Yogurt Diet Tricks

There are a few yogurt diet tricks that are so easy to do, you won't feel as though you are dieting.

Everyone knows that losing weight takes diligence and a commitment to eat healthy and exercise. These changes are not a huge sacrafice and they be a big help in achieving your weight loss goals.

Yogurt diet trick # 1

Substitute yogurt for higher calorie foods, especially sour cream, mayonnaise and cream cheese.

Compare the calories in these common foods.

• Sour cream 492
• Mayonnaise 1,540
• Oil 1,927

Consider the amount of calories in your salad dressing, most of which are made with low quality and unhealthy oils.

Even just substituting half of the amount for yogurt can cut your calorie intake drastically. The best thing is that you will still be full and satisfied. More importantly your few calories will be nutrition packed.

Especially if you are a woman who, like me, is nursing or pregnant, you really need to avoid those empty calories. Right now I am nursing my 1 year old and pregnant. If I filled up on 1,540 calories in a cup of mayo, which hardly has any nutritional value (all I see on the label is a bit of vitamin E). I would much rather substitute a cup of rich greek style yogurt and get tons of calcium and protein.

One of my favorite snacks is a baked potato with strained yogurt and chives. You should try it, it's yummy. Also, mixing plain yogurt with mayonnaise to make tuna fish sandwiches tastes great. My family didn't even notice, so I guess that is good.

Yogurt diet trick #2

Eat yogurt for a high protein breakfast. One cup of yogurt has 10 g of protein. High protein yogurt can help you boost metabolism and help you burn more fat. It also fills you up, so you don't eat junk.

Yogurt diet trick #3

Satisfy your sweet tooth with fruit and yogurt.

Consider what you snack on. Before you reach for a bagel and cream cheese, chocolate milk, pudding or sweets consider these alternatives:

• Yogurt with fresh berries
• Strawberry, banana and yogurt smoothie
• Peach frozen yogurt
• Thick greek-style yogurt with fresh fruit or maple syrup

Limiting refined white sugar can help you shed pounds. Besides that most foods that have a lot of white sugar like cakes, pies, sweets and candy don't give you any health benefits or nutritional value whatsoever.

Yogurt diet trick #4

Cut out soft drinks. Replace them with healthy beverages like fruit and yogurt smoothies, kefir soda and iced herbal teas. Consider making refreshing kefir soda. It's as easy as adding kefir grains to water and letting it set out for 4-6 hours. This naturally carbonated drink is a healthy alternative to soda and an amazing source of probiotics.

Another refreshing beverage that you can try is iced green tea. Green tea has been proven to boost metabolism and promote weight-loss. I like the flavored green teas like mango and peach. Another favorite ice tea is a blend I buy that has peppermint and licorice. It is so good and doesn't need any sweetener (because of the sweet licorice). If you are a soda drinker replacing some of your soda with healthier beverages can really help shed the pounds.

Yogurt diet trick #5

Eat a high dairy calcium diet, which has been proven to keep lean muscle and maintain bone density while trimming fat around your middle. Of course some high calcium dairy foods are healthier than others and yogurt tops the list as the healthiest.

A few other tricks that can make big difference are:

• Getting enough sleep
• Avoid over consuming alcohol especially beer (there are a lot of carbs in beer)
• Limit empty calorie foods such as white flour products
• Limit or completely cut out refined sugar and candy

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