[Mazzistar]

Hi I'm new to this forum. I have a lot of weight to shift but feel really determined to stick to a healthy eating plan and increase my exercise. I have started reading about the low gi diet which sounds a good option for me as I often fill up on sugary snacks if I hit an energy low during the day (my weakness is biscuits!). I am looking for a diet which will help me beat the sugar cravings. Just wondering if anyone has tried low gi, and if so how did you find it? Any tips welcomed. Thanks

[MissSMcC]

welcome to 3fc!
personally I don't follow low gi, I just do plain old calorie counting, but have a browse through the boards, you will find lots of help and info. good luck!

[slimmingsi]

Read Wheat belly. Take the general gist of the 'diet' he suggests with a pinch of salt, If you relate to the feelings after eating bread/wheat products cut it out for 30 days and see how you feel.

I cut it out in Early may for 30days as a trial and I never went back.

Also, Check out Parkrun. local 5k events run every saturday timed so you can track improvements. there are no winners and times range from ultra quick to nearly 1hr.

I avoid nearly all refined sugar. my sugar comes from fruit and dried fruit. YES IT IS HARD to begin with after a month or so it gets easier, of course i have relapses however the side effects are enough to keep me from doing it too often.

Best of luck with what ever you chose, remember the best thing you can do is READ and do lots of it and I don't just mean Forums.

[Rechyl]

hi Mazzistar,

i have been doing low gi for a short while now. i find its good as it lets me eat basically anything i want with varying degrees of modification.
1 thing i would say is, low gi alone probably wont take the weight off that well. You also have to make the healthiest choices you can and i would suggest counting calories as well.

There are also some cases where a healthy food is 'bad' and a junk food is 'good' on low gi so you have to be careful. Examples of this are peanut m&ms rate at 33 on the gi scale while parsnips rate at 97.

[slimmingsi]

Originally Posted by Rechyl

hi Mazzistar,

i have been doing low gi for a short while now. i find its good as it lets me eat basically anything i want with varying degrees of modification.
1 thing i would say is, low gi alone probably wont take the weight off that well. You also have to make the healthiest choices you can and i would suggest counting calories as well.

There are also some cases where a healthy food is 'bad' and a junk food is 'good' on low gi so you have to be careful. Examples of this are peanut m&ms rate at 33 on the gi scale while parsnips rate at 97.

Double whammy, peanut m&ms are lovely and parsnips are hideous!

[Rechyl]

Originally Posted by slimmingsi

Double whammy, peanut m&ms are lovely and parsnips are hideous!

i agree but it was a mere example! i have a lot more "shockers".
Watermelon ~76
pumpkin ~75
dried dates ~103
broad beans ~79
banana ~62
pineapple ~60
Swede ~72
dark cherries ~63
Cantaloupe ~65

[MissSMcC]

Originally Posted by zeynel

How does calorie counting work? It seems to me that, for instance, calories from sugar and calories from fat are handled differently in the body.

for me, calorie counting means I automatically make better choices, because as much as I love unhealthy food, I also hate being hungry. so if I know I can have say, a mcdonalds meal for 900 calories, since my calorie allowance is 1500, that only leaves me 600 calories for the rest of the day, and I know at some point that will leave me feeling hungry with no calories left. so I choose healthy food instead. it also gives freedom that if I wanted a burger now and again I could have one, but I would think hard about whether I really wanted it, and if I was prepared to 'spend' that many of my daily calories just to have it.
some people find they struggle to lose weight through calorie counting alone, and have to go low gi or low carb etc. so far I have been lucky in that I am losing weight whilst eating moderately from each food group.

[Mazzistar]

Hi everyone and thanks for your posts which are really useful.
I'm definitely going to have a read of Wheat belly as suggested - I do consume a lot of bread so I need to cut down on that. Also I think you are right and that there will have to be an element of calorie counting on low-gi, there are some things that are high calorie and low gi which would no doubt scupper my dieting success! I used to do WW (several years ago) and it did work as long as I religiously stuck to it, but I did have several times when I craved sugar and felt hungry - I guess most diets will do that to you though! I will have a read of the Alan Aragon and "Elements Challenging the Glycemic Index" info too. I may use MyFitnessPal to track my calories and do the GI thing at the same time and see how I get on! What snacks do people suggest to keep you going through the day? The GI book I'm reading suggests snacks to keep your blood sugar fairly level throughout the day and I'm just wondering if you have any suggestions? I don't usually snack until the evening ...when the dreaded biscuits will come out if I've had a bad day!! Oops!

[MissSMcC]

Originally Posted by zeynel

I am glad that it works for you, but I am more confused. I don't eat at McDonalds much but I may fry a potato in olive oil and have a huge burger fried on butter (actually ghee) and next to it I may have broccoli loaded with olive oil... now I don't know how much calorie this has but I actually lose weight eating like this. But if I eat one slice of bread I may see it next morning on the scale! I wonder what makes McDonalds food bad for gaining weight?

I don't know for sure, but I heard its made from pretty nasty stuff. anyway, I was just using mcdonalds as a high calorie example. like I say, it doesn't work for everyone, but it takes trial and error to see what works for you and what doesn't.

[melithecat]

I've tried the low gi diet, and it worked slowly. Then, I switched to high protein and that worked wonders along with weighted exercises. It totally dropped off. The only problem I had with high protein is constipation which I hate. Also, I often forgot to eat because I just wasn't hungry, but still wanted to chew on something.

So maybe a combination of the two works best.

I think I found it on the 17day diet. The only problem is that there are few recipes I can find which help this diet be tasty.

[MuchMoreMuchier]

I'm doing the South Beach Diet which is kind of based on a low gi theory. I'm only on my first week so can't say about the results yet but I am certainly finding my energy levels are much better and my cravings for bread and chocolate are ndrastically reduced. In fact not fancied them at all since I started. I'm on day 5 today.