chocolate coated waffle cone with soft serve contains 540 Calories. Trade it in for a Small Chocolate Sundae instead and save 260 Calories.

Baskin-Robbins, home of way more than 31 flavors, is a nutritional nightmare if you order a shake or a sundae.

An Oreo Outrageous Sundae contains 1130 Calories- 56% of the RDA for Calories for the average American. A Medium Mint Chocolate Chip shake is nearly as bad, at 930 Calories.

And don’t be fooled by the chain’s line of fruit blast smoothies. They’re made in an ice cream parlor. They aren’t going to be healthy. A Medium Strawberry Banana Fruit Blast smoothie contains 560 Calories.

By choosing a single scoop of your favorite flavor, you’ll be far better off. Even then you’ll be getting about 300 Calories per 4 oz (1/2 Cup) scoop- so savor it slowly- it’s not a race to the finish!