Nutrition

Did you know that almost ALL yogurts are flat out bad news for your waistline?

“Light” yogurts, for instance, are absolutely terrible for you, and for more reasons that one.

First, most “light” yogurts are loaded with artificial sweeteners and/or high fructose corn syrup.

High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is one of the top 3 WORST ingredients you could ever consume.  First, as it’s name suggests, it’s made of primarily fructose, a sugar that easily spills over to fat  storage when consumed in sizable quantities.

And artificial sweeteners are…well…artificial. Do you really want to put chemically altered, man-made ingredients that don’t exist in nature into your body? Me either.

Second, HFCS is made from genetically modified corn.

Third, HFCS spikes blood sugar and insulin like almost no other food or ingredient.

Bad news all around.

Bottom line, just because something is low calorie (i.e. “Light”) doesn’t make it a healthy choice, or even a choice that will positively affect your fat loss goals.

What about “fat free” yogurts?

Well, hopefully we all know and understand by now that fat isn’t bad. Fat is a critical nutrient to both your health and your fat loss efforts and actually helps to naturally stabilize many important hormones in your body that play a key role in optimizing your body’s fat-burning environment.

Secondly, most fat-free yogurts are LOADED with sugar. Here’s a plan: Let’s get rid of the naturally occurring healthy fats and load up on sugar instead! Sounds like a plan to me…a really bad one.

So does that mean you should be avoiding all yogurts?

No, in fact there’s ONE type of yogurt that I highly recommend you use as part of your fat-burning diet…and that’s Organic Plain Greek Yogurt.

First, Greek yogurt has double the protein of regular yogurt, so you get more protein punch in every spoonful.

Second, by choosing the plain variety you avoid all the extra, unnecessary, artificial ingredients along with calorie-boosting excess sugar.

Lastly, by going organic you’ll avoid the hormones and antibiotics that are otherwise generally injected in the typical cow.

Greek Yogurt is my #1 pick for mid-meal snack and I enjoy a serving of Greek yogurt just about every day. I recommend you do the same.

Cereal is, by and large, one of the worst foods for your waistline, and your health. There are of course a few rare exceptions (like some of the cereals in the Ezekiel 4:9® line from the good folks at Food for Life®) but when it comes to the “regular” boxes that stock the shelves of the cereal aisle at your local grocery store, it’s generally all very, very bad news.

Perhaps what is most disturbing about so many brands of cereal is that they confuse the heck out of consumers by making them “sound” so healthy and nutritious, when in reality they are anything but.

For example, while at the grocery store today I came across a “Yogurt Berry Crunch” cereal (with added fiber!) from a popular brand.

It sure sounds healthy…

In fact, the label even makes claims like “heart healthy!” and points out that it contains “25 grams of whole grains”. “Rich in antioxidants, vitamin C & E”, too. Just add up all those health benefits!

But here’s the truth:

This so-called “healthy” cereal contains FIFTY ONE ingredients, including not one, not two, not six, not seven, but TEN different sources of SUGAR.

It also contains SEVEN corn derived ingredients (very likely from genetically modified corn), including corn syrup and corn starch.

It’s also loaded with inflammatory wheat ingredients and gluten, not to mention two of the worst damaged, denatured oils you can consume…canola oil and soybean oil.

Healthy? I don’t think so!

Unfortunately, just about everything else in the cereal aisle is in the same boat as this disastrously unhealthy 51-ingredient nightmare.

Instead, try our alternative “Yogurt Berry Crunch” that only contains three 100% all-natural ingredients:

-Greek Yogurt
-Rolled Oats
-Fresh Berries

Combine and enjoy!

Simply put, you MUST eliminate these disasterous boxed foods from your home and start consuming whole, natural, REAL foods if your goal is to get a flat belly fast.

Do you eat oatmeal for breakfast? While it certainly can be a solid, healthy option, most are heavily processed and absolutely TERRIBLE for you.

For example, I was just at the store and took a look at a brand of “heart-healthy” instant oatmeal (their claim), the “Maple and Brown Sugar” flavor.

First, there is no maple in it. There is also no brown sugar in it. Instead, it’s packed with artificial ingredients, colors, and flavors. It’s also packed with regular sugar and I’ve even seen some varieties with the “flavor” gel packets full of high fructose corn syrup…talk about royally screwing up oatmeal!

This product also has a significantly higher glycemic index than regular “old fashioned oatmeal” due to it’s instant nature where it’s been pre-cooked via high-heat processing.  This high heat processing also robs the oatmeal of many important vitamins and minerals, making it an overall less nutritious product. So, if you’re going to go with oatmeal, please stay away from the instant, processed, sugar-laden versions.

Instead, the best choice is plain ol’ steel cut oats. While they take a few extra minutes to cook, it’s certainly worth it for the lower glycemic index, extra fiber, and greater vitamin and mineral content…all while avoiding all that processed garbage.

Steel cut oats will also leave you feeling fuller, longer, and you’ll probably find that you enjoy the more firm texture and nuttier flavor a LOT more than mushy instant oatmeal
anyway.