So my birthday is coming up and at first I was going to do a full cheat for dinner/dessert by eating at my favorite pizza place and getting dessert. Then I felt guilty and decided I would stay on plan with dinner but still have dessert. I''m wondering if anyone knows what might be the least destructive dessert I could have or what my plan of attack should be. I thought I would not eat my restricted item for the day. Any suggestions?

maybe you can make one of the delicious IP dessert recipes? if you look through the thread, there are recipes for cupcakes and cookies and all kinds of yummy things. this way you can feel like you're cheating without cheating!

my birthday is this saturday, so i know how you feel, but i'm not craving anything sweet because i already get way too much sweet food from the packets.

happy birthday!

Cool Whip Free!
For the entire bowl of it, there are roughly 400 calories, that means you can have 1/4 of the bowl and only spend 100 calories. Throw some fresh fruit over top (strawberries and peaches are great) and you have dessert. I like to keep it frozen in the freezer until I'm ready to eat it, and it has about the consistency of ice cream, you get that creamy and sweet tooth taken care of, and you get more volume of food than you would if you had 1/2 cup ice cream. If you're having friends over you can make a sponge cake for them to put the cool whip and fruit over. Or cool whip is cheap enough that you can give everyone their own bowl full.

Make a cake out of the chocolate pancake and muffin mix and ice with the Cool Whip Free (suggested above)!

Maybe you can splurge by getting a massage or getting a really great smelling new candle to burn! Something non-food for a treat. Just an idea. Happy Birthday and wishing you many more skinny ones! <3 <3 ><3

Angel food cake is low in calories. A slice of angel food cake, topped with cool whip , (very low calories) top with a couple of sliced strawberries. The cool whip is sweet enough that you don't need to put sugar on the berries. This is a low calorie and delicious desert.

How about a low-carb chocolate mousse? This looks delicious, and wouldn't bump you out of ketosis.

http://markiscooking.com/?p=9

I agree...to be long term successful with IP you need to "unhook" your idea of celebrating/reward from being automatically attached to food. This is as good a time as any...and congrats to you for already forgoing the pizza! You have to ask yourself, "Is eating a dessert really worth the loss of money and slowing my weight loss?" Wouldn't you feel a lot better doing something healthy for yourself instead of indulging in the same kind of "reward" that got all of us here in the first place? And, if you sign up for a facial or massage it goes on for a LOT longer than eating a dessert! Make some parfaits with IP chocolate and vanilla (or banana or butterscotch) pudding and top with crumbled choco-soy puffs..looks pretty and tastes great! Happy Birthday

Just my two cents but,

DON'T do cool whip free. It is made with aspartame and you save NOTHING in carbs.

Cool whip has 2 carbs of sugar per 2tbsp and Cool whip free has 3 carbs per 2 tbsp. NO savings there.

Truly, if you want something like that, do it yourself. Make some really whipping cream into whipped cream and use splenda or stevia. You will still be dealing with fat but, a healthier fat than that in cool whip and you can control how much "sweet" and carbs you add.

As for fruit, again, I wouldn't. It could be hard to stop. If you decide that is your best choice stick with raspberry, strawberry, blackberries, or blueberries. They are lowest on the carbs and glycemic index.

I like the idea of treating yourself with something other than food. This is a short term experience and chance to retrain habits. Society teaches us to celebrate with food. It doesn't have to be that way and, for some of us, it is good to learn how to celebrate in a food free fashion.

If you want to try an on plan dessert, try making the IP Icecream. You get 2 servings per recipe. You could have a portion of that with an IP chocolate muffin and call it good.

Best wishes for whatever you decide and have a very happy birthday.

Thanks everyone for your advice! I might just make my own IP stuff at home. I don't really crave sweet stuff anymore (nor did I ever really, I'm more of a salty/savory person) but I thought it would be nice to split a dessert with my husband. I've lost 15 lbs. in less than a month and I don't really want to jeopardize it. Thanks for the support!

I have my bd coming up tomorrow, and today at work they are taking me to a sushi restaraunt. I hate sushi lol...They know I am eatting special right now but told me awwww annette its your bd, it wont hurt you. I said awwwww yes it will. I dont want to eat something I shouldnt no matter if you stick a frigging double fudge cake in my face I wont eat it lol.

So they called ahead to see if there was something else I could eat. They have some salmon and steamed veggies they can make me. I said ty, and no cake LOL...

I am trying not to think of food as a reward. Instead of a bd cake I will take 50$ an buy something at winners, my fav store!!! When you move out of the plus sizes its so fun to shop for pretty girlie things. I have been buying two sizes smaller for things for the summer. And most have been on sale, like 15$. And someone here said


NOTHING TASTES AS GOOD AS SKINNY FEELS

For Christmas, I made cheesecake - I picked the lowest carb cream cheese, softened 2 oz, stirred in a couple packets of splenda & a 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract, spread it in a little glass bowl and topped it with some WF strawberry jelly that I had microwaved for a couple of seconds to get it to liquify. I left it all in the fridge for a couple of hours & it made a really nice cheesecake! You could even use the chocolate soy puffs, crush them up to be a crust & then top with WF chocolate or caramel...

I am only on day 4 of IP and see where others are posting of substitutes for IP shake, specifically Advange Edge Carb Shake??? Is this for real>

It's for real (an acceptable substitute) if you are going to do alternative foods to IP foods. You may want to search the archives, some have said the metal content is a bit high and you shouldn't do more than 2 a day. Also, if you are going through a clinic, I think you should consult with your coach on how they feel about substitutes. JMO

Thanks for the input, but this particular diet is not a calorie counting diet, there are completely different restrictions on what we can and can't have - unfortunately neither of these things fit the bill.

To the OP, I'm a big fan of NOT making food the focus - I will still be on Phase 1 for my birthday and so I am just celebrating in non-food ways. As I have said in other threads, NOTHING is worth me having to extend my time on the diet by even one day.

That said, Rainbowsmiles posted a few cake recipes that are just about 100% on plan (she uses tofutti to make "frosting" but that is very close to being on plan and will not throw you off track):

Amaretto chocolate cake
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/4469377-post311.html

Cinnamon Spice cake
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/4488498-post399.html