by Maria Teresa L. Ungson
A lot of us are so busy with our careers and in loosing weight! Our lifestyle contributes in a way to the weight gain we experience in our lifetime. Our career demands so much of our time and provides a lot of stressors…think of trouble shooting and deadlines! We sometimes fall into an eating frenzy and at times a craving for sweets kicks in. People would always remind us that sweets are fattening and should be avoided. One wouldn’t’ mind this reminder unless he/she has a sweet tooth. But guess what? We could still squeeze in some sweet cravings into our lifestyle! Here are some points for sweet lovers.
1. Stock Up With Healthy Choices
Don’t just count calories. Instead, try to make every calorie count because snacks and treats can be nutritious. Choose treats or desserts that have 100 to 200 calories and contain some nutritional benefits. Choose baked chips, low-fat baked goods, and candy made with dark chocolate, nuts, or dried fruit.
2. Go Natural for Dessert
Davao is abundant with various fruits year round! Take your pick among the fruits in season. It’s one way of keeping sweets “healthy”. Serve fruit cut up with a dollop of dairy topping. Or use fruit to top angel food cake, low-fat pudding, or ice cream. Fruit lets you increase the portion size and nutritional goodness of desserts.
There is nothing wrong with an occasional calorie-dense piece of cake, a cookie, or candy, but these are so easy to overeat and the small portion is not nearly as satisfying, so going natural may just do the trick.
3. Limit the Variety of Sweets
Variety may be the spice of life, but when it comes to controlling calories, less is more. The greater the variety of food, the more you want to eat, studies show. Limit the number and the choices of sweets in your food cabinet or your fridge. Restrict your treats to one type of cookie, candy, chip, or ice cream. The more you have at hand, the more likely you will grab for more since there is so much to choose from. In this sense, being frugal with your sweets at home will help a lot.
4. Make Your Own 100-Calorie Treat Packs
Save money and make it easy for everyone to keep within the healthy limits by making your own grab-n-go snack packs. Buy economy sized bags of baked chips, tortilla chips or cookies and divide them into individual baggies. You get to mix and match your own food. It’s a great way to test your creativity too.
5. Modify Your Recipes
For a healthy makeover of your favorite cookies or cakes, replace half the fat with applesauce or canola oil. Use whole-grain pastry flour. Add in nutritious extras such as dried fruit and nuts. When you make treats yourself, you can trim fat, calories, and sugar to make them healthier.
6. Buy Single-Serve Portions of Ice Cream, Cookies, and Chips
Certain treats such as chips, cookies, and ice cream are so tempting that we can’t just eat a small portion. So buy single serve sweets and treats so the portion is controlled for you. Other ways to limit portions are to buy pint size containers, and serve ice cream in a cone.
7. Keep Tough Treats Out of the House
Don’t keep any treats in the house that challenge you and your family. Go out for these treats, or only bringing them in for special occasions.
8. Freeze Your Favorite Treats
Simple foods can be transformed into yummy treats in the freezer. Try freezing a container of whipped yogurt, fruit, or 100% fruit juice in paper cups for refreshing treats everyone will enjoy.
Keep bags of frozen fruit handy to microwave as a topping on ice cream or to make smoothies and sorbets with a little added juice or low-fat yogurt. An added bonus, cold treats are more satisfying because they need to be enjoyed slowly to avoid the “brain freeze.”
And if one does overeat a bit, go ahead and exercise! Simply burn those calories. This way, sweet lovers can always enjoy and succumb to an occasional craving!
