Desserts are a delicious and fun part of life that most of us enjoy; myself included :-).
That is until you start working towards a fat loss goal. Then dessert becomes your arch-nemesis that shows up at birthday parties and get-togethers in the form of cake, cookies, cupcakes and candy, tempting you to give in.
So what do you do? Give up desserts forever?
Yeah right….
Taking a zero-dessert stance can be risky because it increases your chances that the large slice of cake that ends up taking you down will be followed by some ice cream, a handful of cookies and topped off with some chocolates for good measure. Otherwise known as binge eating…
The last thing I want is your fitness results to be ruined over a slice of cake, so I’ve come up with the following 8 Tips to Guilt-Free Desserts. Use these steps as your guide to safely navigate sweet temptations and to quickly arrive at your fitness goal.
1) Fruit Is Best.
Fresh, organic, seasonal fruit is the ultimate guilt-free dessert. It’s filled with fiber, vitamins, minerals and delicious, natural sweetness. Don’t be afraid to include some fruit in your diet. Learn to savor and enjoy fruit just as you would a decadent slice of cake. Fruit should be your number one, go-to, favorite dessert.
2) Choose Only Wholesome Sweeteners.
When fat loss is your goal, cane sugar and corn syrup have no place in your diet. Ever. Not even when you indulge in dessert. Lucky for you, there are plenty of more wholesome sweeteners available which will have less of an impact on your blood sugar. Try: raw honey, pure maple syrup, coconut crystals, stevia, or truvia.
Side note on sweeteners: I personally stay away from 0 calorie sweeteners like Splenda due to some of the the ingredient in it; mainly aspartame.
3) Use Whole Food Flours.
So you have your wholesome sweetener and now you’re reaching for some white flour to bake a cake, right? Wrong. Just like sugar, wheat flour should be banned when fat loss is your goal. Try these whole food flours instead: almond flour, coconut flour, flax meal or oat flour.
4) Take Your Chocolate Dark.
If chocolate is your dessert-of-choice then learn to love the dark stuff. 73% cocoa content is a good place to start, then as your sweet receptors become more sensitive you’ll start to like even darker chocolate. Dark chocolate is lower in sugar and higher in cocoa, which is where the actual benefit of chocolate lies: antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
5) Portion Size Matters.
Yes, this applies even to fruit. When you’re working towards a fat loss goal you do need to control the amount of sugars that enter your body, even when that sugar is wholesome and from a piece of fruit. Keep your desserts to no more than a few bites. Learn to savor and enjoy each bit.
6) Remember Moderation.
If fat loss is your goal, then dessert should not be an everyday occurrence. Lean meats, and an abundance of fresh vegetables should make up the bulk of your diet. Wholesome, portion-controlled desserts are OK to include occasionally, but not regularly. When you’ve met your fitness goal, and are maintaining your results, then you’ll be able to include wholesome desserts more often.
7) Workout Hard.
I would never propose to use food as a reward for exercise, but I will say that working out should be a requirement before including wholesome desserts in your diet. If you’re not working out then even wholesome desserts in moderation could lead to pounds gained. Exercise is a huge part of the puzzle when it comes to losing fat and getting lean.
8) Keep Your Daily Caloric Intake In Mind.
No matter what foods you eat for the day, desserts or not, you have to make sure they fit into your recommended caloric intake for the day. If for example, your calorie allowance for fat loss is 1500 calories a day, don’t exceed that; especially with dessert. When you are active (ie workout regularly 3-5 day/week) you are going to be allotted more calories/day in order to achieve your fitness goals. Having a food journal and knowing exactly how many calories you consume daily is an important piece of any fitness and healthy eating program. Know what you’re taking in everyday and make sure it falls within your calorie allowance for the day before you consider adding dessert calories. In our 1500 calorie example, if you only taken in 1300 calories for the day you have an additional 200 left to indulge in a dessert if you like. Get my drift??
If you need help figuring out how many calories you should be taking in per day to achieve your fitness goals or maybe you’re just not happy with the way you currently look and feel, I invite you to reach out to me and let’s discuss a plan to get you your best body ever!
Let’s get started!
Zach
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