Category: High Fat

Best Yogurt For Weight Loss


Yogurt Is Made From Milk

Often considered one of the most nutritious foods available, many people eat yogurt for its calcium-based factors, while others may use it as helpful for those who are lactose intolerant. However, did you know that certain yogurts are able to help you lose weight and belly fat as well? According to scientific research, yogurt is able to do more than strengthen bones; it can actually assist with burning fat, maintaining muscle strength, and protecting the metabolism. The only issue is to eat the types of yogurts that will help instead of just taste good. This article will provide information on the best yogurt for weight loss.

Why Should I Eat Only Certain Yogurts?

If evidence has found that yogurt can help with weight loss, then surely any yogurt should be able to assist with burning fat? This is good logic, but it is incorrect as not all types of yogurt are created equal – this is why there are full-fat and low-fat options. Depending on the diet you are following, you may wish to choose a high fat or a low or no-fat option. The full-fat yogurt option is more suited to those following a low carb diet; however, low-fat or non-fat versions may be more suitable for those on low calorie diets but check for sugar! It should be noted that all yogurts are filled with calcium and protein, so they are better breakfast options than sweetened cereals and just as quick to prepare and eat. Flavored yogurt options also tend to have more calories than the plain or unflavored counterparts. The most beneficial option is the Greek-style yogurt because this type is thicker, creamier, and filled with more protein. If you want flavor, try adding fruit to the plain yogurt but not too much or you will be defeating the removal of sugar.

What Are The Types Of Yogurts Available?

Of course, you can make your own yogurt and this may well  be your best option for yogurt that you will like and eat, especially if you suffer from intestinal problems such as IBS, ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s Disease.

If making your own yogurt is not an option, then here are some commercial brands that you may wish to try.

1. Icelandic-Style Strained Non-Fat Yogurt

One of the most advantageous yogurt options to help with weight loss is the Icelandic-style non-fat yogurt, particularly the Siggi brand. This type of yogurt is similar to the Greek varieties increasing the protein content; therefore building up muscle and bone strength. The most popular option is the strained non-fat vanilla style which, contrary to popular belief, does not have any sugar and only 100 calories. The average price of one tub of Siggi’s non-fat yogurt is $1.50. Prices, of course can vary at different outlets and change over time.

2. Fage 2% Greek Yogurt

Not only is the Fage brand Greek yogurt creamier and more enjoyable than the non-fat or low-fat options, but the small amount of milk fat in the product allows the body to absorb any fat-soluble vitamins in the item. The 2% fat Greek yogurt variety presents with only 8 grams of sugar and 150 calories making it a good option for weight loss. Moreover, it is much purer than others offering milk, cream and proteins. The average price of one tub of Fage brand yogurt is $1.60. Prices, of course can vary at different outlets and change over time.

3. Organic Greek Plain Low-Fat Yogurt

Another Greek yogurt variety that is the best yogurt for weight loss is the Wallaby Greek yogurt brand. Not only is this brand the most widely accessible product, but it is a “middle of the road” alternative for individuals who enjoy the idea of extra milk fat in their yogurt while not committing to the calories of a full-fat product. The organic Greek low-fat option from Wallaby presents with 130 calories and only 4 grams of sugar. The average price of one tub of Wallaby brand yogurt is $1.60. Prices, of course can vary at different outlets and change over time.

4. Whole Milk Greek Plain Yogurt

It is well known that all Greek yogurt varieties present with low sugar content and high protein levels, so they are considered the best yogurt for weight loss while strengthening muscles. The Chobani brand whole milk Green yogurt is made with full fat milk, however, this yogurt product has only 130 calories and 4 grams of sugar making it a good option if you want creamy yogurt without sugar. The average cost of a Chobani yogurt tub is $1.40. Prices, of course can vary at different outlets and change over time.

5. Whole Milk Vanilla-Flavored Yogurt

Some individuals cannot bear the taste of plain yogurt and need some taste to it; therefore, there are yogurt varieties that allow sweetness while still helping to reduce your waistline. One of the creamier options is the Dannon brand whole milk yogurt with vanilla flavoring. Containing vitamin D, this product is a sweet yogurt helping bone strengthening and protection. Unfortunately, it has high sugar content with 15 grams of sugar and 140 calories are making it a “now and then” option. The average price of this yogurt is $2.00 per tub. Prices, of course can vary at different outlets and change over time.

