Eating healthy without depriving yourself!

So many people think that ''dieting'' means to completely deprive yourself of all the little treats that you like, and eating nothing but salads and things like that.  They couldn't be more wrong.  First off, I am a firm believer in everything in moderation.  The key is not completely cut out all treats, but to moderate their consumption and find some healthier, lower fat, lower calorie alternatives.

For example, I am a huge fan of chips, I absolutely love them, and have a lot of trouble resisting them when they are in front of me.  The key to resisting such temptations, is to just not buy them, which works out great...except on those days, when you just really need that salty, crunchy snack.  I was ecstatic to find a much better alternative to chips...Quaker Crispy Mini rice cake snacks!  These are an absolute life saver when you have that little voice in your head telling you that you need to have that crunchy, salty snack.  You still have to keep track of those pesky calories however; don't eat the whole bag just because they are lower in calories than chips.  These Crispy Minis have 90 calories per 20 gram serving (about 12 chips)...so make sure you actually count them out, because it is easy to gorge on these and eat a lot more than 12!  Now again, these should be consumed in moderation, you can't start eating these every day as a snack, because they are a nice replacement of chips, but are by no means a healthy snack and shouldn't not replace a healthier snack.  I normally save this treat for the weekend.  On weekdays, I chose much healthier snacks that actually fill you and are good for you.  My two favorites are non-fat yogurt and 1/4 cup of mixed nuts which amounts to about 230 calories.  I usually eat that snack when I've had a lower calorie intake for breakfast and lunch.  The other healthy snack of choice is Hummus (2 tbsp) and baby carrots (or any other raw vegetable).  This one is my all time favorite, as it combines all the things i love about a snack, it's tasty, it's crunchy, it's healthy and fills you up until your next meal, and it totals up about 100 calories which is awesome!

Desserts are also a major issue for a lot of people.  Many of us really enjoy a sweet treat after a meal, and find it hard to resist.  Well there are a lot of sweet treats out there that can totally satisfy your sweet tooth, without boosting you with fat and calories.  I can't name them all, but I've recently discovered these Jell-O sugar-free pudding cups that are to die for!!  You'll find them in your grocer's refrigerated products section, and you have many different flavors to choose from.  For all you Chocolate lovers out there, the Chocolate flavor is a must.  And best of all, they are only 60 calories each!

Another healthy dessert that you can make at home, that requires very little time is home made apple sauce.  Just peel and cut up an apple, add a bit of Splenda for sweetness, or even a teaspoon of maple syrup or honey, and a dash of cinnamon, put that in the microwave for a few minutes until desired consistency.  I usually put it in 2 minutes at a time, and mix well after each time.  This is healthy, delicious and won't cost you a lot of calories.

You can even have pizza, yes that's right pizza!  OK, not the kind you order or that comes from your freezer, as those ones are loaded with fat and calories and are not at all healthy.  But you can make one yourself that is nutritious AND delicious!  What you need:

• 1 whole wheat pita bread
• Tomato paste or tomato sauce (that you would use for pasta)
• Assorted vegetables (peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, etc... just load them up) cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup Low-fat, skim mozzarella (shredded)

- Spoon the tomato paste or sauce (about 2 tablespoons should do it) onto the whole wheat pita.
- Add the cut up veggies on there, enough to cover the whole pita.
- Sprinkle the cheese on top.
- Bake in the oven until the cheese is melted and starts to brown slightly on top (I usually just use the Broil setting and watch it carefully so it doesn't burn).

Voilà, you now have a great, healthy pizza that will set you back about 230 calories in total.

So as you can see, there are many ways to eat healthy without completely depriving yourself of those little things that make you happy, you just have to know about them, try them out and you will soon feel like you don't even need all those fatty, unhealthy treats, because you've managed to satisfy your cravings and you didn't compromise your health.