After bariatric surgery, many desserts may be off the menu. Desserts are full of empty calories that will slow down or even reverse the weight loss you've worked so hard to achieve. Furthermore, bariatric surgery makes it more difficult for many people to tolerate sweets because they are high in sugar and fat.

However, that doesn't mean your sweet tooth will go away. It's helpful to learn how to make bariatric-friendly desserts. It's always a good idea to have a healthy option when a craving for something sweet strikes. Being able to treat yourself healthily is important.

Guidelines for Bariatric Desserts

Not only is your stomach smaller after bariatric surgery, but the way your body digests food changes. Your body may react differently to foods high in sugar and fat  in particular, and eating these foods may cause very uncomfortable symptoms such as:

• Bloating
• Diarrhea
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Gas

To avoid these symptoms, enjoy bariatric desserts that are low in sugar or use sugar substitutes and be careful to avoid sweets high in fat.

Your body needs a lot of protein after bariatric surgery as well. Finding ways to add protein to your bariatric dessert is an easy way to help meet your protein goals.

"Nice" Cream

This creamy, frozen treat is the perfect substitute for soft-serve ice cream. All you need to make it is a sliced frozen banana! Just toss it in the blender and blend until smooth. To make this bariatric dessert recipe more decadent, add cocoa powder, cherries, or powdered peanut butter. If needed, add a little milk. This frosty treat will be a staple this summer.

Bariatric-Friendly Mug Cake

If you crave chocolate (or specifically brownies), be sure to save this recipe. This mug cake only takes one minute to make and is less than 100 calories! The ingredients are sugar-free and dairy-free. It's easy to sub the flour to make this yummy treat grain-free too.

Get the recipe here.

Chocolate-Dipped Fruit

This is another excellent bariatric dessert for warm days. To make it, melt a little chocolate in a double broiler. Then, dip your favorite fruit like berries, oranges, or slices of banana in the chocolate. Then, place the fruit on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper until the chocolate sets. You can even freeze some chocolate-dipped fruits.

Use dairy-free chocolate for any dairy sensitivities. Or, feel free to use yogurt if you don't want to use chocolate. As always, be mindful of serving size.

Protein Pumpkin Cheesecake

Craving pumpkin pie? No problem! These cups of creamy goodness are like a whipped pumpkin pie combined with cheesecake, plus extra protein. Feel free to use any protein powder in this recipe - adjust the flavor with ground cinnamon.

The best part about this recipe is how simply you can adjust the serving size to fit your needs after surgery best.

Cheesecake Strawberries

This is an easy and delicious gastric sleeve dessert that you can bring to summer cookouts too. Just whip up the sugar-free cream cheese filling, hull some strawberries, and fill using a piping bag. Finish them off with a sprinkle of graham cracker crumbs. These strawberries are so pretty and decadent, and you'd never know they only have 15 calories each!

Get the recipe here.

Strawberry Watermelon Protein Pops

Cool off this summer with a bariatric-friendly dessert and zero guilt. Homemade popsicles are easy and fun to make, so feel free to try these with the whole family. All you need is a popsicle mold (hint: an ice cube tray with popsicle sticks works too).

These Strawberry Watermelon Protein Pops feature blended watermelon and strawberries, with a bonus of whey protein powder. Finally, the recipe has an option to add low-calorie sweetener if you need extra sweetness.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Yes, you can have cookies! This bariatric dessert recipe is low in sugar and easy to throw together any time you crave something sweet and salty.

Keep in mind that peanut butter is calorie-dense. The fat in peanut butter will likely fill you up quickly, but calories will still add up. You can always use powdered peanut butter to save some of the fat and calories, but you may need to adjust the recipe a little.