6. Live bio culture yogurts

There is some research to say that live yogurts, that is yogurts containing bio cultures of beneficial gut bacteria, can be helpful in weight loss.

Yogurt is a healthy food, provided it does not contain much sugar and can help with weight loss, provided you choose the right kind to eat for the type of diet you use and your lifestyle.

8 weeks is up!

Picture of clothes too big for model

Finished 8 Weeks

I made it through the full 8 weeks of the 800 calorie Blood Sugar Diet (BSD) though I was rather lax in the last week! I lost over 10% of my starting body weight, more than the diet expects and managed to fit into my designer jeans that have sat untouched in my wardrobe for several years, YAY!

At the start of December, I could not do up my designer jeans. Over Christmas and New Year, they did up no problem, though I had muffin tops overhanging the waist. Now there are not even muffin tops.

But best of all, the chest problems that prompted me to start this diet have disappeared! That’s the best of all.

Keeping The Weight Off

Some nutrition specialists seem to be very sniffy and iffy about diets, whether they are based on low calorie, very low calorie, low carb, high fat, low carb, Mediterranean or paleo diets and all the other diets available, whether promoted by doctors, wight loss gurus or others. Their constant cry is “But it doesn’t stay off”, as if it were the fault of the diet for not being both a weight loss AND a weight maintenance diet at the same time.

Some diets are weight maintenance in a later phase, for instance, some low carb diets, such as the Atkins diet, provide phases of dieting, with phase 1 being weight loss which transitions gradually into phase 4 which is weight maintenance. The 800 BSD diet recommends 2 possible methods of keeping weight off after losing it; to move onto a Mediterranean diet, high in salads, good fats and fish or to gradually add calories back into your diet after reaching your desired weight, until you stop losing, so that you may move to a 1,000 calorie daily diet for one week, then a 1100 calorie diet for the next week, etc. There is of course the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet which will work whichever diet you used for losing weight. I have seen one recommendation that says a maintenance diet in terms of daily calories, is 10 times your desired weight in pounds. On this basis, someone who wants to weigh 140 pounds (10 stone, 63Kg) would need a daily calorie allowance of 1400 calories and someone who wants to weigh 145 pounds would need 1450 calories daily. Whether or not this works, I do not know, as I have not yet tried that. But I am coming to the place where weight maintenance instead of weight loss will be necessary – exciting!

Blood Sugar Diet 800

Measuring waist

Low Carb Lifestyle

I have tried a number of diets, all of the low carb type recently but haven’t lost anything. I had great success with a low carb diet – the Atkins diet – back 16 years ago but I am a lot older now, possibly not as active and would be considered on “older” woman, these days. I like the low carb lifestyle, which is also known as the ketogenic diet and feel it is healthy for me, as I lose the craving for sugar and sweet things, however, I have also developed a very pronounced taste for Almond butter! This is really good stuff and very healthy but the amount of carbs I need for losing weight is very low, less than 20 grams a day and with the amount of almond butter I eat, it is not possible to keep to that low level. Almond butter contains a lot of protein and good fats but also a fair amount of carbohydrate, so I can’t blame the diet but my liking for Almond butter!

I also tried the low carb high fat diet (LCHF) which is also healthy and which I enjoyed but didn’t lose anything on that either, again, I think, because of the Almond butter. But I certainly enjoyed coffee with cream in it and a number of the other recipes. While I didn’t lose weight on that diet, I didn’t put it on either.

Low Calorie Diet

The most success I had recently was with the 5:2 diet, which I tried for a month and lost 3 Kgs on – which is 6.5 pounds, fairly respectable for one month. That is an intermittent fasting diet, because you eat a very low level of calories (partial fast) on two days of the week and eat normally the other 5 days. It is also a low calorie diet because research shows that you do not tend to eat too much extra on the 5 days of the week when you eat normally to make up for the 2 days on which you partially fasted. It seemed to me that I needed to go back to a low calorie diet even though I had resisted them for over 30 years, believing they did not work for me or that I would be ravenously hungry (in total denial!).

