Friday, March 7, 2014

Dessert Alternatives

Since beginning my "Get Healthy" journey I have changed my eating habits, which I believe has aided in my weight loss as well as my overall health. I want to share a few of my alternatives I've switched to in hopes that you might find them helpful as well.

Ice Cream (Okay really this should be titled Dessert, but who am I kidding?)
I am an ice cream addict, or rather I was. I think the hardest thing for me to give up when making the choice to be healthy was ice cream. However, it needed to be done because I was having a bowl of ice cream every night before I made the switch. (And I wonder why I didn't feel healthy, I was tired, and sluggish.)

I discovered Yopa! Yopa is the most delicious greek yogurt I have found and Yopa has a yogurt that comes with toppings. My absolute favorite is Yopa Raspberry with Dove chocolate pieces you can add in. It is absolutely amazing and it kicks my ice cream loving sweet tooth cravings. The other Yopa flavor I find tasty is Yopa vanilla with M&M's. Though I think I can make this one at home if I just buy the bigger tub of greek yogurt and some mini M&M's but I usually just go ahead and buy the pre-packaged version. This is an affordable alternative at only $1 per container. The only place I've been able to find Yopa, however, is Walmart and the selection basically consists of Raspberry and Dove, Vanilla and M&M, and Lemon and shortbread. When I need to switch to something else I also eat the Yocrunch yogurt with toppings. Because Yocrunch is regular (not Greek) yogurt it is a little cheaper at 5/$3 (at Walmart). It is yummy, but in my opinion nothing can beat the deliciousness of Greek yogurt, especially when you are trying to replace ice cream.

I do have to say that I still allow myself a little ice cream every now and again, but when I do I stick to the recommended portion size which is 1/2 cup.

Another dessert I have come to love that is very low in calories is sugar-free jello. It is delicious and if you buy it pre-packaged each cup only has 5 calories! This is awesome for the days you really want dessert but had a somewhat high calorie dinner.

The Black Bean Brownie recipe I referred to in an earlier post are also a wonderful alternative for those brownie lovers out there. In fact I made regular fudge brownies two days ago and tried a small slice, I think I prefer the Flour-less to the ones made with flour now.

It can be difficult to find low-calorie recipes. In fact searching for low-calorie recipes (I've found) can be frustrating because they are always attached to some special diet. I have found and made use of some weight watchers recipes that turned out deliciously and were low cal but if you want to skip the hassle of finding recipes I invite you to follow me on Pinterest. I have a special Calorie Friendly board dedicated to low-calorie yummy recipes. In fact they are so yummy your family will hardly notice they are eating healthy!

Follow my pin board Calorie Friendly here!

Until next time, I wish you good health and luck on your journey! Please feel free to share your success, motivation, and especially your favorite alternatives in the comment section below.

-Alaina



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