Wednesday, January 26, 2011

farewell to the latte...

I don't contribute much to the blogging world and think perhaps I probably should have just gotten a twitter account.  Have I written anything that has impacted anyone?  Changed the world?  Spread some love?  Or have I just contributed to all the NOISE out there with my verbal diarrhea?

I guess today I'm hoping I can share some information that might be of value to you.  I've finished my massive detox and managed to shed 25+ pounds AND have kept it off!  I even convinced a few of you to join me in this journey towards health and hopefully have been an encouragement to those of you who had 10, 20, 50+ pounds to shed. 

My initial goal was to lose weight and through the homeopathic 'cure' and then re-set my metabolism so that I could eat a pie or brick of ice-cream and still stay thin.  Life doesn't work like this.  What happened instead is that I became a quasi health fanatic who realized that I know nothing.  It's hard to re-train your brain once you've accepted the cultural norms and thought it was actually good to be normal.  When it comes to your health and diet (diet referring to the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group, not weight loss diet), eating what is considered normal is NOT healthy and will adversely affect your quality of life today and in the future.  


My friend Autumn, a brilliant artist and nutrition guru, has given me a LOT of information.  Today's lesson is all about Milk.  Since I've stolen her words and spiced them up with some of my ramblings, I give Autumn credit for anything that makes sense below - and anything wacky?  I probably added that in...

So what does this have to do with lattes?  And why do I have to give them up???  Say farewell???  I keep being told that it's not fat that makes us fat, it's sugars and carbs. RIGHT!!?!  Milk has carbs.  Carbs from sugar.  The lower fat percentage, the higher the sugar/carb content.  So I thought that if I made it a breve latte (whole milk and half and half) I would be doing myself a favor.  Less sugar, right? Wrong.  With over 400 calories a pop, who can have these everyday along with the 2000+ calories we typically consume?  Not me!  

When we substitute our fat free milk for full fat, we can't do it on a 1 to 1 ratio.  Milk is full of simple carbs which are the enemy (complex carbs are from whole grains and veggies, NOT the enemy.  A gallon of whole milk is labeled 12g of carbs, 11g of which are from sugar.  Same goes for the 2% and skim milk.  All milk has a LOT of carbs. 12g carbs is as much as a lollypop.  So, you may drink milk, but you may also be setting yourself up for a weight gain.


However - half and half has only 1g carbs and heavy cream has 0g carbs. Half and half and heavy cream are our friends.  But yes, those are high in calories.  If you count calories, or even if you don't -  let's say you enjoy lattes.  Don't make a latte with heavy cream.  Instead, make whipped cream with stevia and vanilla and pour your 2 shots of espresso through it.  Toss in about 3enormous spoonfuls of whipped cream  - nearly filling the glass, and then the hot espresso melts it a bit and - it is delish!

Or, stir a lot of half and half into your coffee - or stir in heavy cream, using as much as needed (2 or 3 Tbsp) to get the color - the light brown milky creaminess that you want, but you don't swap out milk for cream in equal amounts.

You could froth milk and only use the froth to top it off - but if you make whipped cream, you can make it in advance and keep it in the fridge to top off your coffee drinks...sprinkle on a bit of cinnamon and unsweetened cocoa and you're off to the races!

It's not going to happen overnight, but I'm on a journey to give up the latte's... Maybe' I'll have to change the name of the blog to hanners?  whipped cream and espressos? 


7 comments:

  1. What about soy? I have just started on soy milk for all milk purposes.

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  2. Mazza, unless you get unsweetened soy milk it's still chalk full of carbs/sugars!!!

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  3. Crazy! Who knew!?!?! I drink SO MUCH milk. Milk in my cereal, milk in my tea, milk in my vanilla latte... :S

    What about yogurt?

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  4. Carolyn... I only eat no sugar added greek yogurt now... It's more expensive but has TONS less carbs and sugars and much more protein because of how it's strained!!

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  5. I'm enjoying heavy whipping cream in coffee! Also the Greek Yogurt is better than ANY yogurt I've ever eaten! (Posted by Hannah's mom)

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  6. hmm...this sounds like a lot of craziness. my brother is the pro-milk-"milk is the perfect post-workout drink" guy so now i don't know who to believe. ;)

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  7. your brother is a firefighting machine. I'm a 30 year old middle aged dying woman. :) with a buddha belly!

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