Many of us crave sweets, particularly after a nice meal. However, filling up on sweets adds calories to your diet without adding much in the way of nutrients. To help satisfy that sweet tooth, try these helpful suggestions:
* Serve cut up fresh fruit for dessert.
* Freeze fresh fruit with yogurt into popsicles.
* Eat a small piece of hard candy after meals.
* Try a fruit freeze. Add fresh fruit to low-fat frozen yogurt in a blender.
* Snack on a slice of whole-grain toast or an English muffin with jelly or jam.
* Try caramel or cocoa-flavored mini rice cakes.
* For a special treat, try caramel apples or broiled oranges with brown sugar.
* Give chocolate skim milk a chance.

When you are tempted to have a dessert, try to pick lighter alternatives, such as angel food cake, "light" cakes and muffins, or low-fat cookies. When you're preparing baked goods, you can reduce the calories and increase the nutrients by following these suggestions:
* Replace fat in the recipe with applesauce or pureed prunes.
* Add fruit, fresh or dried, to provide fiber and vitamins.
* Cut fresh baked treats into small portions.
* Use whole wheat flour instead of refined white flour.
* Use egg whites or egg substitute instead of whole eggs.

When you are craving sweets, try to distract yourself by calling a friend, going for a walk, surfing on the Internet, or listening to your favorite music.

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