Healthy Alternatives to Cake & Chocolate

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  • IUGB
    IUGB Posts: 15 Member
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    Try eating really good chocolate (the darker the better). I'm satisfied with much less when I eat a high quality, extremely dark chocolate (more than 75%).

    I'm not a fan of cutting out foods from my diet, but I do try to temper my sweet tooth with fruit (especially strawberries, my favorite).

    Good luck!
  • mycupyourcake
    mycupyourcake Posts: 279 Member
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    What do you think is not 'healthy' about Cake & Chocolate for you?

    And so - what would you be looking for in a 'healthy' alternative?

    I incorporate both into a healthy lifestyle by doing exercise and making sure I meet an appropriate macro nutrient goal for my needs.
    I imagine that the poster has a much lower calorie allowance than you so what she means by healthy is exactly that....something she can eat and enjoy and not go over her calorie allowance or put too much of a dent into what she needs to save for actual nutrient dense food. I wish my calorie allowance was around 2600 or such, then I could eat cake as well. yet my calorie allowance is 1600 and a piece of cake and ice cream cuts a dent of about 500 or so calories and leaves me only 1100 calories for "healthy food."
  • MonaRaeHill
    MonaRaeHill Posts: 145 Member
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    You might be interested to know that RAW cacao can be imbibed in any amount without harm. In fact, raw Cacao is an enormous anti-oxidant and while it's still considered a stimulant, I never seem to get that from it. It's a bit caloric, but raw chocolate can't be beat, in my mind.
    The Hail Merry's chocolate tart is incredible, but can be made much less expensive by just doing it yourself. Raw treat recipes are much too complicated to follow, so I just non-bake according to a rough formula. I look at the label and just do simple math of all the ingredients...........for instance..........the first ingredient of 10 items is Almond Flour, so I know that if I use a cup of Almond flour, everything that remains in the list of ingredients, is going to be less then that by at least 1/10th.
    It sounds complicated but really isn't. I mean, common sense tells me that ANY recipe is not likely to use more then a tablespoon of vanilla extract, right? Soooooooo the ingredients at the end of the list are going to be in very small amounts.
    Then I play around until I get the copy-cat close to the original. Hail Merry's stuff isn't organic, either, so while they may be a good snack, on occasion, it's much healthier to make it yourself. All you really need is a good food processor and some good intuition (and maybe some volunteer tasters.......lol). I purchase truly raw almonds from a couple of places........Tierra Farms, for one.......Sometimes Nuts Online, and/or Essential Living Foods. You have to buy quantity (5 pounds) from some of them. Works okay for me, cause I go through lots of them...........AND, I have an extra refrigerator. :)
    I made a copy-cat lemon bar from Hail Merry's list of ingredients and mine was wayyyyy better (and organic, too)........I got several requests for more.........:)
    My favorite raw cacao powder (hands-down) is from Super Live Foods. It tastes like chocolate liquor. So rich and satisfying.
    Soooooooooo..............yes, you can have your cake and eat it, too! lol.
    Good luck and enjoy!
  • aimforhealthy
    aimforhealthy Posts: 449 Member
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    There's nothing inherently unhealthy about cake and chocolate. A slice of cake unless it's super decadent is around 300 calories; likewise a candy bar is 250-350 calories. Use portion control and eat what you want. Unless you're on one of those ill advised VLCDs you can probably have a slice of cake and still meet all your calorie and macro goals for the day if the rest of your intake is modest. I've never stopped eating cake, chocolate, etc. and I've lost over 50 lbs in a year.
  • _Resolve_
    _Resolve_ Posts: 735 Member
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    another vote for dark chocolate
  • mzbek24
    mzbek24 Posts: 436 Member
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    http://pathtowellness.com.au/cacao-balls/

    I made these and I thought they were addictive! they were plenty sweet with just the dates, but you could add a teaspoon of stevia or some sort of natural sweetener if not.

    And, raw cacao (cocoa in it's original form) gives you all the health benefits of dark chocolate like antioxidants, improving mood and pms symptoms etc, guilt free.

    Also you could check out Pinterest for more recipes.
  • CaliforniaExpatriate
    CaliforniaExpatriate Posts: 1
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    Others have made some really great suggestions. Here's one from me.

    First, enjoy your chocolate! Life is too darn short anyway. Next, try making recipes like Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Cheesecake, etc. with low-fat ingredients. I've even seen some that have the fat reduced by mixing applesauce with some of the chocolate. I haven't yet tried that so couldn't say whether it's tasty or not. As a Chocoholic myself, one thing I really would recommend: Weight Watchers has a couple of absolutely yummy low fat cheesecake recipes, including this one for chocolate cheesecake. http://www.free-ww-recipes.com/chocolate-chip-cheesecake.html

    There's a breakdown of fats/calories, etc. too. I hope you can open up the link. If not, Google Weight Watchers chocolate chip cheesecake and it should be easy to locate..

    I would have one slice, then give the rest of it away or freeze it IMMEDIATELY. Trust me, it's so good it's easy to eat the whole thing. I made it for Thanksgiving one year and nobody knew it was Weight Watchers. There wasn't even a crumb left.

