Satisfying the Sweet Tooth
Working with clients who are morbidly obese is tough, because the answer is not to take things away. It is to add and to satisfy the cravings they have so binging and compulsive eating habits don't occur. I had a client who admitted they had a problem with sweets. I wanted to make a low calorie snack for them, but I wanted it to be nutritionally dense! I could have made a low calorie pudding, or a low calorie chocolate dessert, but if the idea is to add nutrition to someone who had been overeating but not receiving enough good nutrition...isn't that almost feeding the same problem?
I have always spoken about chia pudding. Chia seeds are magical. They have protein, fiber, carbs, and good fats! They slow down how rapidly our body converts carbohydrates into simple sugar which is important for diabetics. The Fats send the brain signals that we are being satisfied and feel full.
As I sat on the counter I was out with a note pad trying to figure out how to make each snack about 100 calories or less. I new I needed to make it sweet to satisfy his sweet tooth, I knew he liked chocolate, and also fruit. Almond milk provided a low calorie beverage to mix the chia seeds with. Vanilla extract gave the mixture a nice flavor while the cocoa powder added extra antioxidants and flavor.
Mixing everything together was the easy part. mixing 1/4 of a cup of chia seed with a cup of almond milk, a cup of blueberries and my other ingredients proved successful. Here is the full recipe.
1 cup of Almond Milk/Light Coconut milk
1/4 of a cup of chia seeds
1 cup of blueberries
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1 packet of stevia or preferred sweetener
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder (blend this with the liquid before anything)
Refrigerate for 2 hours or more. Other recipes use agave, raspberries, making it then adding it to chopped bananas, etc.
Here was my end result. Each of these was about 66 calories. He ended up loving them. I loved them too. Delicious, filling, sweet, and healthy!
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