Trading Up Downtown

Yogurt is always one of those categories that confuses me. Pretty much all of my life, I thought yogurt was a healthy, low-calorie, and low-fat option for breakfast or a snack– and it is. For the most part. Yogurt provides a great combination of carbohydrates and protein to fuel your body and keep you satisfied, but there’s often room to trade-up.

Check out these seemly nutritious yogurts:

• BREYERS INSPIRATIONS 1% MILK CHERRY CHOCOLATE CHIP LOWFAT YOGURT: 12
• FAGE TOTAL 2% LOWFAT GREEK YOGURT WITH HONEY: 16
• SUNNYSIDE FARMS FRUIT ON THE BOTTOM PEACH 99% FAT FREE: 18
• MEIJER BLACKBERRY LOWFAT YOGURT: 20
• LIBERTE MEDITERRANEE LEMON YOGURT FRUIT BOTTOM: 22

Not the best NuVal scores, right? Now, check out how you can trade-up to a more nutritious yogurt:

• STONYFIELD ORGANIC PLAIN SMOOTH AND CREAMY NONFAT YOGURT: 100
• KROGER BLENDED NON-FAT PLAIN GRADE A NON-FAT YOGURT: 100
• DANNON ALL NATURAL NONFAT YOGURT PLAIN: 96
• FAGE NONFAT GREEK STRAINED YOGURT: 94
• BROWN COW PLAIN SMOOTH & CREAMY NONFAT YOGURT: 94

As you can see, the plain yogurt varieties score the highest, but you can spice-up your yogurt and make it more nutritious by combining it with a bit of crushed up Shredded Wheat (NuVal score 91) for staying power from fiber, and then top it with chopped apple (NuVal score 96) or sliced banana (NuVal score: 91) for extra nutrients. You can even add spices– like cinnamon and nutmeg– to your yogurt to literally spice it up!

 How do you like to eat your yogurt?

Do you think that in order to lose weight you have to use some ultra-strict diet plan and spend hours each day in the gym?

If so, you’re believing a weight loss myth that just isn’t true.  While you definitely can see good weight loss results by being very strict with your eating habits and devoting plenty of time to a structured workout routine, it doesn’t have to be this way.

There are many different methods that you can use to help reach your weight loss goals, so choosing what works best for you is going to be ideal.  Some people like having that firm structure in place while for others, it just makes them throw in the towel and move off their plan entirely.

Instead, adopting a more flexible approach is very often the better way to go.

Let’s have a look at a few simple and straightforward concepts to consider so that you can easily reach your weight loss goals.

Structure Your Diet Properly

The very first thing that you’ll want to do in order to see best results is make sure to structure your diet properly.  Rather than counting calories and obsessing over each macronutrient that you’re consuming, simply focus on eating every three hours or so out of the day and getting in a good dose of protein with each meal along with a large helping of vegetables.

Once you have those foods on your plate, then add some healthy carbs or fats to it to round out the meal.  Aim to focus on foods that only contain a single ingredient as this means that they have not been through any form of processing.

If you do this, you’ll naturally consume fewer calories which is the key for seeing weight loss success.

Think Active Living

Moving along, the next important thing that you should be doing is thinking about active living.  Don’t force yourself to the gym if you don’t want to go.  Instead, focus on just getting up and moving around more.

What most people don’t realize is that all the little activities you do throughout the day can actually add up to a greater calorie burn than what you’d do in the gym.

Those who go to the gym but sit around all day hardly moving, usually have lower overall daily calorie expenditures than those with an active lifestyle.

Don’t sit around.  Get up and get moving and you’ll be seeing weight loss take place.

Don’t Use All Or None Thinking Patterns

Finally, the last quick tip to help see natural weight loss without a lot of structure is to get rid of black and white thinking patterns.

Realize that everyone slips up now and then and that this isn’t something to get too concerned of.

Instead, devote your time and attention to focusing on the future and getting back on track.  A small slip-up won’t set you off track, but if that small slip-up turns into a great big ordeal, this is definitely going to cause problems.

So make sure that you keep all these points in mind as you go about striving to reach your weight loss goals.  Using this approach you can find success with a lot less thought and planning and easily maintain that weight loss into the future.

Author Note:

The article is contributed by Nick Clipton, webmaster of BuildingBodyMuscles.com. Nick is passionate about writing health and fitness related articles. Visit his site to know more about online exercise program.

Research shows that women who read food labels have a better chance of dropping pounds than those who don’t, so Shape magazine asked Alyse Levine, R.D., the nutrition adviser for livestrong.com, what to look for at the store.

BREAD

“The phrase ‘made with whole grains’ is pretty meaningless,” says Levine. “What does matter is that the first item on the ingredients panel is a whole grain, like whole wheat, and that each slice contains at least 2 grams of fiber.”

SOUP

“Check that the can supplies no more than 240 milligrams of sodium per 1-cup serving,” she says. Or look for the “low in sodium” label, which means a product has 140 or fewer milligrams. (Most of us shouldn’t exceed 2,300 milligrams a day. The cutoff drops to 1,500 milligrams if you’re over 51; African-American; or have high blood pressure, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease.)

CEREAL

“A lot of people see ‘all-natural’ and think it means those frosted flakes are good for you,” says Levine. “But the claim isn’t regulated by the FDA.” A better indicator of nutrition: sugar. “Look for cereal with 8 grams or fewer per 2/3-cup serving, plus at least 3 grams of fiber.”

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All of these tips are helpful and informative for choosing the most nutritious food when you go to the grocery store, but, sometimes, it’s a lot to think about, especially if you don’t have the time to analyze each and every product you put into your shopping cart. This is why NuVal is so great– you can quickly select a food based on its score. The higher the number, the higher the nutrition.

Have you tried NuVal yet? If not, check out where you can find NuVal. We have quite a few new locations– we’re coast-to-coast now!

Trading Up Downtown Giveaway

Thanks to everyone who entered this week’s giveaway! Here’s your winner:

Congrats, Kim! Please email me at thaupert@nuval.com with your full name and mailing address to claim your prize!