Favorite Cheat under 250 calories

Blue bunny mini ice cream cones!! 140-160 calories, depending on flavor. Also, I make Mojitos for 90 calories!!! Those are my weekend treats!

I agree with above, not a cheat, but IIFYM!

I don't consider it a cheat, but for 250 calories I will happily eat cookies. How many depends on which cookies and how many calories each.

i love outshine bars

a glass of whole milk (150 cals/cup) and a square of Ghirardelli 86% dark chocolate (60 cals).

250 calories would be sufficient for about 20 ounces of a pretty good session IPA, or a larger amount of an even better-tasting but higher-ABV one.

An individual cup of Edy's Slow-churned Caramel Delight ice cream would also fit, with enough calories left to add some unsweetened coconut or some dry-roasted peanuts.

There are other options, but that's a couple.

Not a cheat, though: Just food.

busyPK wrote: »

When I have that many calories to work with I enjoy nutella and pretzels. 1-1.5T nutella and a serving of pretzels and eat them slowly.

Nutella is best served by the spoonful....or just on your finger😇

For those few calories, I wouldn't consider it a splurge, but I have one savory and one sweet suggestion:

savory -- I mix cheddar cheese powder (I use King Arthur Flour vermont cheddar cheese powder, but it's similar to the cheese powder people put on popcorn) with plain greek yogurt, to get a very satisfying cheese "pudding" that I eat with a spoon. Bonus -- it provides a protein boost while tasting cheesier to me than most commercial cheese-flavored snacks. The amount I have typically runs just under 200 kcal. YMMV.

sweet -- I mix dark chocolate cocoa mix (the sweetened stuff that you can use to make a hot chocolate beverage) with a far smaller amount of milk than the directions would call for, so that the consistency is similar to brownie batter. Again, the amount I have typically runs just under 200 kcal. It's very much like eating raw brownie batter, without the worry of raw egg or raw flour. I'm probably going to have to start mixing up my own cocoa mix, since it's easier to source fair trade plain powdered cocoa than fair trade cocoa mix, and I'm trying not to support businesses built on trafficked child slave labor. (Sorry to be a bummer.)

I have a low cal snack most nights. I like nuts, trail mix, dark chocolate, wheat thins, fruit and popcorn.

None of these are a cheat to me and i don't consider anything I eat bad.

Also eating something small before bed helps me sleep better.

At 250 calories, I have discovered an addiction to mint Cliff bars

Chips and salsa always!!!!!

If you crave something savoury and crunchy (like a chip), some carby snacks sold for deep frying at home can be puffed and crisped in the microwave.

Poppadoms are about 38 kcal per disc. Do those 1 minute in the microwave on high and mix some mango chutney with low fat yoghurt to make a dipping sauce.

Similarly 6 asian tapioca prawn crackers (20g) are about 66 kcal when microwaved. They go for 30-40 seconds but scorch more easily than poppadoms.

Those Vietnamese rice papers sold for making summer rolls when softened in water also crisp up in the microwave. You will need to brush some soy sauce onto them as they are unsalted. You'll have to experiment with timing as I don't remember how long I used to zap them for.

Here is a picture of my last poppadom as sold, and after microwaving a minute.