Control your sweet tooth this holiday season

I don’t know about you, but I have always had a love/hate relationship with the holidays. On the one hand, getting together with family and friends is wonderful. On the other hand, I have always found it stressful to have a 6 week period of the year (Thanksgiving to New Years) where I feel like I am constantly monitoring myself to avoid an all out binge. I am not ashamed to admit that I struggle with a sweet tooth, and I know I am NOT the only person who battles this.

My Top 2 Tips for Controlling the Cookie Monster

1. Don’t let yourself get hungry. I have noticed that if I skip a meal (or don’t eat a good, protein-packed meal for that matter), I will find myself helpless when I am near a table of unsuspecting cookies. 🙂 For this reason, I make sure I eat a small meal every 4 hours.

2. Don’t keep the sweets in the house. When I do this, bite by bite I will devour that pie/cake/cookie plate and avoid eating real, nutrition packed meals. I am not saying that you should never enjoy the occasional treat, but I definitely recommend enjoying it outside of your home.

That being said, it would be crazy to try to avoid sweets all together over the holiday season. That’s why I love the recipes below. Quest bars are protein and fiber packed & these recipes will satisfy your sweet tooth & keep you slim for 2015. Enjoy!

Quest Bar Santa Hat Bites

click here to check out Quest’s youtube channel

Ingredients

One Quest Nutrition Cinnamon Roll Bar ▫️
1/4 cup Greek Yogurt ▫️
1 TBSP Vanilla Protein (Gaspari Myofusion was used here)
1/2 TSP Vanilla Extract
Four strawberries

Directions

Microwave your Quest Bar for 8-10 seconds
Mold & roll into 4 balls
Flatten each onto a sprayed pan and bake at 350° for 5 minutes, then remove and let cool.
Combine the Greek Yogurt, Vanilla Protein & Vanilla Extract then place into a ziplock bag.
Snip off the bottom end of the ziplock bag and swirl your “frosting” onto each circular bite.
Top each bite with your strawberry then complete the hat with a little dot of frosting!

Nutrition (serves 4)
Calories: 65
Fat: 2g
Net Carbs: 3g (5.25 g fiber, 1.25 g sugar)
Protein: 8g

Thumbprint Cookies

click here to check out Quest’s youtube channel

Ingredients
1 Vanilla Almond Quest Bar
1 TBSP almond milk
2 TBSP almond meal
1 TSP coconut flour
1.5 TSP stevia
2 TSP low sugar strawberry jam

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Microwave the Quest Bar and almond milk in a bowl for 15 seconds.
Add the almond meal and stevia and smooch together with hands.
Roll into 4 balls and press thumb in the center of each.
Fill each cookie thumbprint with ½ teaspoon jam.
Bake for 10 minutes.

Nutrition (serves 4):
Calories: 77
Protein: 6g
Carbs: 2g
Fat: 4g
Fiber: 5.25g

Snickerdoodles

click here to check out Quest’s youtube channel

Ingredients
1 Cinnamon Quest Bar
2 TBSP cooked, mashed sweet potato
1 TBSP fat-free cream cheese
1 TBSP cinnamon protein powder
¼ TSP cinnamon (plus extra for dusting)
1 TBSP of stevia

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut Quest Bar into two even pieces. Microwave for 8 seconds. Roll each into two circles on sprayed wax paper. Rub each side of both circles with your dusting cinnamon and sugar so they’re coated nicely.
Whisk the sweet potato, cream cheese, protein powder, cinnamon and sweetener in a small bowl.

Fill the center of one circle with filling. Lay other circle on top and press edges together. Sprinkle the top with a pinch of cinnamon and sugar substitute.

Bake on a non-stick cookie sheet for 6 minutes. Remove. Cool 2 minutes.

Nutrition (serves 1)
Calories: 241
Protein: 29g
Net Carbs: 14g
Fat: 7g
Fiber: 18g

Let’s create a better, healthier you!

Yeah, I know… the fitness world can be a confusing place, even when it comes to something as simple as understanding what to eat.

Let me help you make sense of it all with my FREE video series Healthy Eating 101. In it you’ll learn the what to eat, how much to eat, and strategies that make all of this simple & easy. As a special bonus you’ll also get my ebook 8 Daily Habits to a Healthier You so you can get started right away. Click here to get started!

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photo credit: PetitPlat – Stephanie Kilgast via photopin cc