Isn't that Sweet?

Dessert.. hmm.. what to do, what to do when it's time for dessert?  Sometimes you just have a sweet tooth, simple as that.  But how can we endulge and not flood our systems with sugar at the end of a perfecty decent, balanced day?  Yes yes, fruit is lovely.  But it's also a little a moderate sugar source, and sometimes you just don't. want. fruit.  You wanna be bad.  Not bad-bad, but.. just.. not good.  I believe in a controlled splurge to maintain sanity.  I do not, however, believe in a daily splurge and we therefore need some sane dessert options beyond 'fresh fruit.'  Typically, if it's not a special occasion, and I need a treat at home post-dinner, I more or less choose from 5 different options, and they keep me pretty happy.

1.  Flavored Cottage or Ricotta cheese.  Hello South Beach!  This is one of the only recipes I retained from this era of my dieting past, when I blindly bought into the deprivation thing.  I like Friendship 2% Digestive Health Cottage Cheese mixed with 1 tsp flavor extract, like coconut, almond, banana, or just vanilla (You know I love extracts!) and one packet of Splenda.  This snak is high protein and relatively low-cal.  And, if you choose the Digestive Health cottage cheese, you get some fiber too, to slow any milk sugar that might otherwise raise your blood glucose levels a bit.  Or, you can use fat-free ricotta cheese, as recommended in the real South Beach plan.  Just watch your serving sizes and enjoy.

2.  2ish Squares (about 1/3 serving per the nutrition label) Endangered Species 75% Cacao dark chocolate with 1 tbsp Low Sodium Better N' Peanut Butter.  Bye-bye sweet tooth demons!  As we all know by now, and as we love to hear, dark chocolate packs cholesterol-lowering polyphenols - and the darker, the better.  What I love about this particular chocolate, is that there are little crunchy bits of real cocoa nibs, adding texture and even some fiber, not to mention the company trades ethically and supports preservation of endangered species.  Right on.  The BNPB adds some sweetness to the very dark chocolate and some healthy fat for creaminess without too many calories.

Both 3 & 4 come in the forms of No Sugar Added Pops.  In Jenny Land, aka, the world of Jenny Craig, my processed-foods-happy ex-employer, sugar-free popsicles are considered a 'free food' - meaning that you can eat all you want and not affect your weight loss plan.  Ehh.. I preach moderation, and so I cannot fully support this theory, but these options are totally allowable within reason for a low-impact indulgence.  In our house, 'fudgies' own a good part of our freezer.

No Sugar Added Fudgesicles aka 'Fudgies,' are bomb-diggity.  Bomb. Dig. Ity.  40 calories per tasty, creamy, chocolatey bar and 2 g of fiber to boot.  Good stuff, and one usually does it for my sweet tooth. 

The second Pop treat I love are Edy's No Sugar Added Fruit Pops - in tangerine, strawberry, and raspberry.  These grown-up versions of the Popsicle brand popsicles are made with real fruit and are juicy and yummy.  At only 25 calories per pop, you can double up and not spend the next day cursing yourself and your choices of the previous evening.

5.  Wasabi Wow! Trail Mix from Trader Joe's is a nice mix of sweet and salty, and is packed with heart-healthy peanuts and cranberries.  The pow! comes from Wasabi peas, which used to be a downfall of mine in my chubbier college days.  Be sure to pre-portion out the correct servings and divide into smaller baggies to make sure you're sticking to the 130-calorie portion listed on the nutrition label. 

Plenty of other waist-friendly homemade sweet options are readily available via Mr. Internet, like health-ed up muffins and bars, but let it be know that I'm not a fan of SmartOnes packed desserts, 100-calorie packs, or the like.  These things pack either a bunch of salt, sodium, additives, or preservatives for very little nutrition, and this can really gunk up your system.  And 100 empty calories right before bed can really mess things up.  Think of how much more you could get from 100 calories!  Check out Livestrong's fabulous article on other options for 100 calories!  Try 2 weeks without any hyper-processed Nabisco-or-whatever 100-cal packs and see how much better you feel.  And as always, track your foods.  Please!

Remember: What do you really want?  100-calories of mini, crumbly, dry Lorna Doone cookies, OR less-jiggly-thighs in that cute jean skirt this summer?  Be good to yourself.  Explore new healthy foods.  And stay sweet.