If you’ve been a dailymuscle.com reader long enough, you would know by now that I’m a big fan of making your own meals – not just because it’s ‘the right thing to do’, but simply for the 2 following reasons I believe to be crucial in the quest for a better body:
1. It is the most cost-effective way to get top-notch nutrition
You get full control of the ingredients that go in – and you don’t settle for the cheapest (like most restaurants would do). You can even go organic if you want to – and it would be far cheaper than eating the same thing outside.
2. It gets you into the habit of preparing your own meals
Whether if it’s to be eaten immediately, or meals that you prepare ahead to take with you to work, etc (so you can stick to your eating plan, and not have to eat the junk you’re usually surrounded with). Plus, you could really impress your date.
I was at the gym a couple of days ago when I noticed they were holding this fun event (sorry for the poor-quality photo):
It reads:
DESSERT NIGHT – POTLUCK
Come and join the fun at Fitness First Platinum, The CurveWe invite you to join our Dessert Night ‘Potluck’. After the workout, sit back and enjoy some treats and a chance to get to know each other better. After all, we do see each other almost every day!
Date: 31st March 2010, Wednesday
Time: 7:00PM – 9:00PM
Everyone is encouraged and welcome to bring their own dessert and share the fun with each other.
While I think the first reaction from most people would be one of shock and horror (my girlfriend was in disbelief for sure) – because most people can’t associate desserts as something that can be good for you. I’m not just talking about how desserts can be that ‘well deserved treat’ for all your hard work, but I’m also talking about desserts from a more nutritional standpoint.
This event could seriously and horrendously go wrong (for your physiques) if everyone brings ordinary versions of ice-cream, brownies, (insert your favourite dessert here).
I know this is a bit late – but if you’re going for this, and bringing something over, can I encourage you to make your desserts with a difference? Some rather easy ways are:
1. Substitute sugar with Splenda
2. Go easy on the sugar if you must or if the recipes absolutely requires it – most desserts have far too much sugar and would taste perfectly fine with a little less
3. Swap your toppings – Try toppings of nuts, real fruits, grated coconut, berries instead of coloured jellies, dusted icing sugar, candied fruits
Well, with my limited knowledge of cooking/baking – those are some tips I could come up with.
If you want to impress everyone at the event tomorrow, I’ve got a little something to share with you today – it is an entire cookbook devoted to healthy desserts – “Gourmet Nutrition Desserts”. You can download the book right now for FREE over here: http://www.dailymuscle.com/gourmet-nutrition-desserts
The book contains recipes for:
peach mango cobbler
chocolate ricotta
poached pear with raspberries
mixed berry pudding
tuscan strawberry meringue
lemon cheesecake
mixed nut cookies
lemon blueberry bites
chocolate hazelnut bites
raspberry peach granola
peanut butter cookies
cheese blintzes
apricot yogurt parfait
apple cinnamon tortilla cups
chocolate cheesecake
Those are healthy recipes in case you didn’t realise yet. Are you in disbelief yet? :-)
Again, get the FREE download here:
http://www.dailymuscle.com/gourmet-nutrition-desserts
To sum it all up, what you need to know is this – desserts CAN be healthy. The problem is just that many people just don’t know how to make desserts taste good without overloading it with tonnes of bad stuff:
My hope for this event tomorrow is that everybody learns a little something about better nutrition – and has fun while doing it.
That’s what lifestyle change is all about.
In health,
DailyMuscle
P.S – Let me know if you are trying any recipes! Send some pics if you can. Just drop a comment below.
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This post was written by...
Noel Chelliah, ACE-CPT, ACE-LWMC, has been recognized as one of the Top Transformation Experts in Malaysia. No stranger to being overweight himself, Noel has gone through a life-changing transformation himself, from fat, to fit. In 2010, Noel founded the DailyMuscle Body Transformation Camp, which today helps hundreds of individuals exercise and practice healthier habits. In his spare time, Noel serves the community with various programs that promote a healthier lifestyle, and enjoys playing with his dogs.
