Firstly, the fewer components a treat contains, the less damage it will cause to your figure. And secondly, many focus solely on calorie content. This is mistake! The most unhealthy desserts are those with a high fat content. They are deposited on the waist and hips, are difficult to digest and negatively affect the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
What's for dessert?
If desserts make you gain weight, it means you simply don’t know how to choose them. After all, there are treats that even losing weight models can afford.
Unleavened dough (phyllo). The safest desserts for your figure are made from unleavened (lean) dough, the basis of which is flour, water and vegetable oil. Strudels and all kinds of pies are prepared from unleavened dough:
Calorie content does not exceed 200 kcal. Fat content -1 -2%.
Marshmallows, marshmallows, marmalade. Marshmallows and marshmallows are made from fruit puree, sugar, protein and agar (a gelling agent obtained from algae).
Marmalade contains pectin, a substance that lowers cholesterol levels in the blood and has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract:
Calorie content is about 300 kcal. Fat content - 0%.
Ice cream. One of the most balanced products, it improves tone, activates metabolism, is easily digestible and perfectly satisfies cravings for sweets. Digests slowly and leaves you feeling full for a long time. Goes great with coffee. From one briquette, thanks to various additives, you can prepare a wide variety of desserts. However, it is better not to overuse jam, nuts, and caramel: they make the dish heavier:
Calorie content - 150 kcal. Fat content - 6-10%.
Choux pastry. Prepared from water, butter, flour and eggs. A fairly light and stomach-friendly option. Choux pastry is the basis of a large number of desserts: eclairs, profiteroles, choux rings.
The “harm factor” of choux pastry products depends on the filling. The most useful are fruit and curd:
Calorie content - about 300 kcal. Fat content - 35%.
Cookies, waffles, crackers. Any long-lasting culinary products contain a significant dose of sugar and fat. They have zero nutritional value, but also include so-called trans fats - a special type of unsaturated fats obtained artificially. Being integrated into the cells of the body, trans fats prevent adequate nutrition of the cells and contribute to the accumulation of toxins:
Calorie content - 450-550 kcal. Fat content - 25-40%.
Shortbread dough. The dough, which includes high-calorie ingredients such as flour, sugar, eggs, butter (margarine), is the heaviest and most unhealthy.
Shortbread dough is most often glazed with chocolate cream (as in the Leningradsky cake), and it becomes clear why nutritionists do not welcome shortbread sweets:
Calorie content - 430 kcal. Fat content - about 45%.
Puff pastry. The main component of puff pastry is butter (82% fat), to which eggs and flour are added.
If the finished puff pastry is also spread with cream (usually custard is used, as in Napoleon cake), you get a heavy and high-calorie dessert, which you can treat yourself to only in exceptional cases:
Calorie content 400 kcal. Fat content - 25.9%.
Biscuit dough. The sponge cake, which requires only flour, sugar and eggs, is ideal for New Year's Eve. This is a light, easily digestible, not too high-calorie dessert. Dieters can season the biscuit with sour cream sauce (sour cream mixed with powdered sugar) or pieces of fresh fruit. For the rest, we recommend “Bird's Milk”, which is considered a well-balanced dessert:
Calorie content - 280 kcal. Fat content -10-15%.
By the way
The most high-calorie dessert of all time - cheesecake - comes from America. One dessert combines butter, sour cream, shortbread crumbs, cheese, and eggs. As a result, we obtained an unprecedented calorie content of the final product - 680 kcal. Another world-famous dessert, tiramisu, despite its high calorie content (450 kcal), is a healthy product. Due to the low fat content, all beneficial substances are fully absorbed. Tiramisu contains a lot of potassium and magnesium, which are necessary for people with diseases of the cardiovascular system.
On weekdays, few people observe etiquette. But if you are invited to a wedding, to a restaurant or cafe to celebrate a birthday, a corporate party or some other significant event, then you want to look decent during the feast. The ability to eat cakes aesthetically and correctly is a special art. And mastering it is not as difficult as it seems. Let's see what etiquette says about this.
Rules of etiquette
How to properly cut and serve a cake?
The cake can either be sliced on the table in front of guests or served already sliced. The first presentation option is preferable and much more convenient for home owners. The second one is justified when serving a wedding, multi-tiered or decorative cake, which could be called a masterpiece without exaggeration. You can cut the sweetness with an ordinary knife, but this is not always convenient. And if guests are constantly in your house, or you, as a guest, want to please those who invited you, purchase a special corner spatula knife for this purpose.
How to apply a cake correctly?
If you have the honor of serving portions to guests, then remember that this should be done with the pointed part of the piece towards the person. Also keep in mind that the portion with the most beautiful decoration is traditionally sent to the hero of the occasion on a plate or plates. This could be a birthday person, a couple celebrating an anniversary. If there are none, then it is customary to give the tidbits to the children. For other cases there are no special rules.
