How to indulge in the holidays, without looking like Santa Claus
8 totally-acceptable-to-eat sweet holiday recipes
The holiday season—AKA the short 6 weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years—is practically synonymous with weight gain. Sure, that’s partially due to the endless slew of holiday parties, family gatherings and stress eating in between. But if there’s one common culprit to weight gain at play underlying those events that makes this season so supremely heavy, it’s the sweet treats, and the omnipresence of them. Sugar is here, there and everywhere, which drives up the net carb number up across the board. The holidays are a time of sugar, spice, and everything nice… but the resultant weight gain? Not so sweet.
Fortunately, you CAN indulge in your holiday favorites without packing on the pounds—or dare we say, even LOSE weight—this holiday season, all thanks to a little recipe rehab. As you know, the magic of low net carbs is that when the body is depleted of most of its usual fuel source, glycogen, you can actually start burning fat for fuel, and the higher the fiber content, the easier it is to achieve that. Here’s 8 recipes for classic Holiday treats that have been lightened up so they have only 5 grams of net carbs or less:
5g NET CARB PER SERVING OR LESS
20/20 Peppermint Hot Coco (1 cup: 180 calories, 21g fiber) – Walk into your average coffee shop and order a 12 oz peppermint mocha and you’re looking at something that’s 300 calories and 50 grams of carbs, 45g of which are sugar. According to the F-Factor Principal of Carbohydrate Equivalency, that’s upwards of 3 slices of white bread! Fortunately we used the Chocolate 20/20 Fiber/Protein powder to rehab this recipe, and the result is the tastiest, warm chocolatey holiday drink that has 96% less calories than the coffeeshop counterpart. Want chocolate for breakfast? You can with this drink! With 21g protein, and 21g fiber, this is a decadent way to fill up and stay feeling full till lunch!
4g NET CARB PER SERVING OR LESS
Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (1 cupcake: 133 calories, 5g fiber) – Despite boasting the same colors as Santa, eating these cupcakes WON’T cause you to look anything like the jolly big guy. This recipe yields cupcakes that have less than half the calories of traditional red velvet cupcakes, AND 5 times more fiber. Prefer cake over cupcakes? Click here.
Greek Yogurt Holiday Bark (3 pieces: 51 calories, 1g fiber) – Red and white with chocolate chips, this recipe just looks like Christmastime! Made with nonfat Greek yogurt as a base, it’s protein-rich with 7g per serving. And because it’s 51 calories per serving, and a shelf-stable frozen treat, it’s an excellent option to keep on hand (aka prepared, in the freezer) for when that sweet tooth hits.
Mulled Wine (1 (4 oz) glass: 112 calories, 1g fiber) – Cheers! This slimmed down version of mulled wine is a warm, tasty way to toast to the holidays, while keeping your sugar and carb intake in check. One glass contains just 5g carbs, and 1g sugar, which is 82% less carbs, than your standard mulled wine.
3g NET CARB PER SERVING OR LESS
Mini Cheesecake Bites (1 mini: 105 calories, 2g fiber) – At just 105 calories per bite, this recipe is far from your average Cheesecake Factory slice. Sugar is kept low with the use of Vanilla 20/20 Fiber/Protein powder and stevia, and despite being cute little minis, each of these bites packs 6g of protein.
Homemade Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti (1 biscotti: 95 calories, 3g fiber) – For a cookie that’s known for being not too sweet, biscotti cookies can still be packed with the refined white stuff. Our version is made with almond flour and vanilla 20/20 Fiber/Protein powder, so 1 biscotti is just 100 calories, and provides a little fiber and protein too. This recipe is a great option for someone on Step 1 of the F-Factor Diet looking to wean themselves off super sweet tastes. For a dairy free version of this recipe, click here.
2g NET CARB PER SERVING OR LESS
20/20 Gingerbread Cookies (2 cookies: 61 calories, 2g fiber) – With 93% less net carbs than traditional gingerbread cookies, this recipe for gingerbread cookies is a pretty solid swap. It’s also 1/3 of the calories of your average store-bought gingerbread men, and being the manly cookie-men they are, have double the muscle-building protein too. Two cookies are just 61 calories, and contain 2g fiber, so this is an excellent Step 1 dessert.
1g NET CARB PER SERVING OR LESS
20/20 Christmas Eggnog (1/2 cup: 60 calories, 6g fiber) – Get this Christmas miracle: A glass of traditional eggnog? 180 calories, TWENTY grams of sugar. Our recipe? 1/3 of the calories, with less than 1g sugar! Now that’s something to be merry about!
SUGAR BUSTERS
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that women consume no more than 25g added sugar per day, and no more than 38g for men. For those focused on that sugar number (but still like the sweets), the recipes below are all treats with 5g sugar or less per serving.
Part of the reason some of these recipes manage their low net carb, yet are still high in fiber, is because they’re made with 20/20 Fiber/Protein Powders, which pack 20g of fat-fighting fiber, along with 20g of organic muscle-building protein. It’s a hero ingredient that does wonders for keeping that net carb number low. 20/20 Fiber/Protein powders are available here, click below to purchase.
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