Bodybuilding requires sufficient building materials in the form of protein and calories, yet too many calories can submerge your hard work under a layer of fat. Choosing low-carbohydrate, high-protein desserts can assuage your sweet tooth while keeping you in fine bodybuilding form. Sweet treats also help you feel less deprived if you're sticking to a rigorous precompetition meal plan.
Meringues
Meringue doesn't just refer to the moist white topping that caps a rich, high-carb lemon meringue pie. Baking swirls of sweetened egg whites dries them into a fluffy cookie-like candy that satisfies your sweet tooth while supplying you with a little additional protein and few to no carbohydrates. If you bake your own meringues from whipped egg whites, make them fairly small so they bake through and become crisp. Form them into drop-shaped peaks or shape them into nests with small depressions in the center to fill with fresh berries for a nutritious dessert or snack.
Fresh Fruit
Although fruit contains carbohydrates, some of those carbs are in the form of fiber. Your body cannot digest fiber, so you absorb no calories from it. Fiber not only reduces calorie content, it also helps keep your digestive system functioning well. Depending on the fruits you choose, you can enjoy a substantial dessert of fresh fruit for under 10 net grams of carbohydrates. Look for high-fiber fruits such as pectin-rich apples, pears, berries and plums to keep net carbs low and add a health bonus to your meal.
Nuts and Yogurt
Dessert doesn't have to be a gooey sweet to satisfy you. Stir some roasted nuts into non-fat Greek yogurt for a high-protein dessert that provides a pleasant contrast of crunchy and creamy textures. Choosing Greek-style yogurt over regular yogurt enhances the protein content of the dessert, but regular yogurt works too and has fewer calories. Mixing in spices that traditionally go into dessert items -- cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and cloves go with sweet foods in Western cuisine -- enhances your perception of a food as sweet. Non-sugar sweeteners can also make the treat a sweeter one. If you want to splurge with a few additional carbs, stir a teaspoon of honey into the mixture.
Sugar Substitutes
A wide range of cookies and candies sweetened with sugar substitutes can give you a taste of something sweet after your meal. Some sugar substitutes such as the extract of the stevia plant have natural sources, while others are synthesized. Artificial sweeteners typically taste much sweeter than sugar, so manufacturers use only small amounts of them in their sugar-free products. MayoClinic.com notes that "there's no sound scientific evidence that any of the artificial sweeteners approved for use in the United States cause cancer or other serious health problems." Sugar alcohols, another class of sweetener, can cause minor discomfort from gas and bloating if you eat too much of them, because your body cannot digest these compounds. Eat these sparingly before a competition to avoid bloating.
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