    I wish you continued success in your weight loss.
  • gbbarbru
    gbbarbru Posts: 23 Member
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    Dark chocolate 80% Cocoa. Berries, apples, oranges.
  • tjl2329
    tjl2329 Posts: 169 Member
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    Fiber one brownie bars. Peanut butter chocolate, lemon, chocolate chip, and coffee cake. Only 90 calls and oh so delicious.
  • seabee78
    seabee78 Posts: 126 Member
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    Try this:

    Melt dark chocolate chips in a bowl in the microwave.

    Put a small dollop on parchment paper, about a 1"-1.5" circle. Put 4 almonds in the chocolate, and add another dollop of choco on top and then top with unsweetened coconut flakes. Chill in the fridge. Voila. Nice, bite-sized snacks. Don't eat too many in one sitting! LOL
  • lindahope549
    lindahope549 Posts: 9 Member
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    i would say chocolate pb-2 but you can only eat almonds so it wouldn't work for you. 45 cal per serving!!! awesome!!!
  • macchiatto
    macchiatto Posts: 2,890 Member
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    I'm too lazy to read the whole thread to see if this has been mentioned, but the blog www.chocolatecoveredkatie.com has tons of healthier dessert recipes. I especially love her healthy cookie dough dip and her deep dish cookie pie.
  • fisherlassie
    fisherlassie Posts: 542 Member
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    I make a chocolate banana "ice cream by" putting a ripe frozen banana in the food processor with 30 or 40 grams of almond butter, some vanilla and two heaping tablespoons of cocoa.. I like a lot of vanilla. My husband prefers a tiny bit of milk. Process until you get a scoop of ice-cream. I like to have some chunks of banana. Play with it. It may not be low cal but it is delicious and doesn't have anything in it that some people might consider empty calories.
  • macchiatto
    macchiatto Posts: 2,890 Member
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    I make a chocolate banana "ice cream by" putting a ripe frozen banana in the food processor with 30 or 40 grams of almond butter, some vanilla and two heaping tablespoons of cocoa.. I like a lot of vanilla. My husband prefers a tiny bit of milk. Process until you get a scoop of ice-cream. I like to have some chunks of banana. Play with it. It may not be low cal but it is delicious and doesn't have anything in it that some people might consider empty calories.

    Ooh, and I LOVE this too. I've made different versions but I love adding sugar-free chocolate pudding mix to the frozen banana. Nut butter or PB2 (but you can't eat that?) is good too.

    Chocolate-raspberry Dannon Light & Fit Greek yogurt is good for a chocolate craving, too.
  • absrpp
    absrpp Posts: 20
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    I love avocado, cocoa powder and almond milk chocolate mousse! So easy to make and very tasty, wouldn't guess there's avocado in there if I wasn't the one making it
  • Jewlz280
    Jewlz280 Posts: 547 Member
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    I'm sure there have been plenty of replies and maybe this has been said, but wanted to put my two cents in but not read it all. What we do is buy better quality chocolate and break off a square or two to have. Sometimes alone, sometimes with berries... dark chocolate is SO GOOD with blueberries! For cakes/brownies/cookies, we use little muffin tins to make the same foods, but in measured out portions. It works for me because knowing it is there, portioned, and I can have a bit a day until it is gone makes me happy. :) And depending on your recipe, you could even freeze them for later! I have made brownies and cake with avocado since it's fat and fiber which was nice, but over all, I feel like having those little treats satisfies and is a good balance without going to the trouble of changing them too much.
  • mycupyourcake
    mycupyourcake Posts: 279 Member
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    I make a chocolate banana "ice cream by" putting a ripe frozen banana in the food processor with 30 or 40 grams of almond butter, some vanilla and two heaping tablespoons of cocoa.. I like a lot of vanilla. My husband prefers a tiny bit of milk. Process until you get a scoop of ice-cream. I like to have some chunks of banana. Play with it. It may not be low cal but it is delicious and doesn't have anything in it that some people might consider empty calories.

    This is my go to dessert when I need something decadent, healthy and satisfying under 200 cals.
  • TLC227
    TLC227 Posts: 210 Member
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    Ghirardelli 60% cocoa chocolate chips are a strong dose of chocolate, one serving is 32 chips. Just let them melt in your mouth slowly one at a time, and get that chocolate fix. Alternatively, Ghirardelli cocoa powder only has 40 calories per tablespoon. I mix it iwth skim milk and a little sweetener for a super dark hot chocolate. It fills the cravings! Or, there are the chocolate flavored protein drink mixes. You get chocolate and protein at the same time. Win-win!
    I co-sign the Ghirardelli cocoa powder. It is delicious and at 40 cals/tbsp, it packs a flavor punch.
  • palomino698
    palomino698 Posts: 36 Member
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    Bump, love these ideas and look forward to experimenting!
  • eric_sg61
    eric_sg61 Posts: 2,925 Member
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    I hear that black bean brownies are actually pretty good and add in some protein so you're less likely to eat too many of them.

    Sometimes it's best not to find an alternative, but rather to train yourself to eat only a serving of those foods. Otherwise, you might find yourself trying to eat too many alternatives and you wind up eating more calories or fat than you would have, had you just eaten the thing you really wanted. But if they are trigger foods for you, try not keeping them in your house at all if you have a tendency to binge on them.

    Have you ever tried nutella? I loooove that stuff. I have an apple or pear every morning and i dip it in nutella for breakfast. It's a good way to get in your chocolate fix without going crazy.
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