Whenever a dieter says something like, “I was so good yesterday, I didn’t have any dessert,” we always remind them that having dessert is an important part of lifetime eating. Cutting out all sweets (or other categories of food that you like) NEVER works out long term because you’ll always end up eating them again and when you do, if you don’t know how to control your portions, you’ll gain weight. "No dessert" is an all-or-nothing diet mentality that (for most people) just doesn't work.