Kathy's Tips on How To Do Dessert!

1) Sometimes less is just not enough. For many people struggling to lose weight, counting calories is a tricky mathematical equation. After all, if you typically eat 2,400 calories a day, and you reduce that to 1,500 by cutting down on desserts and other high-calorie treats, you're likely to lose weight. And if you cut that 1,500 down to 1,000, even better, right?...Not necessarily. Depending on your weight and body composition, 1,500 calories may already be on the low end of the spectrum, and 1,000 calories a day may be really underdoing it (in fact, I never recommend it).

There's a fine line between revving up your fat-burning engines by making smart nutrition choices and slowing down your metabolism by undereating and going into "starvation" mode, which may cause your body to hold onto extra fat for dear life since it doesn't know when that next meal is coming.

2) Have some cheesecake. Yes, you read that correctly. Believe it or not, there are desserts out there that will satisfy your sweet tooth without undoing all your hard work. Try my Ricotta Cheesecake recipe: Whisk together some reduced-fat cream cheese, part-skim ricotta cheese, and 3 egg whites; add some honey and vanilla extract, and pour it all into a paper-lined muffin tray. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees, and cool. Top with some fresh sliced berries, and re-enact your favorite Golden Girls episode completely guilt-free.

For the complete recipe, and many more mouth-watering, fat-burning options, check out my book, Feed Muscle Shrink Fat Diet.

3) Ramp up your workouts. You can eliminate an additional 300 calories per day without depriving yourself one bit. Think of it this way: Say your perform 20 minutes of brisk walking, which burns roughly 150 calories. But if you add 10 minutes to that walk, and tack on 15 minutes of moderate strength training, you've already eliminated that additional 300 calories. Now that's an equation I think we can all appreciate.