How Should I start?

[kclewis]

I lost a lot of weight on Low carb and gained it all back PLUS PLUS more. Now I want to start SB. I have the book, but it is not clear how I should start? It seems like low carb but with whole wheat products and no sugar

[techwife]

Hi KC:

Well, first of all, welcome to Sugar Busters. This is a wonderful way of eating that isn't really a diet as much as it is just healthful, smart, common sense eating. It's a breeze to stick to if you remember these short cuts that I use:

1. For every meal, have a protien and at least two fruits and/or veggies. Protien can be meat, eggs, protien powder (for smoothies), legumes, cheese/dairy, etc. This equates to meals like eggs with strawberries and cantaloupe for breakfast; a ham sandwich on WW bread (more on this below) with green peppers and lettuce; chicken and a big salad for dinner, etc.

2. Cut out all added sugar (this includes High Fructose Corn Syrup and its friends...anything ending in 'ose' except lactose). Honey is also out. Natural sugars are okay, like the ones found in milk (lactose) and fruits. You may look at the amount of grams of sugar in, say, cottage cheese and be shocked...but if you look at the ingredients, there is nothing unusual...the sugar content is the lactose. Always look at the ingredients.

3. Cut out all 'whites'...white flour, white potatoes and white rice.

4. Stick to ONLY whole wheat bread. You need to skip the package on determining if something is WW and go straight for the ingredients. If it says bleached, enriched, clear, etc, then it is a no-no. Even enriched WW flour is a no-no. Some bread will say '100% Whole Wheat Bread", but when you check the ingredients, it has honey or HFCS or the WW flour is enriched. You should limit breads, though, to one or two servings a day.

5. Drink lots and lots of water.

6. There are a few no-no foods that are fruits and veggies: Corn, carrots (you can have them in moderation, but only in moderation), beets, pineapple, bananas (ripe bananas...greenish bananas are fine, again, in moderation), watermelon. These are fruits/vegs that are high in sugar or cause your index thingy (can't remember the word) to spike up.

7. There are some power foods they recommend to have a lot of or often. They are listed in the book, but include: dark, leafy greens, broccoli, sweet potatoes (or yams), walnuts. Check the books for more.

Well, that sounds like a lot, but it's really quite simple. Hope this helps!! Of course, all diets or ways of eating are enhanced by lots of exercise.