39 Comments   
Forget banning chocolate, chips and bad-for-you snacks from your cupboards when you're trying to eat better. A new study says that keeping junk food around may actually help people maintain self-control.

Researchers argue that putting tempting treats directly in front of you will help you better control your desire for them. People feel empowered knowing that they've successfully resisted a food, versus just feeling like they're depriving themselves. We're not quite buying it, given that we have zero control over our actions when Spicy Thai Kettle Chips are around, but we see their point.

The study's authors actually suggest -- God love 'em -- "having candy in large stocks at home ... might help women with their attempts at controlling their food intake." Now that's some advice we can get behind.

So if candy can make you lose weight, think of what a gooey chocolate cake could do? Below our top thirteen--a baker's dozen--most decadent desserts that might just be the secret to your diet success.

1,600 Calories...and Worth It?

    Cosi Double Trouble Brownie Sundae, Calories: 1,594, Total Fat: 95 g
    "One warm chocolate brownie & one blondie topped with two scoops of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream & a cherry." Seven nights on the treadmill, alternating between self-loathing and considering eating another one when you get home.

    Laura Gilbert

    Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie, Calories: 1,600, Total Fat: 78 g
    Why have dessert when you can have novelty dessert?! It comes to your table fajita-style, sizzling in a cast iron skillet. And it's soaking in a vat of cinnamon butter. (Kind of like your heart.)

    Southeast Star, Flickr

    Romano's Macaroni Grill's Dessert Ravioli, Calories: 1,630, Total Fat: 74 g
    This Italian-inspired concoction consists of peanuts, caramel and chocolate in fried pastries served with vanilla ice cream and, uh, more caramel. Don't worry, their New York Cheesecake only has 1,610 calories.

    Watori Goro, Flickr

    P.F. Chang's Great Wall of Chocolate with Raspberry Sauce, Calories: 2,240, Total Fat: 89 g
    Well, it does have 20g of protein and we can write off the raspberry sauce as being in the fruit group, so it's sort of like salad, right?

    tresposhepreppy.blogspot.com

    Applebee's Sizzling Apple Pie with Ice Cream, Calories: 1,086, Total Fat: 56 g
    There's nothing more American than warm apple pie -- that has over a thousand calories. The ice cream melts over the sizzling sugary crust, creating a hot-and-cold classic for your piehole.

    Applebees.com

    Baskin-Robbins Heath Bar Shake, Calories: 2,310, Total Fat: 108 g
    We like our coffee like we like our men: blended with Heath ice cream and caramel and tastefully garnished with whipped cream and pieces of candy bars.

    BaskinRobbins.com

    Mimi's Café Chocolate Chip Pecan Pie, Calories: 1,879, Total Fat: 111 g
    Why choose between pecan pie and a chocolate dessert when you can jam them both onto one plate? Plus, pecans = heart-healthy fats, right? Right? Come back here, we're having chest pains.

    MimisCafe.com

    Friendly's Caramel Fudge Brownie Sundae, Calories: 1,530, Total fat: 70 g
    An Oreo brownie with five scoops of ice cream, hot fudge, caramel and whipped cream. Who could have guessed those ingredients would add up to such high digits? We blame new math.

    Friendlys.com

    Don Pablo's Chocolate Volcano Cake, Calories: 1,380, Total Fat: 77g
    (Not to be confused with the 1997 film.) Take one chocolate cinnamon cake, drop it in a pool of molten chocolate butter sauce, scoop ice cream on top and shovel into maw. Burp.

    Amazon

    On the Border Chocolate Turtle Empanadas, Calories: 1,280, Fat: 729 g
    Really, how better to wash down a meal of fried flour, refried beans and guac than a pile of pastries filled with chocolate, caramel and pecans. With ice cream. Delicioso!

    ontheborder.com