Would drinking milk help me lose weigh

[Grockle]

I mean, if I drink a pint of milk in the morning for breakfast (I don't eat in the morning), then again at lunchtime with some fruit and same at dinner, or a bit of salad, will it help?

I really want the milk to fill me up so I'm not eating loads.

Long term? No. You probably would lose weight initially but would put it all back on again as soon as you started eating normally again.

How much are you looking to lose? If you choose a diet plan that suits your lifestyle (be that weight watchers, slimming world, low carbing, calorie counting) you won't need milk to fill you up as you'll be able to eat enough to satisfy you. It's about making the right choices.

I've recently started using My Fitness Pal (it's a website or you can download an app for it), you simply add everything you eat and it calculates how many calories etc are in it. By entering data about yourself such as starting weight, target weight etc it will give you a daily allowance so it's easy to see how much you can eat.

What you are proposing is in no way sustainable long term I'm afraid, you'll soon get bored, I doubt very much that milk would fill you up for long anyway and then you'll be back to square one.

Not a great idea. Milk high in lactose (sugars) best to have other protein to fill you up.

Try best-quality non-fat Greek Yogurt (very creamy and indulgent) with breakfast (porridge or a piece of toast and fruit) and a little after lunch (like dessert). It's very, very high in protein and incredibly filling. It always kills my appetite so I'm sure it would be good for weight loss. You need a balanced diet thought so try to focus on getting a little bit of everything at each meal.

I relied a lot on milky coffees to fill me up when I was dieting. It seemed to work.

though not thought.

Not long term, just short-term. I thought it might fill me up and help me eat less. I know it's nota balanced diet in itself. Thank you.

To fill you up until lunchtime, you need slow burning sugars - i.e. carbohydrates. Have half a glass of milk with a small bowl of muesli. Or cheese spread on a slice of bread. Have a glass of orange juice on the side.

I lost 10 kgs in two months several years ago, and this was my breakfast.

If you are going to eat yoghurt, eat normal yoghurt, which has about half the calories of Greek yoghurt. Even if low-fat, it is high in calories and also has additives to make it feel "creamy".

A great dietician changed my life several years ago, and she says hunger is not a good weight loss strategy. You don't want your body to think there is a famine going on, so it should do its best to convert all foods into fat and store them in your body which is why a bit of yoghurt or some salad are not sufficient meals. You need some carbohydrate with every meal, whether a small slice of bread or several spoons of rice.

Also, two little low-fat low-calorie biscuits for mid-afternoon snack along with my coffee every day - best advice I ever got. Keeps you from raiding the cupboard from hunger.

cote that's great you lost weight that way and you are right to say that hunger is not a good way to lose weight and that "low fat" versions of food usually have additives (mostly sugar) that are best avoided, but it is protein that is best to keep you feeling full, not carbs. While I don't support an Atkins type ban on carbs, most of us eat too much of them, especially the processed kind, and would do better replacing most of them with lean protein and good fats.

Every snack/meal should feature protein, not necessarily carbs. The body feels satiated more by protein and takes longer to process it. Additionally lean protein usually contains less calories than a similar serving of carbs, even before you factor in the fatty/sugary stuff that so frequently comes with the carbohydrate...butter, Mayo, sauces etc. Protein does not play havoc with your insulin levels like processed carbs do, the effect of which is to make you crave more.

Greek yogurt is good advice in this respect because it is higher in protein than any other yogurt, but I would just stick to a couple of tbsps of full fat type, with some berries and banana or a sprinkling of low GI granola. Other good, keep you full breakfasts are porridge with berries/banana or one or two poached eggs and a slice of buttered granary toast. Eggs are amazing for keeping you feeling full.

So OP, if you are looking to feel full but lose weight quite quickly, rather than milk I would go for yoghurt/porridge breakfast above, eggs and toast or a big salad with chicken breast/tuna and a small serving of unprocessed, low GI carbs for lunch and a carb free dinner...steak/salad, fish with loads of veg etc. Snack on lean protein if necessary. Drink lots of water or herbal tea. Much healthier and pleasant way of losing weight and good guide for eating longer term, although you can of course eat more and be more relaxed once you reach your target.

The other thing of course is to include exercise...but that's maybe a different thread

I buy organic, non-fat, plain (no added sugar) Greek Yogurt. It has no additives but is so unbelievably thick and rich (and filling) you'd never guess it was fat-free (and that's why I specified "best quality"). If I was buying ordinary cheap yogurt I'd get the full-fat, plain version and sweeten it myself with a little drizzle of honey or some berries. DON'T buy fat-free, cheapo yogurts because they are full of sugar and thickeners.

Sleep - I can only tell you what my fantastically competent dietician said and that is (1) "good" carbohydrates = slow burn fuel for the body, and they keep you feeling full for longer, and (2) you should have a bit of carbohydrates with every meal to make it to the next without either hunger pangs or raiding the cookie cupboard.

I know that we instinctively cut out carbs when dieting, but that is not in your long term interest, because if you don't (1) you will be hungry, which is counterproductive when dieting, and (2) when you start eating carbs you will put back the weight you lost.