I also heard of a book that I downloaded to my Kindle, called the 8 week blood sugar diet by Dr Michael Mosley. It sounded interesting and I read it from start to finish very quickly as it was also  very readable and interesting, with lots of personal stories from different people, which I always thinks makes a book more enjoyable. I had previously heard of research at a University in the United Kingdom that used very low calorie diets to reverse diabetes. It had put diabetics on an 800 calorie diet for 8 weeks and many of them were no longer diabetic at the end of it. At the time, I had thought “that’s interesting” but I wasn’t diabetic and was not likely to take part in any medical experiments like that. BUT Dr Mosley’s book is based on this work in Newcastle University and he shows how anyone can use this diet to lose weight quickly, whether they are diabetic or not.

Up until now, I had believed the current wisdom that losing weight quickly was not good for you and you would put it all back on quickly and more once you stopped dieting. Dr Mosley’s book showed that this was not so. He also said that millions of people in the western world are probably pre-diabetic and do not know it. I have a sister who has type II diabetes and our grandmother was also diabetic, so this is something that concerns me, however, the book is also for those would would like to lose weight quickly. I had found the 5:2 diet a little hard to stick to, remembering to fast on certain days, but I had never felt totally ravenous, so I thought I might be able to try to 800 calorie diet for a couple of days and see how I liked it, maybe even run it as a 5:2.

Dr Mosley had mentioned that the original participants in the 800 calorie 8 week trial had been placed on a liquid diet, using shakes, so that their diet could be fully monitored but that some others had tried it with their normal diet, reduced to 800 calories and found great success. This was a no-brainer for me because I keep a bag of protein shake in the house! I happen to like it and so does my son and also my daughter and we all like it mixed with almond butter as a quick dessert too. One scoop of protein powder in 500 ml of water provides 100 calories (it uses sweeteners, not sugar). That meant I could have two protein shakes during the day and eat a small meal, with no potatoes at night and probably keep within 800 calories. That was something I was willing to try for a day or even two days. I started on 5 December, with two protein shakes during the day and an evening meal of 4 ounces of meat and green beans. I don’t eat first thing in the morning anyway, because I go for a walk with my husband most days and my internal system wouldn’t let me make it right round if I ate or drank anything, so my normal breakfast time is 11.00am or so. At 11.00am on 6 December, I wasn’t ravenous, so I decided to see whether I could do it another day, taking 2 protein shakes, one at 11 and one at about 2pm, then a main meal at 5pm. And the same happened the next day, I have been able to keep on this diet.

I have done this faithfully every day now for over 1 week. I didn’t measure my weight at the start because I just wanted to get going on it and I don’t have scales in the house. I am assuming I weighed 75 Kg because that was the best weight I have been able to achieve at any time in the past couple of years and I had not dipped below that at any time I weighed my self in the past year. Last night, I weighed 72.6 Kgs! That’s 2.4 Kgs in one week. What I have been measuring is my abdomen size (around the belly button). That has not moved during the week. I am assuming that the diet is removing the internal fat in my liver first. This is the dangerous stuff.

How do I feel after a week on 800 calories or less each day?

I feel a little cold (losing my insulation) but not too tired. I had expected to feel weak but I don’t. I am still able (in my late 60s) to walk a 3.5 mile course that climbs a hill to 180 feet with no noticeable slowing down. I also have found that when in bed, I am now more comfortable lying on my side. Previously, I had found that my chest cavity seemed to be being compressed and I was uncomfortable. That suggests I may have lost some internal fat. 🙂 I also feel that my thighs have more room inside my trousers!

How Did I Manage When Dinner Was Not Suitable?

Only on one day did I feel I could not eat any of the dinner (fish fingers and chips), so I had 3 hard boiled eggs and a spoonful of mayonnaise. That filled me up. Most days I take a bigger portion of a green vegetable, rather than a starchy vegetable.

How Do I Look To Others?

Others have commented that I have lost weight around my face. I notice that myself. I am happy with that. 🙂

Am I getting All My Nutrients?

I believe so. I don’t eat processed food. Our main meal is cooked from scratch each day and I eat vegetables, together with a protein source. I occasionally take vitamins.