What do you like to have as a cheat meal?

And you better not say 75% dark chocolate with almonds covered in sea salt.

No, I mean when no one is watching what do you go for? Or when you have a severe craving for something what would like to have? Is it salt or sweet?

For the sweet crowd this is usually chocolate. It could be ice cream, a chocolate chip cookie or a regular chocolate bar. And for the salt people this may be nachos, pizza, wings and quite often potato chips.

Because the reality is we can't be perfect all the time. Sometimes we want to have fun and indulge. And when we look for a treat there are a few options we can choose.

1. Deny the urge and distract ourselves by getting busy.

Some people can do this and it works for them. For many those the craving just seems to linger and it's always a struggle to ignore.

2. Go half way and have a somewhat healthy cheat meal

Think of people who will opt for greek yogurt with some fruit. Or kale chips with salsa. Or as I mentioned above the ones who go for really dark bitter chocolate and some nuts.

3. Just go for it.

Then there are those who will open the flood gates and enjoy a treat with no restrictions. We're talking beer and wings. Or ice cream with chocolate sauce. Or chips and dip.

For these people there is no messing around. When they cheat they go straight for what they want and don't worry about healthier options.

Healthier option cheats?

If you always thought cheating came down to the three options above than you need to check out the link right below this sentence:

http://okanaganpeakperformance.getprograde.com/healthy-recipes.html

There are recipes from our friends at Prograde Nutrition for things like healthy peanut butter ice cream (it's 5 am and I want to make this right now!), or pumpkin pie french toast or chocolate cherry bars!

Here's the recipe for the peanut butter ice cream:

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

1 cup lowfat cottage cheese 2 scoops Prograde Protein Vanilla 2 Tbsp Natural Peanut Butter 1/4 cup Almond Milk 1/4 tsp cinnamon

Blend ingredients together in a blender until a smooth consistency is reached. Pour into a bowl and place in freezer until frozen to an ice cream consistency.

Makes approximately 3 servings.

Nutrition Data per serving:

Calories: 174 Protein: 20 gms Carbs: 7 gms Fat: 7 gms

Cinnamon is added because research has shown it to be a very good blood sugar controlling spice. Natural Peanut Butter is full of monounsaturated fat, this can help lower total cholesterol and LDL (bad) cholesterol, plus raise HDL (good) cholesterol. If you want a little less peanut butter taste you can use 1 Tbsp of Natural Peanut Butter and it reduces the fat grams by 3 and calories per serving by 24. When the ice cream comes out of the freezer let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes or warm it up slightly. The ice cream will be harder than high sugar, high fat conventional ice cream because it doesn't contain all that excessive sugar and fat.

For all the recipes follow the Prograde Nutrition link below:

http://okanaganpeakperformance.getprograde.com/healthy-recipes.html

In the comments section let me know if try one of the recipes or if you have a favourite cheat recipe not listed make sure to post it up.

Chris [fb-like]