Imagine your plate. It should always be half vegetables/salad with very little olive oil, quarter protein (1 egg/1 chicken breast/equivalent in fish etc), and quarter carbohydrates (5 spoons of rice/pasta or a slice of bread).

I have exact measurements somewhere, if anyone is interested, but I have kept to these visually approximate measurements and I haven't put any weight back on since then.

Re yoghurt & biscuits - Check out the calories and the fat content on the box. You will see that Greek yoghurt is always higher in calories than normal yoghurt (I can't talk brands because I live in France and don't know UK brands). Also, find some plain biscuits that is about 35 cal per medium size biscuit, most of which are from flour (rather than sugar and fat). Carry two with you as a mid-afternoon snack, with tea or coffee. You will be amazed at how easier that diet gets.

Messy - There must be something in that Greek yoghurt to make it rich and creamy if it has no fat. If you look at its ingredients, you will probably find what French call "amidon" (=wheat starch?) which is not great when you are dieting, especially if you think you are not eating carbohydrates

This is the one I buy (the plain, unsweetened variety). No amidon or fillers and their plant is gluten-free so I think you'd be unlikely to find wheat starch in any of their products. We live in Canada but I'm sure you have some kind of similar high-end Greek yogurt in the UK?

I'm finding this advice great. Marking place.

Well, I live in France and can safely say that there is no such thing here.

Where is the "Ingredients" part? I couldn't see it.

Cote a few things:

• Greek yoghurt has nothing added at all - its strained hence its thicker. I buy either the genuine article (ie from greece!) fage total or the supermarket own brand. Am surprised you can't buy in France, available in UK in every supermarket.

• Biscuits as snacks - what a dreadful idea - filling up on empty wheat & sugar calories. Much better to snack on something nutritious - if not low carbing fruit or yoghurt. Small portion nuts or seeds. If there is no sugar then I guess it would be called a cracker, but still I think of wheat (esp white) as empty calories.

• Carbs - personal choice whether to low carb or not. I have done both, think I have less cravings for high fat high carb foods on low carb diet. I am less hungry on low carb high protein (and fat) diet, and that is consistent with what all the studies show. However understand that low carb eating not for everyone. I used to think that low carb eating wasn't healthy long term but having read Dr briffa's book escape the diet trap I'm not so sure. re: putting the weight on - only put weight once at target on when eat rubbish carbs (sugar chocolate cake etc) not from eating healthy carbs, so don't buy into your reasons for not doing low carb. I'd just say that some people would rather calorie count than carb count which is basically what it boils down to.

forever - I am quite familiar with the product most of the world knows as "Greek" yoghurt What I was saying was that (1) when dieting, it is better to eat normal yoghurt than Greek yoghurt, as the latter has about twice as many calories, and (2) if you take out all the fat out of high-consistency milk products like cream or yoghurt, then you usually find additives. It is always interesting to look at a list of ingredients, because when they say "no additives", they sometimes mean "no chemical additives".

I didn't mean to say that there is no Greek yoghurt in France, but that there are no flavoured Greek yoghurts like the ones in that link. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

"Biscuits as snacks - what a dreadful idea - filling up on empty wheat & sugar calories"

Is that your professional opinion? I would like to know of your qualifications.

As I said before, the dietician who helped me lose 10 kgs and keep them off is of the opinion that "wheat calories" are an integral part of our diet.

I guess it depends on the biscuits... oat biscuits or similar may be a healthy option, sugary biscuits full of empty calories, perhaps not. (I have noticed that the more sugar and processed carbs you eat, the hungrier you become).

What works for one doesn't always work for another...

Whatever "diet" you choose, ultimately the effective ones all boil down to creating a calorie deficit. There is no magic in carb free diets, they work because the dieter consumes less calories than they burn...its easier as a diet for lots of people though because the foods you can eat make you feel full, rather than like you are starving yourself. The OP seems to want to reduce calories to lose weight quickly and to know what food might keep her feeling full for longer. Without question the answer is protein.

Low GI carbs (NOT white pasta/bread/rice/potatoes or biscuits) are great sources of carbohydrate and provide slow burn energy, without messing with your insulin levels and creating the hunger piglet refers to - they definitely have a place in a healthy diet, in the proportions Cote says...but they simply don't provide as much "bang for your buck" as lean protein does calorie/satiety wise.

Re low cal biscuits as a snack, I think that "treats" such as this are essential whether you are trying to lose weight or maintain it - a sense of deprivation is fatal diet-wise. By including a small something or other each day (or maybe one blow out meal per week), be it those biscuits, a couple of squares of chocolate or a glass of wine, you stop yourself feeling hard done by and can hopefully then eat how you aim to the rest of the time - providing of course, that it is just one small treat a day, rather than all of them

That was why I was wondering about milk filling me up a bit... it's protein (although I know it is also carbs).

The answer is that other forms of protein or indeed protein and carbs, with a similar calorific content, would do a better job. Sorry but IMO replacing normal food in meals with one sole source of nutrients is a pretty rubbish idea for so many reasons...even short term.