The Magic of Yogurt and Fats

I found this article extremely interesting. The last couple of months I have read and researched the idea of 'why French women don't get fat.' And while there is much to be said about it, I won't go too far into it other than to say that their diet includes, whole foods, including whole milk products, cheeses, chocolates, creams, etc. And eaten using their built in 'portion control' buttons! Something we all have, we just need to tap into it. Long of the short, I work out 5-6 days a week, for more than a year I've been counting calories in order to stay in a calorie deficit for weight loss. Low and behold I've actually gained 9 lbs. But, I have gone down in size. At any rate, I still HATE seeing the numbers on the scale rise so I new I was doing something wrong. What I realized, through talking with trainers and researching diet and exercise, were three key things.

1. I was working out too hard and for too long each day.

2. I was NOT eating enough in order to fuel my workouts.

3. I was keeping fat to a minimum or not eating fats at all.

These were my mistakes. So for the last month I've cut my daily workouts in half, I'm eating more fats, AND I'm happy to say I've lost 5 pounds! Go figure - I exercise more, count calories, and gain! I exercise less, eat more, and lose. Just to clarify as to what kinds of fats I'm eating along with tons of fruits and veggies are: Breyers ice cream at least twice a week! Pouring raw milk cream into my daily oatmeal, spreading BUTTER on my toast, baking with creme fraiche, using a good amount of olive oil and coconut oil, drinking whole milk buttermilk smoothies, and feasting on whole milk yogurt everyday! Which brings me to this article: Hope you enjoy! (I just want to add that these things are working for ME, I'm just sharing my experiences with my "why French women don't get fat" information. I'm not saying it's for everyone)

The Magic of Yogurt

New Secrets About a French Women Favorite

By now you are well aware of my love affair with yogurt. I've long employed the creamy treat as my "secret weapon" and I've gone to great lengths to expose its beneficial dietary effects. Recently, I stumbled across some nutrition facts about yogurt that shocked me, and I wanted to share them with you.

It turns out that yogurt actually promotes weight loss by accelerating your body's fat-burning capabilities. By eating one half-cup serving of yogurt twice a day for a year, you can lose up to 10 pounds of body fat. This is especially true for those of you trying to lose a few inches in the waistline; many studies have called yogurt the "tummy trimmer."

And here's why: when the calcium in yogurt is broken down in your body, it produces heat inside your fat cells. There's a big scientific word for this process: thermogenesis. Long story short, this helps to burn off the fats cells and convert them into energy and muscle.

Now, what's unique to yogurt in this burn-off process? Many foods contain calcium: orange juice, milk, cheese, ice cream, etc. But it's the living and active cultures in the yogurt that fuel the cellular fat-burning process.

So what are you waiting for? Time to get more yogurt, whether store-bought or homemade, into your diet, and now!

Here are some great tips for incorporating yogurt into your daily diet in place of offenders:

• Swap a few tablespoons of yogurt for mayonnaise in dips, salads and salad dressings.
• Try a dollop of yogurt on a baked potato instead of sour cream. This can work as a suitable replacement in sour cream dips as well.
• Use yogurt in smoothies or milkshakes as opposed to milk and ice cream.
• Try as a soup garnish.
• Make yogurt cheese: Place yogurt in a coffee filter over a container, allow the whey to drip out and mix the yogurt cheese with herbs of your choice (scallions, chives, garlic, etc). Yogurt cheese has the consistency of cream cheese, but contains much less fat. Spread on bagels, crackers or mix into dips.