Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Low-Cal Dessert Snacks

The good news is...I lost another pound. 3 down, 37 to go!

Every time I've been on a diet in the past, my downfall has always been sweets. I love them. I've been doing okay so far with the sweet craving because there are some good, low-calorie options out there now. Weight Watchers Fudge Bars have 110 calories. Skinny Cow Truffle Bars have 100. I also just bought some 100-calorie Oreo Mini Cakesters packs, 100-calorie Milano cookie packs, and some Devil's Food cookies that have 60 calories per cookie (so I would limit myself to one or two per day).

Anyone else have some good low-cal dessert/sweet snack options other than fresh fruit?

Today's progress:

Calorie intake: 1,472 (When I did research online, it said I could have 1,500 a day to lose 2 pounds a week, but I've been trying to keep it lower than that. I've only gone over one day, but I still see ways I can trim out calories. It just takes more work, which I need to knuckle down and do.)

Exercise: 1 hour house cleaning (burned 238.6 calories); 45 minutes step aerobics; 10 sit-ups; no outdoor activities today because first it was too miserably hot and then started raining

Steps: 12,898 (I'm now officially caught up with my steps.)

14 comments:

Deb Marlowe on August 5, 2009 at 9:07 AM said...

Yay Trish!

I'm a carb girl, rather than sweet. My fave is the 100 calorie pack of chex mix. It helps me get my fiber count up too!

Trish Milburn on August 5, 2009 at 10:15 AM said...

Oh, honey, I'm all about the carbs. I tried that Adkins Diet one time, and after a day and a half I was really sick. But I'm trying to cut back on those and fill my hunger with other things. Still not going to cut out as much as other people, but it's all a balancing act.

Fiber is something I try to get too because I have, uh, digestion issues. Hopefully those will lessen as I lower my weight and watch what I'm eating too. I do buy double fiber bread.

Kim Law on August 5, 2009 at 11:37 AM said...

Well...this isn't a great low-fat option, but I like to have one of the individually wrapped Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate with White Mint Filling squares. Oh my are they good! I think one square is a little less than 100 calories and one is usually enough. Plus, the dark chocolate is good for you, right? I get these at Walgreens. I think there are 10 or so per bag, maybe more, and they certainly help the chocolate craving.

Michelle Butler on August 5, 2009 at 4:27 PM said...

Trish,
Congratulations on another pound down!! As you know, I started my big health kick in the beginning of 09, am now 22 pounds and 2-3 sizes down, and I'm excited that we can encourage each other throughout the next year.

Sweets aren't usually a big problem for me unless someone brings in great baked goods to work, I see them, and invariably, I want to eat them even if I'm not hungry. What can help me combat that is something similar to the 1/10 rule mentioned before. Establishing certain "rules" that I know I can't break no matter what can eliminate that deliberation of should I or should I not eat this that almost always ends up with me eating it bc I get obsessive. David Kessler's new book The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite has a lot more on this approach.

Another approach is to say that I'm having such and such planned treat on Saturday or whenever, so I need to be good now. Sometimes, I'll also chant some kind of reward in my mind - such as a size whatever Ann Taylor dress - that is more important at the moment than the temporary pleasure of a cookie.

If I do end up eating the sweet, I just try to adjust my eating or exercise accordingly for the rest of the day, not beat myself up and not fall into the trap of thinking I've already blown it for the day so I might as well eat whatever I want the rest of the day bc I know I won't lose weight today. Emotional eating can be an issue for me.

I've tried to buy hershey's kisses, mini-peppermint patties, and other mini-servings and almost invariably I end up eating way too much of them in one day. I do better if I don't let it in my condo.

Finally, I do have some good WW or other healthy dessert recipes that I can indulge in ocassionally. A lot of it is about planning.

Mary Curry on August 5, 2009 at 4:37 PM said...

It's great to read all these tips because I'm not having a great week at all. The scale seems to be fluctuating everywhere within a 6 pound range at any given time.

