Although I have never joined an official weight loss program—tracking points, writing down my calorie counts and eating only pre-portioned foods delivered to my door—I have always been fascinated how they work for so many people to slim down.
For me, when working on trying to eat healthier, I normally just follow the rules of “eat more veggies” and “eat less sugar.”
But I am definitely addicted to sweets, and it’s a struggle some days to keep myself from indulging—especially since I know how to bake, and my pantry is well-stocked with supplies.
This week, though, I took a page out of the weight loss program handbook and tried a “zero-point” dessert, which for those unfamiliar, means that a person on Weight Watchers could eat it with no penalties on their diet for the day. It’s low fat, low sugar and low calorie.
The recipe I tried comes from the blog, “Our Wabi Sabi Life.” You can find the original post at https://ourwabisabilife.com/0-point-weight-watchers-cheesecake/. I chose to add some fruit to our cheesecake, doubled the vanilla, and I substituted the cheesecake-flavored pudding mix for a vanilla one, because my local grocery store didn’t have it.
Zero-point Cheesecake
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 3 tablespoons sugar substitute
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 cups plain fat-free Greek yogurt
- 3.4 to 3.9 ounce box instant sugar-free pudding (cheesecake flavor or just your favorite)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a glass pie dish by lightly greasing it with butter or margarine.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar substitute and vanilla extract until everything is combined well.
- Beat in the yogurt and pudding mix, and once the mixture is smooth, pour it into your prepared dish.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Once the cheesecake cools enough to handle it, place it in the refrigerator for at least two hours or overnight.
- Serve with fresh fruit. Store leftovers in the refrigerator in an air-tight container.
This was decently good. I would not say that it was a perfect substitute for full-fat cheesecake, although it might have been a bit closer in flavor if I would have had access to cheesecake-flavored pudding.
That being said, it was a bit like a custard texture, and especially with some fresh cherries I had in my freezer from this summer, it was a nice, guilt-free option. It would also be a nice option for people who are low-sugar.
I wondered if it would be good with a lemon or chocolate pudding mix, too, or even with a fat-free Greek yogurt with some flavoring to it. The possibilities are vast.
I still don’t think I want to jump into a structured diet plan, but it’s nice to have some recipes in my repertoire for those times when depending on my own willpower isn’t hacking it.
And, yeah, I know there’s irony in the fact that I’ll probably share something high-calorie, high-fat and delicious with you in this space again very soon. Sometimes you just have to live a little.
This piece first appeared in print on Oct. 5, 2023.
Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.