Confessions of a Crisp Junkie. PopChips to the Rescue!

As you may know from some of my recent posts I have started a bit of a health kick recently. So far I'm down 25lbs but I've got a long way to go. I've already posted about how MyFitnessPal and Graze have helped with my progress, now I'll introduce you to my secret weapon, PopChips! Find out what they are below but if you want to see my post about the recent controversy surrounding them and spokesman, Ashton Kutcher then click here. Newest spokesperson is Katy Perry. After your done reading here check out the PopChips website.

 

My biggest food weakness has always been crips. They're disgustingly high in calories and bad fats but oh so tasty! Add brightly coloured packaging and a good ol' special offer and I'm pretty much hooked. I knew cutting them out of my diet would be difficult and rather than make the mistake of going cold turkey, I started to ween myself off them with healthier options. I've moved from the following brands above from left to right:

McCoy's (32g). Calories - 167. Fat (saturated) - 9.8g (0.9g)

Doritos (30g). Calories - 152. Fat (saturated) - 8.1g (0.9g)

Squares (27.5g). Calories - 99. Fat (saturated) - 4.2g (0.4g)

Quavers (25g). Calories - 88. Fat (saturated) - 4.9g (0.4g)

Snack a Jacks (22g). Calories - 92. Fat (saturated) - 1.7g (0.2g)

Velvet Crunch (20g). Calories - 83. Fat (saturated) - 2g (0.2g)

PopChips (23g). Calories - 93. Fat (saturated) - 3.3g (0.5g)

Now if I have a craving (or a bad day...) I refrain from reaching for a 12 pack of happiness that I know I won't be able to stop at 1 with, and instead grab a share bag of PopChips.

So what exactly are PopChips!? Well they're a healthy snack option, potato chips to be precise. Unlike rival healthy snacks such as Snack a jacks  they aren't made from alternative ingredients like corn or rice, they're still made from potato. This means the taste and texture are still somewhat like standard crisps, as opposed to cardboard/polystyrene-like competitors. They don't taste 'healthy', they're really flavourful with a great crunchy texture. The thing that makes PopChips healthier is the cooking process. They aren't baked or fried, they're 'popped' like popcorn!

The handy thing is that the bag they come in is the same size as a share pack of Doritos etc. This helps trick your mind into thinking you're pigging out like normal. However, the nutritional information is on a completely different scale. It doesn't matter that the bags are different weights, once it's empty that's it so you deal with it and there's enough to fill you up. It's all about portion control. Check out the approximate values below.

Doritos share pack (125g)

Calories - 670

Fat (saturated) - 35.7g (4.5g)

Carbs (sugars) - 80.4g (4.5g)

Protein - 8.9g

PopChips share pack (85g)

Calories - 345

Fat (saturated) - 12.0g (1.8g)

Carbs (sugars) - 53.2g (3.6g)

Protein - 5.4g

PopChips are bigger in America and they have been working on the UK market, although nothing compared to their recent controversial campaign in America. At the moment they can be bought from health stores like As Nature Intended, as well as Waitrose but not a big selection of their range is available. Below is the full range. I've only found original, sour cream and onion, salt and vinegar and barbecue so far, I really want to try the other flavours and types! Especially their new product, tortilla chips. The Weight Watcher's tortillas are an epic fail so here's hoping!

Something that concerns me is that Marks & Spencer now offer an own brand version of PopChips. This may in fact be a move by PopChips in an attempt to get into the UK market and familiarise people with the product. Even under a different name they could have a profitable deal with M&S. However it may also be that M&S have ripped off 3 varieties of their product! This wouldn't be something new to M&S after the recent scandal where they ripped off a fellow blogger's design. I did a taste test comparison and they are almost identical as you can see below.

Here's my tweet to both companies to see if they want to confirm/deny this. Stay tuned and I'll update this post if a response is given. Have you tried PopChips? What did you think? What healthy snacks work for you? Comment below.