Diet saboteurs

Are you always on a diet but never manage to lose any weight? Or perhaps you're on Fitbitch Boot Camp and despite thinking that you're sticking to the diet as the next person, they're shrinking before your eyes while you look the same?
The likelihood is that either your portion sizes are too big, or you are eating something that you think is healthy but isn't.

Diet saboteur: Granola
Reality: Many cereals, particularly those that do a stunning job of packaging themselves as a healthy alternative are full of sugar, hidden or otherwise. Dorset Cereals for instance are packed full of sugar busting dried fruits but worse by far is Granola.
This is made by adding oil and sugar to cereal and then baking it. Most of us would never dream of eating a pile of biscuits for breakfast but that's effectively what you're doing.
Fitbitch Alternative: Make your own granola by soaking oats, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, grated apple, grated carrot and a few finely chopped nuts in apple juice. Then spread on a baking tray and bake very slowly at a low heat for 1-2hrs. Serve with yoghurt.

Diet saboteur: Honey
Fair enough it's not as bad as processed white sugar but it's still sugar. And what makes it worse is that it's perceived as healthy so you tend to overuse it. Just 1 tbsp contains an average of 50 calories. yet if you're the type to use honey, you tend to use it on toast, on your yoghurt and on cereal. That's 150 calories just there. Moreover, it's a high GI food so it will only leave you craving more.
Fitbitch Alternative: Agave nectar - it's still sugary but it releases energy more slowly.

Diet saboteur: Oat Cakes
You hear it all the time in diet features - snack on oat cakes. Yes, they release energy slowly but most people have absolutely no idea how many they eat in a day. Oat cakes usually come in individual 'handy' snack sizes of five. That's 289 calories just eating them plain. Of course it's fine if you can eat with control and just have two. But then if that were the case you probably wouldn't need to be on a diet.
Healthy alternative: Edmame beans or soya beans.

Diet saboteur: Grapes
The reason everyone likes grapes is frankly because they're sweet. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that a 450g pack of red grapes is around 300-400 calories. If you're trying to restrict yourself to 1500 cals or less that's the equivalent of a lunch or dinner. you might think you don't really eat that many grapes but next time you buy some really watch yourself, you'll be surprised how easy it is to scoff them without even noticing.
Healthy alternative: one piece of fruit that you can't overeat