Living in Los Angeles certainly has its distractions. And I’m not talking about the occasional star sighting. I’m referring to simply going for frozen yogurt, which offers countless people who visibly treat fro-yo as the holy grail of snack foods. And who can blame them? Its creamy deliciousness virtually matches ice cream’s merits, spoonful for spoonful. Add some favorite toppings and the experience can be downright orgasmic. (Yeah, I went there.)

But lately, I’ve noticed that many who are ordering at my fro-yo shop of choice treat this snack as if it’s completely healthy and calorie free. Fact is, frozen yogurt is as much of atreat as ice cream (or any other decadent snack) and should be treated as such. Too often I see people ordering it on a daily basis (I can tell they’re regulars by their interaction with the staff). There are others who look so thin that the fro-yo may be all their ingesting in a 24-hour period. Then there are the customers who obviously think of fro-yo as completely non caloric (no matter how many Reeses Pieces they add to the top of it).

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against treating fro-yo as a meal replacement. Why? Because it’s caloric. But this should be done only once a week or so — mainly because it doesn’t contain the necessary nutrients that a normal lunch or dinner should.

Recently, I saw a larger gal ordering in front of me. She announced to the worker that she was on a diet and wanted to be very careful with her choices. She then proceeded to request a sample of every flavor of frozen yogurt (all 10) before finally ordering a large dairy free and super low calorie version. I wanted to tap her on the shoulder and ask her if she knew the amount of artificial ingredients would have to be used in a frozen yogurt that had almost no calories and no dairy.

I guarantee you that her large-sized yogurt (ordered after she’d sampled enough yogurt to equal a medium-size) wasn’t nearly as satisfying as my “regular” peanut butter yogurt, which not only had dairy but also a fair amount of calories. But here’s the thing — my fro yo was all-natural (a choice the shop thankfully provides along with all their fat-free varieties). I ordered a medium and even added some decadent chocolate toppings to it. Caloric? Sure. Satisfying? Absolutely. Satisfying enough to quench my fro-yo addiction for a week. I wanted it. I enjoyed it. I moved on. And mind you, later that day I had a delicious and healthy salad for dinner. (Now that’s balance!)

As dieters, we’re too often misled by media-induced messages as to what’s “healthy” and what’s not for our bodies (especially when trying to lose weight). The 10 different samples aside, the reason this woman wasn’t feeling satisfied is that she wasn’t indulging in what she really wanted. Eating over-processed, artificial ingredient-infused snacks is not something our bodies (or even our minds) really want. Instead, go for the treat, take a walk to help metabolize it and move on. It’s these very acts of denial that lead us to believe that all the sampling “Doesn’t count” and that a dairy/calorie free snack is good for us.

News flash: It does count and it isn’t good for us.

Have the treat. Enjoy the treat. Then do it again a week or two later (not before) — depending on how much excess weight you want to lose. The less we obsess and the more we enjoy, the more we’re acting — and eating — like a thin person. And that’s the real trick to not only taking the weight off, but keeping it off. Even with a topping or two.

Photo Source: playa.info