full cream milk vs skim? CICO users weigh in on this?

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  • Pastaprincess1978
    Pastaprincess1978 Posts: 371 Member
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    kommodevaran wrote: »
    CICO is calories in-calories out, and thus the process that controls weight up/down. Even if you mean calorie counting, I don't see any relevance. But anyway, I switched to full fat "everything" when I switched to MFP. I don't know if it makes me feel fuller. Because I also educated myself on hunger and satiety, and realized that mild hunger is normal and perfectly fine to tolerate. It's more that it feeds a mindset of normality and enjoyment, of trust and confidence - I can eat what I like, no foods are off limits, so there is no reason to overeat, so I usually don't.

    I am not as educated in the area but I can relate. When I got influenza I ate a bite of apple over about 60 hours. I was just lying in bed of course and drinking a lot of water. And as I recovered I didn't eat normally for about 3 days just due to feeling sick. I lost a *kitten* load of weight of course (yes mostly water) but my body felt liberated and relieved not to be full of food. It really felt like I had done myself a favour only giving my body what it needed to deal with and it wasn't constantly trying to digest too much food.
  • Pastaprincess1978
    Pastaprincess1978 Posts: 371 Member
    edited May 2018
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    @kommodevaran So tell me more about what you know of hunger at satiety?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited May 2018
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    Pastaprincess1978 wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    CICO is calories in-calories out, and thus the process that controls weight up/down. Even if you mean calorie counting, I don't see any relevance. But anyway, I switched to full fat "everything" when I switched to MFP. I don't know if it makes me feel fuller. Because I also educated myself on hunger and satiety, and realized that mild hunger is normal and perfectly fine to tolerate. It's more that it feeds a mindset of normality and enjoyment, of trust and confidence - I can eat what I like, no foods are off limits, so there is no reason to overeat, so I usually don't.

    I am not as educated in the area but I can relate. When I got influenza I ate a bite of apple over about 60 hours. I was just lying in bed of course and drinking a lot of water. And as I recovered I didn't eat normally for about 3 days just due to feeling sick. I lost a *kitten* load of weight of course (yes mostly water) but my body felt liberated and relieved not to be full of food. It really felt like I had done myself a favour only giving my body what it needed to deal with and it wasn't constantly trying to digest too much food.
    I have a feeling you're misinterpreting what I'm saying - I eat three times a day and maintain a normal weight - but going without food for a few days, while not ideal, is harmless if you're healthy and have enough fat on your body.
  • Pastaprincess1978
    Pastaprincess1978 Posts: 371 Member
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    yes I understand what you mean. I did not think you were doing that. I related the story to point out that I then worked out that hunger won't kill me but my post didn't make that clear. Not literally kill me either! So what did you learn about hunger and satiety?
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I learnt that "The Hunger Scale" is a great intro to find your own personal hunger and satiety patterns, that cravings are usually a lot harder to resist than hunger, that managing my food intake sensibly makes me feel empowered, that I can want to eat and want to not eat at the same time, and that I need to honor my appetite (working in that).
  • Pastaprincess1978
    Pastaprincess1978 Posts: 371 Member
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    kommodevaran wrote: »
    I learnt that "The Hunger Scale" is a great intro to find your own personal hunger and satiety patterns, that cravings are usually a lot harder to resist than hunger, that managing my food intake sensibly makes me feel empowered, that I can want to eat and want to not eat at the same time, and that I need to honor my appetite (working in that).

    Yep - and that it is worth time, effort and money to do that.

    Agree on the cravings - never thought of that.

    Honor your appetite? By eating foods that will allow enough volume to feel full and low cals to stay under target?
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited May 2018
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    I like full cream or half cream for drinking, skim for putting in things like porridges. From a CICO perspective, the best kind of milk for you is the one that helps keep your calories in lower than your calories out. From a dieting perspective, the best kind of milk for you is one that you enjoy most within your calories and doesn't make dieting harder.

