does milk keep the weight on?

You're on Page 1 of 2
Go to
  • My mother keeps telling me that i need to lay off the milk. I drink 2% milk. I have it with my Carnation Instant Breakfast and i occasionally drink it alone. I have been on a diet and exercising for 3 1/2 weeks and i have only lost 2 pounds. I am defiantly doing something wrong. I keep my calories between 1200 to 1900. I started out only eating up to 1200 calories a day. I read i should be eating more so i decided to eat more. Now i eat between 1500 to 1900 a day.
    My mother says it's the milk but i cant imagine milk doing that much harm, though i have only lost 2 pounds. I have also been walking 1 to 3 miles a day for exercise.
    Do you think it's the milk or something else. If my mom says one more time not to drink milk which i love i think i may explode. She has never had a weight problem so she doesnt understand. Plus i am the least favorite child. When i was skinny she said i was to skinny even though one of my sisters was smaller. Now that i am big she keeps pointing it out though i also have a sister who is just as big but doesnt get the critisism from her.
    Sorry that was a small rant about my mother, sorry!
    Anyhow should i lay off the milk? or is it something else which i dont know about?
    Sorry for the rant again. Me and my mother don't always see eye to eye!
    Thanks for any advice ahead of time!
  • Hi,
    On the contrary, I believe that recent research has proven that milk helps with weight loss, BUT it needs to be low fat i.e. 1% or Skim, consider switching to 1% and keep counting your calories and see how that goes.
  • Studies have consistently shown that people that eat dairy lose more weight/keep weight off compared to people that skip it. Milk - even regular milk - is not a high fat food [but the cals in full cream milk might be too much for calorie counters], it's packed with vitamins, is a good source of protein and calcium. It's a nutritious, whole food. Don't stop drinking it.
  • Thank you, both of you. I defiantly needed to know that.
    Thanks and God bless!
  • As long as you're measuring your milk and using it in your calorie count, you're fine.
  • I drink milk and have lost weight - I just make sure it all falls within my calorie plan
  • It doesn't matter if it's totally skimmed or full fat, 'milk' won't make you fat, provided you count the calories into your total.
    It's very easy, when we think of dashes of milk here and there in our coffees or teas, to think 'O that little bit won't matter' - but they do. Not saying you're doing that but I know I have in the past!

    Just be careful to log every single calorie, and keep walking, it's great exercise, and the scales will move. Good luck!
  • Drink your milk! It does a body good! hahahah

    Seriously, it sounds like an old wives tale your mom is still believing in - that "milk makes you fat".
  • I don't think it's the milk either. But why not try 1%? This way you'll have a few more calories to spend elsewhere. Of course that is up to you.

    But maybe you should double and triple check that you are calculating your calories correctly - serving sizes, measurements, etc. And you also might want to eliminate those 1900 calorie days.
  • I drink milk every day, and it doesn't appear to be hindering my weight loss.

    However, I did switch to 1% - mostly because when I started watching what I was eating, I noticed how much saturated fat whole and 2% have. I would do skim if I could tolerate it, but for me, it's just like white water and I just can't drink it

    Milk has so many good things! I also take a calcium supplement, but my 1.5 cups of milk in the morning is sometimes the only calcium I take in from my diet that day!
  • I always hear the opposite advice: that you SHOULD drink milk to help lose weight. My mom is always trying to get me to drink it; I haven't drank a glass of milk since I was 6 years old, I barely use it on cereal and I only started eating yogurt a year ago. I'm always being told I need more milk, not less.

    But I agree. If you continue to stay within your calorie range and stick with it, you'll lose the weight, milk or no milk
  • Well, we're a skim milk family but yeah, we all drink milk. I use in in my tea, my oatmeal, cereal, just to drink...
  • I look at it this way, whole milk, straight outta the cow is meant to grow an 80 lbs calf into a ton of beef. So I stick with fat free if I'm buying cows milk.
  • Quote:
    I look at it this way, whole milk, straight outta the cow is meant to grow an 80 lbs calf into a ton of beef. So I stick with fat free if I'm buying cows milk.
    Well, the whole milk at the store is nowhere near as fatty as 'straight from the cow', or raw, milk. It's been skimmed for heavy cream. Plus fresh-from-the-cow raw milk, esp. from a Jersey cow, is a never-forgotten amazing treat!!! Dairymen sell raw milk by the pound, not the gallon, because the more cream, the heavier the milk and the value is in the cream.

    I haven't had raw milk in years and I really, really miss it.
  • you just made me gag a little