My go-to snack lately has been sunflower seeds. I wash the salt off them and then have a handful of them to keep my mouth occupied. I figure the process of getting them out of the shell slows down the rate of consumption. :) Plus, a lot of the health sites have been pushing sunflower seeds as a way of adding MUFAs to your diet.

Trish Milburn on August 5, 2009 at 5:22 PM said...

Kim, those do sound yummy. I've found that if I eat a snack about 3 in the afternoon, I'm not so ravenous at dinner and thus prone to overeat. I do tend to get hungry again before I go to bed since I stay up so late, but I'm trying to just drink water and tough it out. Trying not to do any late-night eating.

Trish Milburn on August 5, 2009 at 5:27 PM said...

Michelle, congrats again on your awesome success health-wise this year. You are totally rocking it.

I so hear you on the emotional eating. That can be a problem for me, but I'm trying to be aware of it and know that I'm going to have some stress this month with a deadline and doctor visit(s) for a my mom and seeing what comes of that.

I tend to be that way with the Kisses, mints, etc. But I deliberately bought these little 100-calorie packs because I know there is more than one item inside each one and I know exactly how many calories. I had my first one today -- 3 mini Oreo Cakesters. It's kind of like tricking my mind and stomach into thinking I've had more than I actually have.

Trish Milburn on August 5, 2009 at 5:29 PM said...

MaryC, I'm not a fan of sunflower seeds, but I have heard they are better for you than some alternatives. I just looked them up and they have 269 calories per cup (with hulls). I also don't like nuts and wished I did.

Mary Curry on August 5, 2009 at 7:07 PM said...

The ones I have are slightly lower than that, Trish - 180 for 3/4 of a cup which works out to 240 per cup. I guess it varies by the manufacturer. The way I look at it is it takes me a lot longer to eat that cup of sunflower seeds than it would to eat a cookie or two when my willpower is low. They seem to satisfy my need to munch.

Nicki Salcedo on August 5, 2009 at 9:59 PM said...

Weird sweet suggestion. Fat free cottage cheese (1/4 cup or 40 calories worth), sugar substitute of your choice (or no sweetener), cinnamon, nutmeg, and raisins (1/2 mini-box or 50 calories worth). I just invented this 3 weeks ago and it reminded me of bread pudding without the bread... I like it, but then I like everything! I'm tracking my food and exercise, too. Thanks for the extra motivation, Trish.

Trish Milburn on August 5, 2009 at 11:41 PM said...

Hi, Nicki. Glad to see you here. Thanks for the suggestion. I'm sure others here will like it. You all are going to start calling me Picky Patty, but I don't eat cottage cheese either.

Marie-Nicole Ryan on August 6, 2009 at 9:42 AM said...

A popsicle is only 60 calories (one-half of one of the double ones). I love those in the summer, especially when I can find lime ones. Trish mentioned the Weight Watchers' Fudge bar. They also make a latte bar and I like it even more than the fudge one. And those WW bars are big, not little skimpy ones. They also contain fiber. Fiber takes more time to digest and burns 2-3 extra calories.

I have dark chocolate Hershey's Kisses left over from a booksigning, and since I prefer milk chocolate, preferably with almonds!, I can have one every day or so and it really helps curb the chocolate urge.

Trish Milburn on August 7, 2009 at 12:09 AM said...

Marie-Nicole, that's good to know about popsicles, though I'm an orange fan. Thanks for sharing all your tips. Keep 'em coming!

Caren Crane on August 15, 2009 at 12:29 PM said...

Okay, this dessert is my favorite and incredibly versatile. The South Beach Diet recommends you ALWAYS have dessert - as long as it's a healthy one. Remember, Trish: South Beach is NOT low carb, it's good carb!

Take 1/4 reduced-fat ricotta cheese and add...whatever you like. A couple of my faves are: 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1 tsp. cocoa powder and 2 packets Splenda (cuz I like mine extra sweet!); or, 1/4. tsp almond extract plus the cocoa and Splenda.

It's incredibly versatile and also good to toss in blueberries and Splenda, etc. We've used all different flavor extracts (lemon, orange, peppermint, rum) and played with different fruits, nuts and even chocolate chips! Good stuff.

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