Many of us who are trying to lose weight find it very difficult to say no to a dessert or sweet treat of some kind – whether it is a piece of cake or a chocolate bar resisting the urge to eat sweet, calorie laden is something we all struggle with. Instead of allowing a sugar craving to ruin our diet we should look for low calorie desserts and treats that will both satisfy our need for something sweet and help us keep off any excess weight.

Many dieters still like to count calories when they are losing weight – and they know that everything tiny thing consumed will add to their daily calorie count, this is why sweet food items are the usually the first thing to be excluded from any weight loss program. However, feeling deprived when trying to lose weight generally causes a diet to fail – sensible healthy eating should include everything in moderation and that includes healthy, low calorie desserts. There are a number of things that are easy to do in order to make a dessert choice part of your healthy eating plan.

Choose light desserts

When looking for low calorie desserts try to avoid those high in butter, cream and eggs – look, or make, meringues for example – beautifully sweet and crispy they will satisfy your sugar craving whilst containing little or no fat.

Make your own granita instead of ice cream – this classic Italian iced dessert is much lower in fat than regular ice cream. Granita is easy to make and does not require an ice cream maker.

Increase the fruit content

Adding fruit to a small portion of dessert will make your dessert choice appear more decadent! When baking fruit puree, or even juice, can be used to replace some of the fat content or regular sugar content, thereby producing a low calorie dessert.

Use less of the high calorie ingredients

Desserts including chocolate and nuts, for example, are delicious and both these ingredients offer some nutritional benefits, however they are also high in calories. Reduce the content of nuts and chocolate in order to create low calorie desserts. Melting the chocolate, or grating it, will make it go further. It is also possible to swap chocolate for cocoa powder – which is sugar free and almost fat free but still high in healthy antioxidants; nuts should be toasted for extra flavour and/or finely chopped before use.

Choose pre-portioned desserts

Many of us seem to lose self-control where desserts are concerned, finding it impossible to resist the larger portions. Choosing desserts that are already portioned – such as a cupcake – will automatically make it a low calorie dessert choice.

Reduce levels of fat and sugar

Whilst some fat content is essential for baking – without it, the baked goods will be dry and tasteless – it is possible to reduce some of that content by switching to low-fat versions of butter, milk, cream, or sour cream etc. It may be necessary to try a few different brands before finding the one you like – but saving those extra calories makes it worthwhile.

Make it healthy

Improving the nutritional value of a dessert may not cut the calorie content but will make the dessert more beneficial – and will have the added benefit of making you feel fuller and satisfied for longer.

Using whole-wheat flour, adding oats, using nut meal, heart healthy fats, extra fibre are all things that can be done to make any dessert healthier whilst maintaining its delicious taste.