Brief Thoughts on...Yogurt

We are big fans of yogurt. I hated yogurt as a kid. Hated it so much it made me gag and I would refuse to eat it if at all possible. But then, I got older and discovered a beautiful thing: full-fat, creamy, thick, delicious yogurt. It deserves a choir. It is to be exalted. I no longer gag when I eat yogurt, I do happy dances at the counter with spoon in hand. The important thing about all this is that I am more health-conscious than most people I know. I know a great deal about nutrition and find it incredibly interesting. But I will hold true to this perhaps improbable tenet of what I consider healthy eating: eat the fat. Eating the full-fat or reduced-fat versions of many foods (as opposed to their fat-free counterparts) has a number of benefits. Foods taste infinitely better so you are satisfied with the correct serving size. They have lower levels of weird emulsifiers and artificial flavoring and sweeteners whose names I can only pronounce because I took two years of college chemistry. They make recipes taste complex and delicious while still only using small amounts. We buy our yogurt from local dairies whose products are sold at Whole Foods and get flavors like Wild Blueberry and Lemon Cream. Running at 150-200 calories for 8 oz, they are a delightful indulgence that satisfies like ice cream while still providing the nutritional benefits of live active cultures and calcium-rich dairy. I have to admit though, this last week I got a particular brand of yogurt that was on sale and at 250 calories (!!) a serving, I can't eat it all in one sitting because it's just too rich. I've been working on the same French Vanilla all day and it's still not gone. From now on, I'll stick to the slightly less rich while still incredibly delicious brands we're used to. I can also attest to the fact that it's still possible to drop weight without trying while eating 3-4 of these indulgent yogurts per week. So ladies, raise your spoons to something other than that Yoplait shit.