This weeks challenge is for that after dinner sweet tooth! Eating healthy isn’t about restricting yourself from the things you love, it’s about treating yourself with the right foods that are nourishing and delicious! So this week should be easy! Experiment every night if you are ambitious and try some new ways to satisfy that sweet tooth without sabotaging your fitness goals.
The take home point here is to keep it simple and stick to whole, plant based foods. Plant based foods are nature’s candy, low in calories, and high in anti-oxidants to help offset the radiation exposure from that last 4 day trip! Plants are free of cholesterol and generally free of saturated fats (aside from coconut and some nuts). The naturally occurring sugar is balanced by high amounts of fiber to fill you up before you have had too much of the sweet stuff and also slow the absorption. A sprinkle of cinnamon naturally slows the absorption of sugar as well, preventing a spike in blood sugar. These home made desserts are health promoting and self regulating so it’s a win-win.
The easiest way is to make the dessert yourself, at home and avoid ingredients you can’t pronounce.
Some simple starters are a smoothie: 1 cup of almond milk with handfuls of mixed frozen berries, 1 banana and sprinkle of cinnamon and clove and ice. Add a tablespoon of flax or chia seeds to thicken things up, adding omega 3 and bonus anti-oxidants.
As I type this, I am enjoying a bowl of almond milk, mixed berries, sliced banana, raisins, mulberries, cinnamon, chia seeds, mixed with 1/4 cup of Ezekial Cereal for some added crunch.
Another great option is to always have bananas that are sliced and frozen; ready to go. Place them in a high speed blender and in seconds you have ice cream! Add some berries and that’s it.
I hope you are starting to see a pattern here. Stick to whole foods and avoid processed junk and animal products/by products. All of these foods are refined and stripped of their healthy counterparts and left with nothing but the bad stuff creating a high calorie food completely lacking in any nutrition.
For more inspiration, check the “dessert” portion of our website under “recipes.” Some great examples are the black bean brownies, ginger molasses cookies, and frozen banana ice cream.
Another great source is the [button style=”btn-success” url=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1615190619/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1615190619&linkCode=as2&tag=pilofitn0d-20&linkId=3YT367SU2SK3DPM7″ size=”” block=”false” target=”_self”] Forks Over Knives Cookbook [/button]. Try the berry cobbler, you won’t be disappointed.
If you have a personal favorite (that is your creation), then submit us the recipe and we just might add it to our website as well as send you a free pilot fitness swag pack!