Calories is a zero sum game.

As part of the annual ritual of resolving to lose weight, I have been taking baby steps on the treadmill.
Now every article about losing weight successfully essentially boils down to "Eat Less. Exercise More."
For the most part I have always found the latter easier than the former and so I would go ahead and exercise and eat to my heart's content. Sometime last year, I stopped going for a walk ( I forget why exactly but it was probably my Laziness rearing its ugly head and speaking in its dulcet tones about how its so much nicer on the couch watching TV than it is to go outside) But I continued eating to my heart's content, relying on what i thought were my skinny genes(pun NOT intended) Alas! It was the daily exercise from ballooning into, well, a balloon. I was not a naturally thin person ( I too join the chorus of the unfairness of it all now)
Now the eating less part is for the most part under control except when it comes to sweets. I love sweets. I have sweet teeth.
Resisting sweets is incredibly hard and I usually succumb to the temptation. But now I believe I have found a way to suppress the instinctive grab the hand makes for sweets. And I am going to share it with you FOR FREE because well if you're still reading this, you deserve *some*thing.
So, getting back to The Secret to Suppressing Diet Dangers :-
Make the sweet yourself. Or read the recipe for your favourite sweet. See how much of sugar goes into that.
(Yes, yes there are healthy alternatives to the recipes. But when you try the healthier version, you realize its a mere shadow of the real thing. A compromise that neither satisfies the sugar craving nor helps with the caloric intake for the day.
The real thing is delicious but it is the forbidden fondue. (Fruits are healthy and hey the sugar is natural!)
The amount of SUGAR and/or butter that goes into that tiny little dessert ruins the appetite.

And so when you are faced with temptation - a sinful dessert, judge it on the ingredients that go into it and the time on the treadmill required to zero it out. And the hand will reach out for water instead.