Is Tiramisu Healthy? (3 Tips For Weight Loss) 

One of many popular desserts in Italy and the United States is Tiramisu. If you love eating Tiramisu but aren’t sure if it is healthy and fits into your lifestyle, this article is for you. Find out what goes into making Tiramisu, and how to stay in shape while eating this classic Italian dessert. 

Tiramisu originated in the 1960s, in the Italian town Treviso, and has become a favorite dessert in many European countries, as well as the U.S. Tiramisu is layered - like a lasagna - and made with espresso, Italian soft cheese, eggs, sugar, cocoa powder, Italian cookies, as well as Italian liqueur. It is served cold.

Although Tiramisu is delicious, is it healthy?

Since Tiramisu is a dessert, it is not necessarily considered healthy and should be consumed in moderation or rarely. As it is relatively high in calories, fat, and sugar. 

Here are three steps that explain the calorie amount in one serving of Tiramisu, the ingredients that go into making Tiramisu the traditional way, and how to stay in shape while eating this delicious Italian dessert. 

• 1. What Goes Into Making Tiramisu?

• 2. How Many Calories Are in One Serving of Tiramisu? 

• 3. How To Lose Weight While Eating Tiramisu

Now that we know our three steps, let’s get into the details that will help you stay in shape while enjoying some delicious Tiramisu. 

1. What Goes Into Making Tiramisu?

Traditionally, Tiramisu is made with a type of Italian cookies called “ladyfingers,” sugar, mascarpone cheese, eggs, sugar, espresso, Italian liqueur - such as amaretto or Marsala (which is an Italian fortified wine) - and dusted off with cocoa powder.  

First, combine brewed espresso with either the amaretto or Marsala wine, and set aside. Then you need to separate the egg whites from the yolks and whip them stiff with an electric mixer. Set aside, and combine egg yolks with the sugar and mix until creamy. Slowly add the mascarpone and last but not least, fold in the whipped egg whites.  

In a 8 x 8 baking dish, you lay down the ladyfingers that you first dunk into the espresso-liqueur mix, followed by the cream and another layer until it’s filled up to the top. The finishing touch is the cocoa powder the will be dusted off on top of the Tiramisu. Let it chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours until it is ready to be served.  

There a different ways to make Tiramisu. Some recipes ask for heavy cream, others ask for no eggs. You can also use a variety of fruits, and you can make this alcohol-free as well. If you’d like to try a healthier version of Tiramisu at home we recommend using low-fat mascarpone, no alcohol, no eggs, and if you’re vegan you can substitute the mascarpone with silken tofu and coconut cream. 

Since Tiramisu is a popular dish in Italian and American cuisine, you can find it almost anywhere across the nation.

Now that we know what Tiramisu is, let’s take a look at the nutrition facts and see how many calories go inside one serving of Tiramisu and how many calories you need to consume daily to stay in shape and lose weight.

2. How Many Calories Are in One Serving of Tiramisu? 

The key aspect is to understand how many calories you need to consume in a day, whether you have a sedentary lifestyle or an active lifestyle, and to make sure not to overeat on your total calories for the day.  

Let’s take a look at the nutrition facts. As you can see, one piece of Tiramisu has 570 calories with a macronutrient ratio of 35 grams of carbs, 8 grams of protein, and 44 grams of fat.  

Not only is Tiramisu high in calories per one piece but it’s also high in fat and sugars.  

The key to dieting is getting a nice balance of macronutrients, as well as having an active lifestyle.  

Staying healthy and fit is all about calorie or energy balance, which means that you can still eat your carbs and stay in shape.  

To stay healthy and in shape, we need to first go over your daily caloric needs, figure out how many calories you need in a day, and figure out how much of each macronutrient you should be consuming. 

There are a few factors that determine your daily calorie intake. Such as weight management, weight loss, or weight gain. Other factors that play a big role, are your gender and your height. 

So, how do you know how many calories you should be eating in a day?

The answer is through trial and error and finding a calorie range that allows you to lose 1-2 pounds of fat per week. 

However, a good place to start is to multiply your body weight by 12 or to use an online TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) calculator.

Your TDEE relies heavily on how active you are and how much movement you see in your day.

Within your TDEE lies a subsection, which is called TEPA (Thermic Effect of Physical Activity) which accounts for 15-30% of your entire day’s worth of calories.

This means, you are in control of 15-30% of how much you can eat, which is a huge portion of calories.

If you’re someone who loves to eat a lot while staying fit, then being active is the key to a balanced lifestyle that allows you to eat whatever you like, such as Tiramisu, and stay in shape. 

Once you know your calorie intake based on your weight and height, you can then decide how much you want to decrease it. If you want to lose 1 to 2 pounds per week, we suggest you start with 100 calories less than what you are currently consuming and see if you notice a difference within a week. 

It is suggested, however, to not decrease the calorie intake below 1,200 per day for women, or below 1,500 calories per day for men.

If you don’t see any changes in your weight, decrease your calorie intake by another 100 calories and see how that works. 

The key here is to find foods that keep you full longer and still deliver a balanced amount of macronutrients. 

You don’t want all of your calories simply coming from carbs or fats, you want there to be a balance coming from carbs, protein, and fats.

So, just calculate whatever calorie range you find, and split up your calories by following those macro guidelines. 

Despite the high amount of calories in Tiramisu, it can easily be incorporated into your daily caloric total, as long as you work out and stick to only one piece. 

3. How To Lose Weight While Eating Tiramisu

 You can easily over-eat unhealthy, processed foods that are high in fats and carbs, especially when something is as delicious as Tiramisu. Overeating is usually the quickest way to get out of shape.  

As we have mentioned in section two of this article, it’s important to understand how many calories you need to eat in order to lose weight and stay in shape.  

After you’ve figured out how many calories you need to consume daily, you need to make sure that you exercise regularly and build muscle throughout every week.  

Building muscle allows you to burn calories at rest, which means you can eat more and still lose fat. 

This is the daily goal of working out and is what keeps you healthy as your metabolism increase. 

So if you love eating Tiramisu the traditional way, you have to make sure your activity level is higher than usual, especially if you want to lose weight.  

Keep in mind that weight loss is the concept of calories in vs. calories out.

Although working out and building muscle takes priority, having a consistent cardio schedule can help with expediting the fat loss process as it raises the energy expended throughout your week.

There are two types of cardio that you can do in your week that will speed up the fat loss results. Those two types come from LISS (Low-Intensity Steady State) cardio and HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) cardio. 

What you want to aim for is to burning around 1,000 kcals of cardio every week through means of either LISS or HIIT.

LISS is cardio that comes from walking or a brisk walk, you should be able to have a conversation while still building up a sweat.

HIIT cardio is intervals of a very high-intensity movement, such as sprints, battle ropes, or kickboxing movements aiming to quickly raise the heart rate.

The benefit of HIIT is allowing yourself to burn calories in a shorter amount of time. 

Working out allows you to be more flexible in your diet and lifestyle, which is so important if you want to sustain a lean body and stay healthy while eating Tiramisu. 

THERE IT IS!

Our three tips will help you stay fit while eating some Tiramisu. 

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