You can take a delicacy from a common plate (on your own or for laying out for everyone) using a pastry spatula or special tongs. If the cake was sold already sliced, and each portion was wrapped in a napkin, then it is customary to transfer the dessert directly with it, without unwrapping or removing it. The cup of tea or coffee for the delicacy should be placed to the right of the dessert plate.
How to eat cake correctly?
According to etiquette, you can only eat cakes with a dessert spoon that are made entirely from soft ingredients: yogurt, sponge cakes, cheesecakes. All others, baked from denser dough (shortbread, cake, puff pastry, etc.) or having solid inclusions (for example, a layer of meringue or mastic decoration), should be eaten with a dessert knife and fork. You need to start eating a portion from the sharp tip; that is why it is placed on the plate closer to the guest.
Eat the cake slowly. Remember, you are not trying to get full, but enjoying yourself. Start cutting a new piece only when you have completely chewed the previous one. This will allow you to fully experience the taste of the dessert and feel all its aftertaste. In addition, such a technique will not allow you to overeat, which means that the chance of getting extra calories is reduced.
What can't you do?
- You cannot take a treat with your hands from a common dish or your own plate, as this is a gross violation of etiquette.
- You shouldn't eat the cake quickly. Dessert completes the meal and should be enjoyed.
Following these simple rules will allow you to feel confident even in the most pretentious establishment. But, of course, it’s better to start by at least practicing a little in the subtleties of following house etiquette. And if you get into the habit of eating, away from prying eyes, as if at a dinner party, you will be able to completely relax in society and not think about all the nuances listed above.
Many believe that in order to keep the body within limits, it is necessary to give up everything pleasant. For example, from cakes and pastries. It's not like that at all. You can eat anything, the main thing is to do it right!
Cake? For breakfast!
It is in the morning that it is useful to feed the body more densely; many nutritionists call breakfast the main meal of the day. It is for breakfast that you can safely eat high-calorie foods.
There is even an opinion that eating high-calorie foods for breakfast helps improve metabolism and get rid of extra pounds.
Scientists from Tel Aviv University even conducted a 30-week study involving 193 overweight people. The volunteers were divided into two groups. Members of the first group consumed low-calorie breakfasts (up to 300 kilocalories), while the second group consumed high-calorie breakfasts (600 kilocalories), including sweets. Otherwise, the subjects' diet did not change.
So, those who ate cakes and pastries for breakfast, but refused sweets in any form in the afternoon, managed to lose almost 15 kg, while those who were on a regular diet lost only 10 kg .
A hearty breakfast, including sweets, provides the body with energy for the whole day! This has a good effect on metabolism, allows you to eat less for lunch and dinner, and simply improves your mood!
Is coffee harmful? If you drink it instead of water
Blood pressure, insomnia, migraines... Coffee is blamed for everything! However, a committee of US nutritionists came to the conclusion that completely giving up coffee is not only not beneficial, but harmful.
Yes, sweet coffee, and even with cake, is definitely harmful. But regular black coffee, without sugar, cream and syrups, is healthy. It prevents diabetes, problems with the liver, pancreas and stomach.
Scientists say that coffee harms us when we start drinking it like water, that is, in liters! Four cups a day is an absolutely harmless dose for an adult, without problems with the cardiovascular system. Not so little, by the way.
Seeds are useful if you count them
The Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine claims that regular consumption of sunflower seeds is very beneficial for the heart and blood vessels.
Seeds, which many people try not to eat because of their high calorie content, can halve the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease due to their high content of vitamins E and B1.
Scientists, however, do not deny the insidiousness of seeds: just 40 pieces contain 100 calories! Therefore, if you decide to benefit the body rather than cause harm, you will have to count. Don't eat more than two handfuls at a time.
At the same time, it is better to husk the seeds not while watching an evening TV series, but in the morning, so that the body has time to “burn” the energy received and extra centimeters are not deposited on the waist.
Are French fries fast food? Not the one you prepared!
If you don’t buy French fries in fast food restaurants, where they are completely “narcotic”, but cook them yourself, you will get nothing but goodness!
Cut the potatoes into strips, sprinkle with your favorite spices and bake in the oven (this is important!) at 180 degrees for 25 minutes. For the sauce, you can combine avocado, basil leaves and lemon juice in a blender.
As a result, you will receive not only pleasure, but also many health benefits.
Cheese and milk are fatty. But good for your figure!
They say that dairy, like any other animal fats, contributes to an increase in cholesterol levels, which means the development of atherosclerosis and heart attack. However, this is only true if you already have problems with high cholesterol or cardiovascular problems.
If everything is fine with your heart, then cheese and milk will only do you good, and yes - fatty ones. Because dairy products contain a lot of calcium and vitamin B, and they are normally absorbed only together with fat!
