by A.R. Posley

Created on: January 30, 2010   Last Updated: February 04, 2010

For a person who has lost a significant amount of weight, reminiscing over the days when he or she mindlessly enjoyed eating dessert can be quite tempting. Before jotting down high-calorie dessert ingredients unto the grocery list, the weight-watcher glances at his or her "before photo" that hangs on the refrigerator door. The once bulging belly reminds the weight-watcher that the days of eating high-calorie foods are over. The new, slimmer person posing on the "after photo" requires a dessert containing healthy, low-fat ingredients. Listed below are some of the common high-calorie ingredients added to desserts that can be replaced with low-fat, equally tasty ingredients.

Condensed Milk vs. Plain/Low-Fat Yogurt

Condensed milk is a common ingredient on recipes for making desserts such as frozen berry pies. Though tasty, an eight-ounce can of condensed milk contains around 960 calories. A comparable healthier substitute is eight ounces of low-fat vanilla yogurt containing around 220 calories and that tastes just as good when mixed with berries and lemon juice.

Cream Cheese vs. Cottage Cheese

While a dessert composed of cream cheese is mouth-watering, the same chunky texture can be achieved by substituting it with a healthier alternative, which is cottage cheese. In comparison, four ounces of regular cream cheese contains around 400 calories, whereas four ounces of fat-free cottage cheese contains 80 calories.

Canned or Glazed Fruit vs. Fresh Fruit

The apple, peach, blueberry and cherry pies in one's supermarket's bakery department are composed of glazed fruit that are high in sugar and calories. To get a sense of its nutritional content, syrupy cans of apple, cherry and blueberry pie filling contain 300 calories per cup. Healthy substitutes are fresh apples, peaches, blueberries and cherries that can be baked into pies without sugar, syrup or glaze.

White Sugar vs. Ground Cinnamon and Fresh Fruit

A common dessert ingredient is white sugar that contains 15 calories per teaspoon. A healthier substitute is cinnamon that contains six calories per teaspoon, which can be combined with fresh fruit such as apples or bananas when baking desserts such as muffins.  While these fresh fruits contains natural sugar, the cinnamon also acts as an appetite suppressant.

With these comparisons in mind when striving to maintain one's ideal weight, it is about making wise food choices. A dessert does not have to be omitted from one's diet as long as the ingredients are low fat and healthy. Making one's own calorie-reduced dessert allows a weight-watcher to be in control and feel brilliant when he or she realizes that it tastes just as good as a high-calorie, store-bought dessert.

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