It seems no matter how much we have eaten or how full we are, there’s always room for dessert.   The bad news is that many desserts like ice cream and cookies are loaded with calories and fat.  If you indulge in these desserts too often you’ll pack on the pounds. 

Here are my top 5 suggestions for curbing those late night cravings:

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1)  Brush your teeth: After finishing your meal, use a minty mouthwash or brush with a minty toothpaste. If that’s not feasible, pop some sugar-free mints or gum into your mouth.  Studies show that a minty flavors will curb your craving for something sweet.  For example, have you ever drunk orange juice right after brushing your teeth in the morning? Yuck! Mints and sweets just don’t mix.

2)  Keep low-calorie, sugar-free dessert options available:  Sugar-free popsicles, fudgesicles, pudding and gelatin are low-calorie ways to satisfy your sweet tooth. 

3) Try fruit: Fruit is not only sweet, but is packed with vitamins and minerals and has only 60 calories per serving, 0 grams of fat, and it’s a good way to incorporate fiber into your diet. 

4)  Portion control treats: If you MUST have something sweet and none of the above suggestions work, try individually wrapped portion-controlled candies.  Hershey’s Kisses, mini York Peppermint Patties or “fun-size” candy bars are pre-portioned, which can help to prevent you from devouring more calories than you realize.

5)  Eat less sugar and refined carbohydrates throughout the day:  The less sugar you eat, the less insulin your body releases.  The less insulin your body releases, the less sugar you crave.

Like any other habit, the craving for something sweet may come as a result of being trained to expect it after a meal.  Try breaking the habit for one week and you’ll be guaranteed to have drastically diminished your after-meal sweet craving. 

Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD is a nutritionist and the creator of The F-Factor Diet™, an innovative nutritional program she has used for more than ten years to provide hundreds of her clients with all the tools they need to achieve easy weight loss and maintenance, improved health and well-being.  For more information log onto www.FFactorDiet.com.

You are sitting at your desk when all of a sudden your body demands chocolate. You try and focus on your work, but you can’t get chocolate off your mind. A voice in your head begins to chant, “I want chocolate!” forcing you to march over to the vending machine and buy yourself a chocolate bar.

Cravings like that are all too familiar for many of us. And when the craving is strong enough – words like “healthy” and “diet” go right out the window. So how do you tame your cravings without packing on the pounds?

The trick is not to ignore the craving – you’ll just end up obsessing even more. Instead, give in to the craving, but make a smarter choice. Below are the five most popular cravings and my top picks for alternatives that won’t sabotage your middle.

CRAVING WRONG FOOD HEALTHIER CHOICE

Salty Potato Chips Light Microwave Popcorn

Sweet Cookies Gnu Food’s Flavor and Fiber Bar

Fat Hamburger Turkey burger with sliced avocado

Creamy Ice cream Low-Fat ice cream

Chocolate Snickers Bar 70% Cocoa Dark Chocolate

1. SALTY: When you want something salty and crunchy, potato chips fit the bill. Unfortunately, a 2oz. bag of Lay’s potato Chips has 300 calories and 20g of fat. WOW! Instead, opt for a bag of microwave popcorn. Try Orville Redenbacher’s Smart Pop Butter Flavor. Seven cups have only 120 calories, and 2g of fat, plus a whopping 7g of fiber that will help to keep you full all afternoon long.

2. SWEET: Cookies are sweet and chewy but also loaded with fat and calories. Three Chips Ahoy chocolate chip cookies have 160 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 1 gram fiber. One oatmeal raisin cookie from Au Bon Pain contains 230 calories, 8 grams of fat and 2 grams of fiber. Instead, grab a Gnu Food’s Flavor and Fiber Bar. These sweet and chewy bars not only taste amazing, they contain only 130-140 calories, less than 2 grams of fat and have a whopping 12 grams of fiber per bar!

3. FAT: Men love red meat. When you crave a burger, your body isn’t just looking for protein, but fat too. Unfortunately, the fat found in chuck is saturated – the kind of fat that clogs your arteries and raises your cholesterol. So swap your beef burger for a turkey burger made from skinless breast, which has about 6 grams less fat per ounce (do the math – that will save you almost 24 grams of fat for a 4 oz. burger). To address the fat craving, add some sliced avocado to your turkey burger. Avocado is a monounsaturated (the good fat that lowers your cholesterol), so this is one burger you don’t have to feel guilty eating.

4. CREAMY: When you crave something cold and creamy, nothing but ice cream will do. The problem is that premium ice cream is loaded with fat and calories! One cup of Ben and Jerry’s Chubby Hubby contains 660 calories and 40 grams of fat! To put it into perspective, a Big Mac has 570 calories, and 32 grams of fat. The good news is that through advancements in processing, low fat ice cream now tastes as rich and creamy as regular. So swap the premium stuff for a cup of Edy’s Slow Churned Light Ice Cream Peanut Butter Cup which has only 260 calories and 12 grams of fat.

5. CHOCOLATE: When your brain craves chocolate – there simply is no substitute. Only the real thing will do. To eat chocolate without gaining weight, the trick is to do it the way European’s do. They go for the dark stuff. Instead of milk chocolate bars loaded with sugar, caramel and nuts, opt for a bar of premium dark chocolate that has at least 70% cocoa content. Dark chocolate contains less sugar than milk and because the flavor is so strong you don’t need to eat as much to feel satisfied. Also, the darker the chocolate, the higher the antioxidant content. And the good thing about antioxidants is they help protect you against cancer.

Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD is a nutritionist and the creator of The F-Factor Diet™, an innovative nutritional program she has used for more than ten years to provide hundreds of her clients with all the tools they need to achieve easy weight loss and maintenance, improved health and well-being. For more information log onto www.FFactorDiet.com