    There are no guarantees that skim milk will result in a lower intake or that full cream will help you feel fuller. You could drink skim and be unsatisfied, or get the "dieting paradox" where when you make lower calorie choices you overdo it on other choices. You could drink full cream and not feel fuller, and if you drink a lot of milk it could cut into your calorie allowance too much. You could drink skim milk, and feel like it doesn't help your hunger much, but by doing so, save enough calories for foods that are superior for your hunger. You get the idea. It's mostly about the synergy of your food choices overall, not a single food choice. Experiment and see what makes dieting easier within your calorie target.
  • Pastaprincess1978
    Pastaprincess1978 Posts: 371 Member
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    Thanks @amusedmonkey I like skim for the foam, full cream for the taste :) Once 2% is easily available again I'll use that I think :) Just wanted to see what others thought/did. There is no magic and I like that!
  • h1udd
    h1udd Posts: 623 Member
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    4% in coffee or on cereal .... 2% in tea or soaking oats overnight / poaching fish .... 0% in protein shakes.

    Basically if I need the taste I go full fat, other wise I cut the fat out and go thinner and thinner as required
  • Pastaprincess1978
    Pastaprincess1978 Posts: 371 Member
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    good plan @h1udd
  • slimgirljo15
    slimgirljo15 Posts: 269,440 Member
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    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    Skim froths better. I like frothy milk in my coffee.

    Yep, when I make a cappuccino I use skim milk.. a barista friend told me the fat in regular milk stops it from frothing as well..
    Otherwise I use regular milk and fit it into my calories because I think it tastes better.
  • Pastaprincess1978
    Pastaprincess1978 Posts: 371 Member
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    @amusedmonkey you have obviously mastered calorie counting and eating within budget sustainably. I am still a little nervous about it and maintenance - have 8 or 9 lb to go. Trying to eat more intuitively but still track.

    Thanks for the post - helpful :)
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Here’s an added fact about full fat milk. It has more vitamin A and D. But we usually drink 1% milk at home. Because that is what we got used to.
  • aliblain
    aliblain Posts: 175 Member
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    A dairy farmer I know told me that when you strip out the fat you also strip out a lot of the fat soluble vitamins and minerals, some of which aid the absorption of calcium. I tend to have full fat if my calorie allowance allows but also drink semi skimmed also almond milk if I need to save my calories for something else.
  • aliblain
    aliblain Posts: 175 Member
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    There’s also a couple of studies, one in children and another in women which suggests that those who eat full fat dairy products as opposed to low fat tend to have a lower body fat/ less risk of obesity later in childhood- the effect was attributed to the satiating effect of the full fat dairy.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Pastaprincess1978 wrote: »
    kommodevaran wrote: »
    I learnt that "The Hunger Scale" is a great intro to find your own personal hunger and satiety patterns, that cravings are usually a lot harder to resist than hunger, that managing my food intake sensibly makes me feel empowered, that I can want to eat and want to not eat at the same time, and that I need to honor my appetite (working in that).

    Yep - and that it is worth time, effort and money to do that.

    Agree on the cravings - never thought of that.

    Honor your appetite? By eating foods that will allow enough volume to feel full and low cals to stay under target?
    For me it's the opposite, almost - I'm not so interested in volume and fullness, as mouthfeel and "satiety on a cellular level" (which probably sounds pretty new age until you've experienced it) - this makes it easier for me to, over time, not eat too much.
  • Pastaprincess1978
    Pastaprincess1978 Posts: 371 Member
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    ok - so tell us more about 'satiety on a cellular level'? Does sound interesting :)
  • workinonit1956
    workinonit1956 Posts: 1,043 Member
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    I use both, depending on the product. Full fat half and half in my tea, nonfat yogurt (Fage), full fat cottage cheese, and I get my lattes nonfat. It’s all just personal preference.
  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    Pastaprincess1978 wrote: »
    Thanks for the thoughtful replies, all :) I tend towards 2% but hard to get here in China!

    Something else worth considering: I also make my own yogurt using powdered milk. I fiddled with the instructions for "adding water" and found that I'm delighted with the results of using 2 portions of non-fat powder and 1 portion of full-fat powder to make the milk precursor for the yogurt.

    If you can get powdered milk and your water is safe, you can have a steady supply of milk.

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