There is only one difference between a long life and a good dinner: that, in the dinner, the sweets come last.
Robert Louis Stevenson
I have always had a sweet tooth. As a kid, I loved candy, cookies, brownies, and pastries. As I got older, I discovered that these treats didn’t always love me (sad face). Sometimes my stomach would hurt after eating them or I would get a slight headache from chocolate.
I still love sweets. I just don’t eat them as often nor in large quantities when I do eat them. I have discovered alternatives to high sugar treats that not only taste good, they also make me feel good after eating them.
The trick is we have to listen to our bodies. If you don’t feel well after eating something, your body is trying to tell you something. Stop and pay attention. Eliminate that food from your diet for a week and see if you notice a difference. If elimination feels too extreme, reduce the amount you eat as well as how often you eat it. Again, notice how you feel with this change.
Ideally, you want to eat food that gives you sustainable energy and makes you feel good – no stomach pains, headaches, etc. It takes time to figure this out, especially since information about how we should eat constantly bombards us. The problem with many suggested eating plans is we often forget to check in with ourselves first. What works for me may not work for you. You are the expert on your body. You are the one who knows how you feel after eating certain foods. You can choose to change the way you eat. You get to decide how you want to feel.
If you don’t enjoy the sugar slump that comes after eating high sugary food, experiment with alternatives. Maybe some fruit and nuts will do the trick. One of my go-to sweet treats is simply dates with either goat cheese or almond butter, and pecans. Dates are naturally sweet so I am satisfied with just two of them. Try it and see if it works for you.
The key here is to remember your body is incredibly intelligent. Practice tuning into what it is telling you.
Check out the bullet points in my philosophy, especially the ones regarding food. Trust in yourself. Trust in your body. Trust in your intuition.
Now go eat some dessert dates!
Sending you a sweet, healthy, and delicious day!
Kori
Sometimes I am craving something sweet but I don’t want sweets (ice cream, chocolate, cookies, etc.). One of my favorite sweets is simply dates stuffed with a smidge of either almond butter or goat cheese, topped with a thin pecan, a bit of cacao bean, and sprinkled with cinnamon. Dates are naturally sweet so you get the sugar fix without overdosing on refined sugary treats. These desserts taste a bit like caramels – they are that good!
- 10 pitted whole dates
- 5 pecans, split in half
- 1 Tablespoon goat cheese OR 1 Tablespoon almond butter (or nut butter of your choice)
- 5 whole cacao beans (optional)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt.
- Cut each date in half.
- Spread <g class=”gr_ gr_557 gr-alert gr_tiny gr_gramm gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep” id=”557″ data-gr-id=”557″>¼</g> teaspoon of either goat cheese or nut butter in the center of each halved date.
- Place half of a pecan on top of the goat cheese or nut butter.
- Wrap the cacao beans in a cloth napkin.
- Smash the cacao beans by pressing the back of a spoon on top of each one to remove the bean husk.
- Place a few pieces of cacao bean next to the pecan inside the date.
- Place on a serving plate.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon and a touch of salt.
- Serve and enjoy!
The next time you find yourself craving something sweet, make yourself this treat. You’ll even still feel good about yourself afterward.
