The Sweet Tooth Problem

Hey folks! I noticed that I had been doing an awful lot of articles with exercise tips, so it was time for one centering around food.

If you're anything like I am, you absolutely love sweets. And who can blame you? As it turns out, our brains are hardwired to crave sugary, fattening things. That's all well and good, but, what does this mean for people who are dieting or trying to eat healthier? Do we have to cut out sugar completely in order to avoid those extra, empty calories? Absolutely not! There are plenty of delicious sweets and cakes that can satisfy even the most extreme of sweet teeth, all while sticking to your healthier eating plans.




One of my favorite people for healthier eating recipes is the Hungry Girl, Lisa Lillien. For any of you who don't know about her, she is well known for having delicious recipes that are all healthier and low calorie but high taste. Her lists of recipes include cakes, brownies, and a bunch of other types of desserts. She actually just came out with a new cookbook featuring only dessert recipes. I recently purchased it, and I own pretty much all of her books.

Picture from www.hungry-girl.com

  Let me tell you, her books are fantastic. But, no matter what type of dessert you prefer, you'll probably find at least one recipe that you completely love.

If you don't want to buy her books just yet, she has cooking shows, and a blog that are completely free to check out. I highly recommend the Hungry Girl cookbooks (in case you couldn't tell).

As far as navigating other types of desserts, there are a bunch of other ways to cut calories and increase nutritional value. Frozen yogurt, for instance, is usually a bit healthier than ice cream, and frozen Greek Yogurt is full of protein. It can be hard sometimes to find a Greek yogurt (either frozen or unfrozen) that you like. I know I personally spent awhile trying to find one that wasn't too sour.






It's important to remember that 'low calorie' or 'low fat' doesn't always mean healthy. And if you want a dessert that's the best for you, it might serve you well to bake/make them yourself (assuming you, like me, enjoy that kind of thing). I've been recently using Dancing Dragonair's ice cream/sorbet/frozen yogurt maker (and plan to acquire my own, eventually). Making things yourself cuts out all of the preservatives and other ingredients food companies put into their products to help them keep while sitting on a grocery store shelf. The fewer ingredients, the better, even if the things you make have more fat or calories than some of the 'healthier' options out there in the supermarket.

Finally, I want to remind you that you can still eat those cakes and brownies that are tempting and tormenting you, even if they aren't 'low calorie,' or necessarily all that healthy. The key thing to remember is everything is fine, in moderation. Instead of eating a HUGE piece of cake, eat a smaller one. Instead of having 2 scoops of ice cream, have 1.

Well, that's all I got today. As always, feel free to share any comments, questions, or concerns down in the comments section!

Until next time,

Punk Rock Pikachu!