[quote]Babe, choosing yogurt doesn’t take 20 minutes…pick a flavor and let’s go.[/quote]
…Oh, but it does.
He thinks I’m deciding between 0% Fat Raspberry Almond Cheesecake and Zero Carb Mango Honey Vanilla. What my husband doesn’t understand is the list of nuances I judge yogurt by. Regular, plain, from a cow who ate grass – yogurt. Why in the world is this hard to find?!?!?!Why do I cringe a bit when I see people picking up 0% fat, artificially sweetened, fruit on the bottom, ‘Greek’ yogurt? Because it’s working the opposite way you’re probably seeking. If you’re eating yogurt for the health benefits or to lose weight – you may want to pay attention.
Fat is your FRIEND.
(The fat in food, not that spare tire).
[quote]Let’s say it together, “Fat Is My Friend.” Good job.[/quote]
Why is fat your friend??
- Fat is required for production of estrogen, testosterone, and prostaglandins – good for sex!
- Fat is required to build myelin sheaths around nerve cells. –good for your brain!
- Fat trips off your satiety signals –no more ‘hangry’ episodes! (when you’re so hungry, you’re angry)
- Fat is required to absorb certain nutients -good for your bones!
- Fat is required for a fully functioning immune system -good for sick babies!
If you breastfed your kids at all, that was a whole milk product right? You didn’t send it to a processing lab to take out the fat (I hope not!), right? Somehow we all know that babies need fats, but why then do we switch them to zero fat everything and continue that as adults? Misconceptions, misinformation, convention, and decades of marketing perhaps? A cup of 0% fat, artificially sweetened, fruit on the bottom, ‘Greek’ junk is just that, junk. And if you read the ingredient labels, it’s got a lot more than milk and cultures.
If you take anything from this post, it’s to read ingredient labels, not nutrition labels.
Here are the stats yogurt must have before I put it in the cart:
- Organic
- Grass-fed (if I can find it!)
- Whole (Full) Fat
- Unsweetened
- Unflavored
“But I can’t stand plain yogurt!”
Grow up, already!! If you’re trying to change your health and life..then actually change – grow – stretch -and try. Your limbs won’t fall off if you eat a cup of plain yogurt. Would you put up with that kind of whining from your kids or would you tell them to just do it?
Try a handful of fresh berries, or a sprinkling of sliced almonds. It might take a while for your palate to change, but stick with it. Yogurt already has sugar in it, in the form of lactose (milk-sugar) so its naturally a bit sweet. Flavored yogurts typically are packed full of sugars, and excess sugar actually will end up stored as fat on your body.
So what the heck do I buy?
Plain, organic, whole fat yogurt. Grass-fed if you can find it!
My personal favorite is Maple Hill Creamery – I find it at Kroger in the natural section! Full disclosure – No one in my family eats much dairy at all (another post), except for butter. I eat a lot of butter. But when we do have dairy its plain full fat keifer, a little bit of hard cheeses like fresh grated parmesan, or a sprinkling of goat cheese.
Leave the low-fat fad where it belongs – in the PAST.
Say it with me now, “Fat is my friend!”
(Flash backs to Finding Nemo “Fish are our friends, not food”…you know what I’m talking about)
Have questions about eating clean or making a lifestyle change? I am passionate about clean eating and want to help…let’s get the conversation going!
What a great post! As I have struggled with weight my entire adult life I can say that when I change my mentality instead of my diet is when it all clicked! I am taking your yogurt tips to Kroger this weekend – Thanks!
It’s totally a mind shift..which leads to the behavior shift for the long haul! Happy for you Trisha!
I am sure I already know this answer, but how do you feel about plain yogurt with honey?
Plain yogurt with honey is a great step in the right direction, and is one of my favorite treats. The fact that you’ll have the protein from the yogurt helping to temper the blood sugar response is also in your favor.
The sweeteners I use are honey and real maple syrup for the most part. I think the key with sweeteners is that you don’t consume them to be ‘healthy’ but you use one that actually has some benefit when you do include them. Occasionally blackstrap molasses or agave (if it needs to not have much flavor) – but those are wrongly viewed as ‘health food’ to include in the diet, I just see them as better alternative IF I need to use one.
Long answer ha.
I think you hit the nail on the head, “grow up already!” It’s true that if we want our kids to eat veggies – we make them, even if they don’t want to. We make them because we know it is good for them, not because we know they will love the taste/texture/etc. Funny how it’s a way one street.
As a family, we go in spurts for making healthy choices. For the most part, we do a pretty good job. However, I am guilty of getting the non-fat plain greek yogurt for me and then I get the vanilla not fat for the girls. Sometimes it’s a gentle…haha, or not so gentle reminder that helps us get back on track! So thank you!
I’m wouldn’t say I’m know for my ‘gentle’ approach 😉
I think it was zig ziglar who said ‘Motivation is like showering, we recommend it daily’…or something along those lines.
I LOVE that because how quickly motivation leaves, right? I know personally I need to feed myself constant little reminders to keep me on track.
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