Is The Indulgence Worth It?

Losing weight is hard.  Well, for most people anyway.  It gets harder when you get those sugar cravings, those I’ve-got-to-have-something-sweet-where’s-the-darn-chocolate type of cravings, know what I mean?  And you know how the elusive “they” tell you not to deprive yourself, just have a small portion of that craving every so often so you don’t go overboard by doing something crazy like eating a whole gallon of ice cream or an entire cake because you haven’t had any sweets in forever?  I do totally agree with that philosophy...I mean, if you’ve been having something all the time in large quantities and you stop eating/drinking it cold turkey, sooner or later the dam will break and you’ll find yourself sitting on the floor surrounded by empty containers of those old favorites.  And you’ll feel miserable about it to boot.

I was in Publix the other day picking up a few things and I was having one of those cravings.  Yes, bad timing for the craving to be going on while in a grocery store (especially while in Publix with their heavenly bakery cakes).  Anyway, I came across these little mini-cups of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.  They’re very small, you can see by this pic where I have it next to an 8-oz can of tomato sauce how small it is.

 The serving size is right about a half cup--which is normally what a serving size of ice cream is considered.  Pretty inexpensive-only $1.15.  It came with a tiny spoon in the lid, too.  Maybe they think the tiny spoon will make the ice cream last longer so you’ll feel more satisfied eating the little portion.  I say “little portion” because, even though a half cup is considered a serving size, who really only eats a half a cup?  Measure yourself out a true half cup of ice cream and you’ll see what I mean...even when you get ice cream at a scoop shop, a single scoop is more than a half cup.

So back to the title question-is the indulgence worth it?  Well, it depends.  This particular indulgence-a half cup of B&J’s Cookie Dough ice cream-will set you back 250 calories.  Yes, you read that right.  250 calories.  So for me, I would need to do at least 2 miles just to work this tiny half-cup of indulgence back off.  And honestly, even with the tiny spoon making the eating of the ice cream take longer...still not terribly satisfying.  Did it taste good?  Heck yeah!  But overall--not worth it...not at all.  Especially since the portion size is so small.

What to have instead when I crave something like this?  My go-to desserts are by Healthy Choice-their Pomegranate Blueberry Frozen Yogurt Bars (90 calories, 1 gram of fat) or even better, their Fudge Bars (80 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 4 grams of fiber).  Both are much more satisfying.  Another choice I like is making Jell-O sugar-free pudding, especially butterscotch or chocolate flavored, and topping it with a small dollop of Cool Whip Free or Cool Whip Light.  All of these are less than half the calories of that mini-cup of ice cream and are also more filling.

Now, I’m not always a good girl and I do sometimes cave and get the “bad” stuff.  But it happens, I shake my head afterward and move on.  I’m working on it...a work in progress...and like I said, losing weight is hard.  I just have to make the right choices.

Do you have a sweet tooth?  What are your go-to treats that fit into your eating plan? Yes...I am looking for ideas LOL.