Eat Dessert And Still Lose Weight
Need to lose weight, huh?1Psst…that’s a rhetorical question. Because I have two fully functioning eyes, of course you need to lose weight!!!
That probably means you’re on a diet and have cut out all sweet shit because you think there are “good” foods and “bad” foods that make you fat, with dessert items falling into the “bad” category.
Ha, look at you already doing dumb shit!
For one, there’s no such thing as a “good” or “bad” food. While some foods contain more calories, fat, and carbs than others, weight gain and its loss has more to do with how much food you eat in totality than what you eat. So eat nothing but fruits and vegetables and you’ll still gain weight if you routinely overshoot your daily allotment of calories. And you’ll lose weight if you eat nothing but pastries and routinely come under it.
Second, treating yourself every day to sweets, like a dessert, helps you stay in control of your cravings by preventing you from feeling like you’re depriving yourself, which is a common reason why people binge on their diets, if they don’t give up altogether.
So yeah, eat dessert!
…just make sure it’s the real sinful kind and account for it like you would any other item. However, if you’re not counting your calories and/or macros in favor of intuitive eating, then make sure that you know exactly what you’re having for dessert before your meal.2NOTE: A study in the Journal of Experimental Psychology offered diners two dessert options: cheesecake or fresh fruit. 70 percent of the diners who selected cheesecake ahead of anything else they were going to eat consistently chose lower calorie main and side dishes and consumed significantly fewer calories throughout the course of the meal than those who chose either dessert last. That’s because when choosing something light, your mind takes it as license to choose something heavier as a reward for the responsible choice. Choosing something heavier makes the brain do the counter, with it then factoring in the heavier choice and causing you to subconsciously make lighter choices to minimize the damage.
Most desserts are high in refined carbs, trans fats, and added sugars, making them calorie dense and easily capable of contributing to excess weight gain. That’s why you may elect to forego them when on a health kick.
But that need not be the case for the reasons given, especially when you watch your calories and cut out sources of added sugar from processed foods and packaged snacks, as well as sodas and other sugary beverages (e.g. sports and energy drinks, fruit juices, gourmet coffees, sweetened teas).
So yes, you can eat dessert while dieting instead of skipping it…
…or only saving it for when your significant other is covered in chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and a cherry on top of their private parts.
Glossary: calories, diet, dietary fat, fat
