How to eat dessert and not gain weight

I'm not kidding. You really can eat dessert and maintain your weight, or even lose weight. It's all about what dessert you choose, how much you eat, and how you fit dessert into your overall food plan.

1.  Which dessert to choose

• Fruit is certainly a healthy dessert, but it can be boring. Make fruit exciting by making a fruit parfait: layer yogurt or pudding with fruit and top with a dollop of whipped cream. Serve it in a fancy glass, and it's a special dessert, not just 'fruit'.
• If ice cream is your thing, search out a good-tasting lower calorie ice cream. Compare the calorie info on labels the next time you're at the grocery store and find one that tastes good and is lower in calories.
• I adore cookies for dessert, probably because it's a good way to finish up my milk. The next time you go to the grocery store, pick out your three favorite cookies. Read the nutrition label, and only put the cookies with the lowest number of calories per serving in your basket.

2.  How much to eat

• Eyeball your typical serving of pudding, ice cream, cake, or pie; now cut that in half. That's an appropriate amount to enjoy for dessert.
• If your dessert comes in a container with a nutrition label, eat a 100-200 calorie portion.
• When you order dessert in a restaurant, split it with a friend.
• Instead of serving ice cream in a cereal bowl, use a smaller dessert-size bowl.

3.  Fit dessert into your food plan.

• When I go out to a favorite restaurant, I know before I even sit down that I want one of their delicious desserts. So I skip the bread and appetizer, and only eat half of my entree (packing up the rest to take home for the next day). Guess what - I'm actually still hungry when it's time for dessert!
• Plan the number of times per week that you will enjoy dessert. Make sure you have dessert on nights where you have time to sit and enjoy it; no wolfing down your pie and running off to the kids' soccer game!
• Eating healthy is often about trade-offs. If I have a mid-morning donut, I can skip dessert at lunch. If I choose an apple for a morning snack, I might decide to eat a small brownie for dessert that night. A scheduled pizza party with the gang after bowling means no dessert the day before, that day, and the day after.