Hungry Girl: Muffin Doin'

Muffins are such a delicious treat, but can so easily steer your diet off-course. Here are a few calorie conscious favorites!

Vitalicious: These are hands-down the very best guilt-free, ready-made muffins ever. They come in all shapes, sizes and flavors, and each is better than the last. The muffin tops and small muffins have just 100 calories and hardly any fat. On top of that, they're packed with vitamins and fiber. Our favorite flavors are Deep Chocolate, Banana Nut and MultiBran, but they're all fantastic! These muffins are available in some health food stores and Whole Foods, but the selection isn't great. I recommend buying them online at Vitalicious.com ‑- they freeze amazingly well, defrost in seconds and can stay frozen for months. Two yums up!

Crum Creek Muffins: I love Crum Creek. This family-friendly purveyor of all-natural, soy-protein-packed foods makes a few muffin mixes that'll knock your socks off. My personal favorite is the blueberry. To keep calorie counts down on these babies, substitute egg white for egg, applesauce or diet cream soda for oil (yes, diet cream soda!), and use nonfat milk. Made that way, these treats have absolutely no fat and about 160 calories each. The only place to find these is online at CrumCreek.com.

Our Daily Muffin: These muffins would rate extremely high on our recommended muffin chart, if only they tasted better. The nutritionals are great (they have 140 to 160 calories and are high in fiber and pretty much fat-free), there's no baking involved (yay!), and they come in awesome flavors. Unfortunately, none taste as good as I wanted them to. If I had to pick one favorite, I'd go with the apple bran, which you can find at OurDailyMuffin.com. But if you're going to go for a ready-made, diet-friendly muffin, stick with Vitalicious.

Hungry Girl Muffin Shocker: Avoid the muffins at Costco at all costs. They're frighteningly large and shockingly fattening. Each one packs in 610 to 690 calories and 32 to 38 grams of fat! Yowza!

Bite It! Vitalicious Deep Chocolate Muffin

If you're hankerin' for something big, moist, delicious and chocolaty, I highly recommend caving in to your cravings and diving in (teeth first) to a Vitalicious Deep Chocolate Muffin. These four-ounce treats are packed with vitamins, 12 grams of fiber and chocolate chips ‑- not an easy combo to find, I assure you. Vitalicious muffins come in all shapes, sizes and flavors, and all will rock your calorie-conscious world (in a good way). Not readily available in stores, these secret underground muffins have been faves of Weight Watchers members for years and selling like crazy online. When your box arrives, stick the muffins in the freezer ASAP. They defrost quickly in the microwave and taste just like they popped out of the oven!

Nutritional Info: Serving Size: 4-ounce muffin Calories: 200 Carbs: 50 grams Protein: 8 grams Fat: 3 grams Fiber: 12 grams Fight It! Starbucks Chocolate Cream Cheese Muffin

Starbucks is known for their over-the-top fancy coffee drinks and fatty pastries, and this chocolate mess is definitely one to avoid. If you happen to be stopping at Starbucks for your morning coffee, think twice about peering at the baked goods. You might not be able to resist the pouty stare and intense aroma of the chocolate cream cheese muffin. It means business, and has been known to overpower even the most dedicated dieters. But what kind of crazy person decided to stick a hunk of cream cheese in the middle of a chocolate muffin anyway? My advice? Keep a Deep Chocolate Vitamuffin on hand ‑- in your computer case, your fridge at work or even your purse. It's your best defense.

Nutritional Info: Serving Size: 4.5-ounce muffin Calories: 450 Carbs: 53 grams Protein: 5 grams Fat: 24 grams Fiber: 1 gram

For more recommendations, go to hungry-girl.com.