My name is Noel Chelliah, and I’m a Transformation Specialist and founder of the 
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Splenda as a sugar substitute!! that stuff is toxic…
best to find natural sugar substitutes like Stevia and Agave Nectar (which is a good substitute for honey). Stevia is available at some health food stores in it’s leaf form… and Agave is quite readily available in Cold Storage in the organic section…
or just use natural raw sugar… it’s best to avoid the artificial sweeteners…
For me… if i’m not going out to eat, i tend to have fruit as my dessert… occasionally a few pieces of dark chocolate… just to quell the sweet tooth…
oh, and i highly doubt they’re going to be dishing out “healthy” desserts at the event. FF ‘events’ can tend to verge on the weird.
like their “green” initiative week when they still have plastic bags given out in FF Maxis. ugh
He’s right about Stevia and Agave Nectar.
But there’s still a problem with Agave Nectar : high concentration of pesticide in the agave syrup. There were cases in US about it and there were warnings for Agave Nectar coming from Mexico.
And it is possible to do desserts without sugar if you are cooking fruits. Once the fruit is cook, the fibers would have broken down and somehow, the heat will bring up the sugar taste of fruits so much that you wouldn’t feel too much of a different.
oh… but how about the organic agave nectar that you can get from pureharvest… if it’s USDA organic, i trust that it’s free from pesticides…
I think a little Splenda won’t do any harm compared to all the junk we ingest most of the other times but don’t seem to complain about.
I think so but there is some “grey areas” in USDA that I’m not sure whether they can stop the import of containminated food at borders. Never really looked at it closely but in a book I’m reading called “Fast Food Nation”, USDA do not have the authority to close a meatpacking factory if there was a contamination outbreak.
Hmmm…and probably something I’m kinda thinking/reasoning through is how are artificial sweeteners can make us slim when the components are also found in carbohydrates which we already know can cause us to be fat if we overeat. Yes, I know a calorie is not a calorie but the reasonings given to that are observations of the symptoms but not reasoning of the root cause.
The only conclusion that I could come up with is that calories are used as an indicator of the potential amount of energy that we could possible get from food but our bodies are not 100% ideal so there’s no 100% conversion of everything we eat.
Also, the number of calories cannot indicate the buildup of fat in a person’s body. An yet artificial sweeteners are using calories as an indication of this i.e. zero calorie = zero fat into the body.
I’m still working my head about this artificial sweetener thing.
true… but wouldn’t raw unprocessed brown sugar be just as good when making desserts (altho i know it’d be impossible to make a good icing out of either splenda or raw sugar…)
i guess just everything in moderation!
Good nutrition is easy. When we over-complicate things it just gets messy and impossible to follow, and in the end – we end up not following anything.
So yes – everything in moderation. And don’t let science make life difficult for you. Life is easy.
Marcus : Hmm…I guess it depends on what a person wants. Even brown sugar will cause problems albeit probably not in a big effect compared to refined sugar but it can still cause problems. Depends on the person’s metabolic rate.
DM : Overcomplicating…hmmm… probably as a start, it’s good to start of simple but after awhile, when a person wants to know more and get more from their food. I’m just an avidly curious person when it comes to nutrition, espeically on how it can ensure a body stays healthy.
And especially more since I have had quite a few relatives who died from health problems and they lived healthy lifestyles. I do not want to die young but I’m also not going to accept everything that I read as goodness. ^.^
And sometimes, playing the devil’s advocate is interesting. ^.^
Marcus : Thinking about it further, probably to add on : in the event that a person eats something they shouldn’t, their mind might not be able to get over it. Then they end up brooding and focusing on their mistake over and over again. What they should do was just accept that it was a mistake and then move on.
Mind you, I think I haven’t had a dessert in a long time. CNY I think. After that, no more.
Wena: That’s great willpower you have. Well done.
Errrm…not really. U see, I don’t have a fondness for sweets but salty stuff, that I like and that’s my weakness. :)
But, good news today. Officially as of 11:30 am this morning, my cardiologist has given me a clean bill of health and that I am now allowed off medication. I also no longer need to go and see him again unless my BP goes over 140/90 for a lot of readings. And that I’m the first person under his care that he lets off medication. ^.^
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