Scientists have also discovered that milk fat contains a substance called CLA. It prevents the formation of fat deposits in the body, which means the higher the calorie content of the product, the less it will affect your figure.
How do you know if you have a carbohydrate addiction? Place a beautiful cake on the table. If you can calmly refuse it, then there is no addiction. If you try to get at least a piece by any means, you are a carbohydrate fan. Such people recover faster and need to control their addiction to sweets. How to do it?
How not to gain weight from sweets?
I want something sweet because it tastes good. And also because fast carbohydrates enter the body with pies and cakes. They instantly give us energy, we feel a surge of happiness, we feel comfortable and cozy. But it’s rare that anyone with a sweet tooth can eat only 50 or 100 grams of cake - usually one piece is followed by a second and a third.
First of all, you need to control:
- time for eating sweets;
- amount of sweets;
- composition of culinary products.
If you take cakes right before bed, eat more densely than necessary, more glucose enters the body than the cells need. Excess glucose enters the liver and is converted into glycogen. This substance is deposited in the form of excess fat on the hips, waist, and buttocks. To prevent this from happening, you need to avoid excess sweets.
How to eat cakes and not get fat
- Divide your sweet intake into 2-3 doses - each no more than 50 grams.
- Eat cakes not in the morning, but after lunch. But with a condition: before that, take food with carbohydrates that saturates you. Fish, chicken and lean veal, fruit. Then after lunch you won’t be so hungry, and you can easily limit yourself to one, rather than 5 pieces of cake.
- Write down low calorie cake recipes and bake them at home. In stores specializing in culinary products, cafes or bakeries, you can inquire about the composition of baked goods and ask for non-calorie ones.
Low-calorie kiwi cake
Guests will like this beautiful, greenish-colored cake and will look original on your table. It will take an hour and a half to cook. This cake “weighs” only 320 kilocalories. You will need:
- 100 grams of sugar (preferably brown);
- 4 teaspoons gelatin;
- 2 eggs;
- 50 grams of butter;
- 300 grams of flour;
- 10 ripe kiwi fruits;
- A carton of milk.
How to make a kiwi cake
Melt the butter in a water bath and add to the flour. Beat 2 eggs and also pour into the flour, along with 50 grams of sugar. Knead the dough well so that it does not stick to your hands and looks homogeneous.
Place the dough in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours, after placing it in a plastic bag without air access. Take out and roll out the dough into thin layers - up to half a centimeter. Place on the bottom of a baking tray or round tin. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 20 minutes, then remove the cake directly from the oven.
Peel the kiwi and cut into slices. Place them on the crust. Soak a sachet of gelatin in 2 tablespoons of water and let it swell. Boil for 2-3 minutes over low heat, add another 50 g of sugar. Pour the cooled gelatin over the kiwi cake. Further hardening will take 1-1.5 hours. But what a beauty!
Bon appetit!
Is it possible to eat sweets and cakes when you are losing weight?
Of course, this question worries many who are at the stage of losing weight. There are very few people who are indifferent to sweets. After all, this is understandable; consuming cakes, pastries, chocolate and sweets improves our mood. By satisfying our body with the pleasure of taste, we eliminate depression and thereby add color to everyday life.
Only here we need to figure it out. If a state of apathy and depression is normal for you, and the only way to deal with it is to consume all kinds of sweets (read here how), then this is a quick path to health problems, and of course, gaining excess fat and weight.
Chronic fatigue and depression need to be helped in other ways. This is a comprehensive balanced diet. As well as hobbies, communication with friends, enjoying nature, pets and other joys of life.
First, learn to differentiate and understand for yourself what sweets, in particular confectionery, give you. And think about it, if the presence of flour desserts on your table every day, doesn’t this look like a carbohydrate addiction? (read about this in mine).
Well, if you, fortunately, do not have a carbohydrate addiction, and the desire to treat yourself to a cake arises sometimes (but, as a rule, with acute force 😆), while you are at the stage of losing weight or constantly control yourself so as not to gain weight, then Is it worth resisting this desire? My clear answer: no! 🙂
But there are a number of caveats.
Which cakes and confectionery products should you choose based on proper nutrition?
How to eat cakes and lose weight :)
I myself periodically allow myself to eat a piece of cake or pastry. But at the same time I adhere to certain rules.
conclusions
It's time to eat the cake - eat it! This is my unequivocal strong opinion :-). A complete refusal of this pleasure threatens a depressed mood, and as a result, breakdowns (one “wonderful” day you will pounce on the first cake you come across and devour it completely 😯, experiencing terrible disappointment and guilt the next day). If you are trying to lose weight or stay fit, then keep this main goal in mind by choosing only cakes with the right ingredients, without unhealthy fats. Choose minimal portions for yourself, only in order to feel the taste and get true pleasure from it without remorse later.