Guess What? You Can Lose Weight and Eat Dessert.
The Federal Government who brought us “Discretionary Spending” has recently released a study that revises national nutritionist panel thinking on dieting and dessert. They call the concept "discretionary calories."
What they are talking about are the calories “left over” after you have prudently cut calories all day long, and kept your intake under your daily requirement. They say you can now use those calories for a small dessert. Consider it your reward for eating healthy the rest of the day.
The key is to keep your calorie count low. Eat nutritious and healthy low calorie meals throughout the day. Skip the mayo on your sandwich. Put only a little shredded cheese on your salad or sandwich, or eliminate it completely and there just might be a piece of pie in your future.
Active people who are healthy eaters will have more discretionary options according to the report. The key is to eat foods that are high in nutrition like fruits, vegetables and lean meats, but low in calories keeping you enough under you calorie limit so that yummy slice of chocolate cake or a couple of Oreos and milk will still fit in. It’s like a bonus for doing the right thing and it helps satisfy the sweet cravings and keep you motivated to stay on your weight loss program or keep you maintenance goals.
If you are already more than a few pounds overweight the idea of discretionary calories really wont work for you, because yo have already used yours up. However, that does not mean you need to be denied that after dinner treat entirely just because you are on a weight loss regimen.
There is still a plethora healthy dessert options out there, that can actually help yo with weight loss. How about Caramelized Fruit to satisfy that sweet tooth? Grilled caramelized fruit provides a tasty ending to a healthy meal. Here is a recipe from Whole Foods that calls for melons and pineapple - but you can substitute your favorite fresh ripe fruit in season, including apricots, figs, peaches, nectarines, papayas and mangos.
Glaze
• 2 cups pineapple juice
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (3 to 4 limes)
• 2 TB minced fresh mint
Fruit
• 1 ripe honeydew melon, halved, seeded
• 1 ripe cantaloupe melon, halved, seeded
• 1 ripe pineapple, peeled, cored cut into 2x1-inch pieces
• 24 bamboo skewers (6-inch), soaked in water, 1 hour, drained
• Canola oil
To prepare the glaze: Combine the pineapple juice, orange juice and vinegar in a saucepan over high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup, about 25 minutes. Pour 1/2-cup of the juice mixture into a small bowl. Set aside to cool, about 30 minutes. Once cool, add the lime juice and mint, stir to blend, set aside for presentation. The remaining 1/4 cup of glaze will be used to brush on the fruit while grilling.
To prepare the fruit: Using a melon ball cutter, scoop out enough melon balls from the honeydew and cantaloupe to measure 4 cups total or cut the melons into 2x1-inch pieces. Cut the pineapple into 2x1-inch pieces. Thread each skewer alternating the honeydew, pineapple, and cantaloupe leaving about 3/4-inch of the skewer exposed at the blunt end, wrap with foil to prevent burning.
To grill: Preheat the grill to 375°F (a medium-hot fire). Place the fruit skewers on a lightly oiled hot grill. Grill until golden brown and slightly charred, brushing with reserved glaze on each side during last 30 seconds of cooking, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove foil and arrange kebobs on individual serving plates, drizzle with minted glaze
A delicious serving only has 200 calories, and none of them from fat.
|
