Jessica Stier - DIY Protein Bars Cookbook: Easy, Healthy, Homemade No-Bake Treats That Taste Like Dessert, But Just Happen To Be Packed With Protein!

Jessica Stier is the author, photographer and recipe developer behind the DIY Protein Bars Cookbook, which was inspired by her healthy dessert recipe blog, Desserts with Benefits ( www.DessertsWithBenefits.com ). Jessica is a healthy dessert expert with an interest and a strong scholarly background in the fields of Nutrition and Dietetics (thanks, university!), but before college she was the complete opposite

I guess we should start from the beginning, shall we?

I was born and raised in a quiet, homey neighborhood in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. And, like most kids, I ate whatever (and whenever) I pleased. I plowed my way through boxes of candy bars, jumbo-sized bags of chocolatey goodies, and enough candy to fill dozens of those Halloween trick-or-treat pumpkin baskets (aka, enough sugar to make even the most seasoned sugar fiend sick with a stomachache and candy hangover).

When my family and I moved to the United States, so did my sugar addiction. All the way up to age eighteen, I was eating poorly (ehem, understatement of the year, ehem) and I wasnt exercising. At all . I ate chocolate bars for breakfast (yes, Im serious), a bag of chips, fruit snacks, and a carton of sugary chocolate milk for lunch (are you getting a sugar rush just by reading this?), and something totally useless for dinner, like nachos or instant noodles. I brought so much candy to school that I was known as Hershey Girl, Sourpatch Girl, and even just the plain old, girl with candy (I went through a few candy phases). I needed $20 per week to support my daily vending machine visits and another $20 on top of that to pay for my hefty lunches. After every meal, I felt gross and nauseous with a foggy brain, but I kept on eating the unhealthy foods I had always eaten. I mean, a diet like that was normal to me. My entire family ate like that, the kids at school ate like that, it all tasted good so, whats the problem? Why change?

When I turned sixteen and got my first job at a pretzel joint in the local shopping mall, I gained a little bit of weight. And by a little I mean a lot. Like, twelve pounds in three months. This was a huge shock to me. I never gained weight like that before despite my inadequate diet and sedentary lifestyle. I may have been on the thin side my entire life, but I was always skinny-fat. A lot of jiggle on bones with no muscle whatsoever.

My solution? Oh, just buy those 100-calorie snack packs and (attempt to) stop eating a bajillion pretzels dunked in butter every time they began to look dry. Yeah, that didnt fly. The excess salt, the dangerous trans fats, the highly refined sugar, the artificial sweeteners it just made me want more. A lot more . And I paid the price for it I was an emotional roller coaster with crazy cravings, either trapped in a steady state of lethargy or stuck in an unstoppable yo-yoing between sugar rush and sugar crash.

I just wanted to be better healthier .

With perfect timing, I graduated high school and was about to enter university a brand new stage in life where I decided to start over . Completely . I chose to major in Nutritional Sciences, and this was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. I learned everything under the sun about food, nutrition, and the human body. I finally came to terms with my own body, the reasons why I ate the way I did, and how I should be eating. Now, just a few years later, I have finally found the solution to achieving consistent energy levels, and I am satiated for a long period of time (no more of those I-must-eat-that-entire-tray-of-brownies-ASAP feelings). I have boosted my metabolism (by ~800 calories per day), I have put on lean muscle (~15 pounds) and have lost some fat (~10 pounds).

I lived for chocolate. I live for chocolate .

Dont get me wrong, I still indulge. I have (and will always have) a serious passion for sweets! I have just learned how to make those sweets (secretly) healthy.

Enter, Desserts with Benefits

My blog was born late at night on April 20 th , 2011 as a serious procrastination technique to avoid studying for finals. I didnt post a recipe, but rather, a list of desserts that were on my Baking Wishlist, along with dishes that Ive made but had turned out unsuccessful. Healthy baking is a difficult thing to do! I dont use sugar (white granulated sugar, brown sugar, high fructose corn syrup, etc.) , artificial sweeteners (aspartame, sucralose, etc.) , white flour (all purpose flour, cake flour, pastry flour, bread flour, bleached flours, etc.) , or unhealthy fats (hydrogenated shortening, margarine, genetically modified oils) . I mean, anything can be made to taste good using all the wrong ingredients, but is it what your body wants? I dont want my desserts to give off the same repercussions that typical unhealthy desserts do (aka, bloating, headache, stomachache, nausea).

When I started blogging, I hoped to show people that healthy ingredients can indeed make a delicious cake, muffin, pastry, cookie, and so on. I am happy to say that, with the hundreds of testimonials Ive received, with the loyal Desserts with Benefits fans who comment regularly, and with the thousands upon thousands of people around the world who have tried (and loved!) my recipes

I have met that goal.