Celebrity Fitness Trainer Senada Greca Shares Her Cheat Meal Christmas Cheesecake Recipe

Celebrity fitness trainer Senada Greca is sharing her favorite cheat meal New York-style cheesecake recipe with her 4 million followers on Instagram just in time for Christmas!

In a video set to Mariah Carey’s signature Christmas song, “All I Want For Christmas Is You,” the Zentoa founder led her followers through a step-by-step video that showed her followers how to make one of her favorite dessert recipes.

Only two days before Christmas, the social media sensation decided to share a recipe with her followers this holiday season.

"My SECRET Famous DELICIOUS New York Cheesecake - my Holiday Present to YOU," she wrote in the caption. "This has been my secret recipe for years and my CHEAT MEAL if there ever was one. And now you get to enjoy it too."

"While cheesecakes seem complicated, this one is super easy if follow all the steps here. If I can make it, YOU CAN," she continued. "Follow this step by step and you will have the most

DELICIOUS Cheesecake EVER! Make it tonight and you will impress your guests tomorrow and the day after."

She added a note that it was "very important" to bring all ingredients to room temperature before baking. "I usually leave my eggs in the fridge but, all else out of the fridge for about 20 minutes," she added, writing out a list of ingredients for her followers:

- 1.5 Graham cracker crumbs
- 2 cups of white sugar
- 1/2 cup finely chopped unsalted pecans
- 3/4 cups melted butter (about 2 sticks)
- 1 tsp of cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp of nutmeg
- 3/4 cup of milk
- 1 cup of sour cream
- 1 tbs of vanilla extract
- 4 eggs
- 4 (8oz) packages of cream cheese

She also wrote out a list of directions for both the crust and the cake itself:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Grease a 9 inch springform pan.

Crust - in a bowl mix:
- 1.5 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup finely chopped unsalted pecans (walnuts, almonds work too)
- 3/4 cup melted butter
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix together and press FIRMLY into 9” springform pan.

Mixture:
In a large bowl, blend very well:
- 4 (8 oz) cream cheese packages with
- 1.5 cups of sugar until smooth.
- Blend in 3/4 cup milk
- Then mix in the 4 eggs, ONE AT A TIME, blending gently just enough to incorporate
- Mix in GENTLY 1 cup sour cream and 1 tbs vanilla till smooth

Pour mixture into the prepared crust.

"We will cook cheesecake in a WATER BATH. Utilize a pan larger than the springpan and fill about 1/4 to 1/2 way with warm water," she explained. "Cover the bottom of the cheesecake pan with foil to prevent water from getting in (if some water does get in, that’s actually fine and even preferred) then place in water bath."

"Cook for 1.5 hours. Then turn oven OFF. Leave oven door closed allowing cheesecake to cool off for about 5 hours. Place in the fridge overnight and ENJOY," she concluded, adding, "Happy Holidays."

Although some fans thanked her for the recipe, others were not fans of some of the ingredients that she used. “Refined sugar???!!! That’s totally a poison,” one user commented. “I don’t use it all the time. It’s very, very rare. But sometimes you just got to treat yourself,” Senada replied.

“Use agave syrup instead of sugar, especially white sugar,” another follower commented. “Unfortunately, agave syrup is not any healthier than regular table sugar, and it would also throw off the ingredient ratios and resulting texture,” another fan commented while another explained, “Agave syrup is higher is Fructose, which the liver will easily convert into fat. While Fructose from fruit isn't bad due to fiber content, when adding caloric sweeteners to food, Agave is not the best choice from a health perspective.”

“Sorry, I'll pass... Looks like a gallbladder attack on a plate, haha,” another netizen chimed in. “You don't have to diet to not get gallbladder attacks... This recipe is horrible, that's all... Full of processed junk. By all means, make a cheesecake but I'd avoid a lot of these ingredients she's putting in it,” they later added in response to fans who told them not to comment if they didn’t like the recipe.

Still, there were some fans that showed their support for the fitness coach, with one fan writing, “These comments are ridiculous. Y’all are going to tell her what to eat and what not to eat. Mind your business, eat your own bloody food & take care of your own bodies, ladies!”

Interested in shaping up for the new year? In another recent Instagram post, the popular fitness trainer shared her "formula" for how to achieve weight loss while still enjoying those high-calorie cheat foods (in moderation, of course!). Fans can check out Senada's healthy approach to sustainable weight loss by clicking here!