ohh I LOVE this idea! :cool:

Original quote this was tagged with is gone - the suggestion was strawberry greek yogurt with a graham cracker crumbled on top.

Instead of expensive, sweetened greek yogurt, take plain greek yogurt (which you can make for half the price you can buy) and either swirl in a teaspoon or so of strawberry jam of fresh strawberries and instead of a graham cracker, add grape nuts or Cracklin Oat Bran which have more nutrients and taste great, even more flavorful.

yep like that tooo :)

I just discovered one and I'm SO excited. A frozen banana, a scoop of chocolate whey protein, and skim milk to desired thickness. Tastes like a chocolate frostee!! This would be great with some strawberries too I bet ;)

I like having a sweet treat several times a week. I just work it into my calorie count. I could never stick longterm to a plan that restricts sweets to once a month or restricts them altogether. Also I dont like artificial sweeteners so I have to allot some calories for treats.

Yep, I LOVE a sweet treat too, skinny cow ice cream sandwich after a light dinner, a piece of good quality dark chocolate with a skim milk latte, Low Cal jelly in a pretty glass with fruit set in it, topped with a spoon of low fat greek youghurt (is my favourite at the moment), I also poach fruits to have with low fat custard for winter, a low GI crumble topping made from low fat spread, oats and oat bran with a little brown sugar, that is great over any poached or stewed fruit, my list goes on and on...I have a "dessert" probably 4 or 5 times a week? I don't see anything wrong with that...sometimes it may be empty calories, some times fruit, but it tastes good, stops me from feeling like I am on a "diet", and i cannot see a problem with that quite frankly.

For someone whose trigger is sweet stuff then avoiding it all together is the way to go. If I were to eat some then I will binge. For a compulsive overeater like me the first bite is just the beginning of a binge so don't even take it. Just for another perspective. :)

This is it for me, too. This time around, my dieting has seemed so much easier than it was for me in the past. I think a key reason for this is that I allow myself to eat normal food, just in smaller portions. (Also, I work activity into my everyday routine rather than having to set aside an hour or more for a formal work out).

If I feel that I'm getting out of control, I just skip the sweets for a few days, and I'm fine. I realize this may not work for others (as attested to on this board). To the OP, there's really no "right" or "wrong" to this; it's just finding what works for YOU.

I am more like this too - I have found, much to my surprise, that my very low carb plan is EASIER for me to stick to than when I was calorie counting and I could have desserts if I saved the calories. The problem (for ME, not saying everyone does this) is that I'd start off eating nice portions of healthy food. But then over time, I'd end up eating less of the healthy foods to save up those calories for the treats. And I might still lose a little weight but I wasn't feeling good. Now I feel so much better and energetic because I am eating my fill of lean proteins and veggies. I am not even counting calories (don't need to with my plan) but when I tracked for a bit just out of curiosity, I am eating much fewer calories than before but feeling so much more satisfied with them.

Just another example of how individual all of this is, and how we all have to experiment to find to right way to do this for each of us.

Aldi has these really, really delicious chocolate bars called Roser Moth. You get 5 individual bars in a pack, and some of the flavors are 120 calories each (like Chili Chocolate, Mint Chocolate, Orange Almond chocolate). They're also dark chocolate, and seem to be made of the kind of ingredients more expensive chocolate is made of. Also, one pack is only about $1.89, so it's not that bad.

Thanks for all the great advice!

I have lots of methods to getting my sweet craving out of the way.

My first thing is to get fruit. Fruit has natural sweeteners and is way better than grabbing chocolate or a cookie. But for me, I don't always have that option since I'm a college girl. My fridge is tiny and my fruit usually goes bad before I can eat all of it! :(

I also keep around small squares of dark chocolate. I also love Snack Wells! They have these mini cookie packs that are 100 cals. I try not to eat a lot of them but maybe 1-2 a month if I need it.

I also found these weight watchers mini fudge bars in the freezer aisle. They are so yummy and only 45 calories.

If I have a craving, I try not to just suck it up and get over it because I feel like it makes me sad and will make me want to crack and just forget the dieting all together. Everything is okay in moderation! Don't stress yourself out about it. :)

Occasionally we buy a Green and Blacks organic chocolate bar, I really like the milk chocolate or the almond one. It is really good chocolate and has a bit higher coco % in it. They also sell dark chocolate too.

Anyway 20 grams is 105-120 cals depending on type of bar, that is two strips on the big bar which is 100 grams. I will have that with 4 oz of skim milk and that really fits the bill. I eat it slowly and savour it. It is such nice chocolate that a small amount is sufficient.

I recently discovered frozen blackberries make a great treat. One at a time in the mouth, they take awhile to become soft enought to chew (or squish between the tongue and roof my mouth). 1/2 - 1 cup completely satsifies the sweet tooth (of which my mouth is full of!), it takes a long time to eat, and you can control the calorie count.

It helps to understand your craving. I used to be a smoker. I would smoke at the end of a meal...that was my signal to be "done". After I quit, I couldn't quit eating...and eventually replaced the cigarette with something sweet (this would partially explain the added 25 lbs after I quit). Now I'm looking for better sweet things than the large, processed portions of stuff I was eating. The berries make me very happy!

If you know you need something at the end, will binge heavily if you don't get something, then find that little something that will take care of it (pudding, 2 Kisses, yogurt, etc). If the one little taste leads to more and more at each sitting, then find an alternative...teeth brushing, gum chewing, water drinking, etc. But find what works for you that fits into your plan!

I remember reading once that after a meal, it's pretty natural for your body to want something sweet, like it's a trigger that it's the end of the eating session. Can you work a sweet little dessert into your plan? Or get some grapes or sweet fruit, something that can trip your 'sweet' mechanism without breaking the caloric bank?

This may not help a chocoholic but whenever I am craving something after dinner I always go for my apples and peanut butter! I cut up 1 small apple, put some cinnamon on the slices, microwave for 1.5min then I take 1 TBSP on peanut butter put that in a dish microwave that for a couple seconds. Dip the tasty apples in the peanut butter. So good and always leaves me satisfied, just remember to save some calories for it.