When you’re watching your calories, often one of the first sacrifices you make will be dessert. Every so often, even when watching your calories, you feel like you need to treat yourself so you don’t feel deprived and give up.
However, enjoying dessert doesn’t mean you have to completely blow your diet. There are some great healthful dessert options that can keep you satisfied and on the right track.
Frozen Yogurt
Frozen yogurt is a great trend right now. There are plenty of shops that specialize in frozen yogurt, which makes it easy to get just as much out of the experience as going to an ice cream shop.
Frozen yogurt comes in just as many flavors as ice cream and can be topped with just as many great toppings. However, this frozen dessert comes in a flavorful fat-free and sugar free variety. It also tastes great topped with fruit and nuts.
Pudding
You can get pudding in the single serving packs or in the powdered mix form at your local grocery store. You can get both varieties in sugar and fat free forms that taste pretty dang close to the full fat options. Pudding mixes generally require milk, so you can make it using fat free milk for an even healthier treat.
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
These are the perfectly sweet and completely decadent treat. Strawberries are a great snack all by themselves, but when you add a little dark chocolate, they become a dessert! Five large berries dipped in 2 squares of semi-sweet dark chocolate is less than a 100 calories. If you want to roll them in some chopped pecans, then you’ll even get some added crunch and protein.
Baked Apples
Fruit is full of healthy sugar, but when you bake it, then it really releases the sweetness. When baking, add a couple teaspoons of cinnamon and sugar, and you’ve got quite a treat. For even more delicious flavor, add some raisins and pecans. The whole dessert will be fewer than 200 calories.
Apples and peanut butter
A cut up apple topped with two tablespoons of peanut butter is a great after dinner treat or even a great breakfast if you like something sweet to start your day. There is also plenty of fiber and protein in this great snack. For an even sweeter treat, you can use the chocolate peanut butter powder from PB2.
Green Smoothie
Green smoothies incorporate vegetables in with fruit in order to make a healthy snack. The most popular recipes involve spinach, bananas, and frozen strawberries. As a base, you can use fat-free milk or yogurt to add some protein and calcium. It’s a sweet treat, but it’s also an easy way to get your five servings of fruit and veggies. You can’t even taste the veggies!
Hot Chocolate
You can get the powdered packets of hot cocoa at the grocery store. They come in fat free and sugar free varieties. You can even make your own at home with some fat-free milk and cocoa powder. Throw in a few mini marshmallows or whipped cream and cinnamon and you have the perfect treat for a winter or fall evening. It can also make a good breakfast drink.
There’s no reason not to enjoy your food while maintaining your health. These are some great options for around 200 calories, and there are plenty more to choose from. Fruit based treats are a great idea because they are sweet, but they’re also full of nutrients.
In general, you can make any treat a little healthier by using fat-free dairy components and not adding sugar. Be kind to your body and your taste buds.
