Hey all!
Maintaining my weight at this point. But I have a huge sweet tooth. Any advice on specific sweet alternatives for chocolate or ice creams? I'm a person that loves rich flavors. But I'm looking for something to control that craving to help with splurging. (example, sometimes I keep 90% dark chocolate on hand).
Any suggestions is helpful!
Replies
Rather an experimental process for each of us. Wish you the best.
For ice cream, some of the Halo Top flavors are good but I found it wasn't great for me because I need to work on portion sizes. While I technically could fit in a whole pint into my calorie day, I don't need to be eating a whole pint of ice cream. For me that just leads to eating a whole pint of "real" ice cream later. I now prefer Chilly Cow because it comes in more reasonable servings and also tastes more like real ice cream.
Also, I've started eating plain Greek yogurt with cucumbers and in a weird way that seemed to help with my sweet tooth.
Also, it's hard to over indulge on fruit usually (not for everyone), so sometimes I'll keep fruit around since I'm less likely to grab it.
I like the chocolate hummus with ricotta on toast. But it doesn't really taste like chocolate to me.
I also absolutely LOVE dark cocoa powder...10 calories/tbsp. - get to mix in yogurt or I even mix it into cottage cheese with stevia/sweetener.
Equipment:
You NEED to have a powerful blender - like a Vitamix (I have a Ninja 'Professional' blender)
First - to make a chocolate/mocha one (my favorite):
1/8 cup of cold strong coffee into blender
Add 3/4 tsp. to 1 tsp. of Xanthum gum (keeps it less icy and really thickens it up – I also find it gives it ‘texture’)
1 -2tbsp.
of vanilla/caramel extract and sweetener of choice ( I use Stevia)
*I’ve been now using stevia along with some Salted Chocolate/Espresso Jordan Skinny Syrup too!
2+TBSP. of dark cocoa powder (or more if you like)
Add 1/4 tray of ice - blender to break up. Add another ¼ and blend. Keep adding ice cubes until you get ‘right’ consistency. Blend.
Put in freezer for an hour or so and then it's 'ready' - or just eat the fluff straight away (much more like ice cream though if you freeze it) Add whatever to make it yummy - berries, etc.,
Not bad for around 25-30 calories!
Okay, a) gotta give that a try; b) how on earth did you stumble across that?!; and c) it really does go to show that the possibilities are endless!
If I'm craving something like a Snickers (doesn't happen too often, but it does happen), I love a date with maybe 15g almond butter and a little bit of sea salt. (similar to @wendyheath32 but I find dates have a chocolate-ish flavour of their own)
I also will have portioned out servings of the gummy sweets I love. I keep them in MFP and put them in my diary before I leave work for the day. But I can just have one serving (when I've pre-measured it) generally. I have a history of eating way too many dried fruits, so they get the same treatment.
* unsugared dried fruit in small portions (especially mangos),
* Frozen Yasso Greek yogurt bars (100 cals but some nutrition),
* small but rich individual chocolate,
* Frozen unsugared fruit (especially dark cherries or mixed berries) mixed with mixed-together nonfat Greek yogurt and chocolate PB2
* Individual cups of Edy's slow-churned (reduced calorie but not artificially sweetened) ice cream (around 180 calories, but I don't find things like Halo top satisfying, and find artificial sweeteners unpleasant-tasting)
I'm really more of a savory/salty snacker, though, so things like crispy broad beans, pickles, a small portion of rich cheese on a couple lower-cal crackers - that sort of thing.
Add filling ie: 1/2 Tb. almond butter + swerve brown sugar + pecan bits...or any filling that works on your plan. I like to start with my last food for the day (sweet) and move backwards twards breakfast on MFP when Im planning for the day.
It's a known snack/side dish in some regions. Greek yogurt, grated or cubed cucumbers (I like cubed for the texture), pressed garlic, dried mint (enough to give it a speckled look but not so much as to overpower), and salt. Very tasty. You could also add EVOO, but that adds calories I can do without, so I leave it out.
you can make protein fluff without ice, then all you need is electric beaters. Ive made it a few times, you can find recipes online