A calorie is still a calorie!!

The holidays can wreak havoc on a diet. If it's not the temptations — the desserts and rich foods — then it's being out of your element, staying with relatives who don't exactly share your perspective on health.

There are some snacks, while good for you, still pack a punch when it comes to calories. Healthy but Calorie-Dense snacks to keep your eye on:

Dried fruit: What could be healthier than fruit? Well, not dried fruit. The problem with dried fruit is that there's no water to fill you up; you'll quickly lose track of how many pieces of fruit you're actually eating. Each handful can contain 50 to 100 calories, meaning you easily can consume a Big Mac's worth of calories.

Nuts: Even dry-roasted and unsalted nuts pack a lot of calories. While you scored on copper, magnesium and other essential minerals, you can consume nearly 900 calories from a cup of mixed nuts.

Pumpkin seeds: Again, great for getting magnesium in your diet. But seeds tend to be more calorie dense than nuts, with a cup of store-bought roasted squash or pumpkin seed kernels weighing in at nearly 1,200 calories.

Orange juice: Orange juice isn't just for breakfast anymore, especially when you don't drink the 23 varieties of Coke or Pepsi. By drinking a couple glasses of orange juice throughout the day, you can chug down about 120 calories per cup, more calories ounce for ounce than the colas.

The lesson here is that healthy foods are supposed to be a substitute in your diet, not a complement. Folks pour on the olive oil because it contains healthy fats, but they don't eliminate the unhealthy fats from red meats. Similarly, some people sprinkle ground flaxseed on just about everything because of the healthy omega-3 essential fatty acids. But fat has twice as many calories than protein or carbohydrates, so the carefree sprinkling can add up. We wonder why we are gaining weight even though we are eating healthy foods. The answer lies in the calories, which don't lie.