The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies (26 page)
A low-glycemic diet is such a great choice for pregnant women because you don't have to restrict calories, you get better control of your blood sugar, and you take in lots of high-nutrient foods that are important for your baby. It also allows you to not be too restrictive during your pregnancy, which no pregnant woman ever wants to have to do.
One issue that many women face during pregnancy is
gestational diabetes.
This is a type of diabetes that appears during pregnancy and most often goes away after the pregnancy is over. A small study published in 2009 showed that women with gestational diabetes who followed a low-glycemic diet reduced their need for insulin compared to those who ate a high-glycemic diet. More research is needed in this area, but one fact is clear: Controlling blood sugar is always the first step of a diabetic diet.
If you have gestational diabetes, make sure to let your doctor know about any diet changes because they can affect any medications you may be taking for blood sugar control and should be monitored. Also, note that with gestational diabetes, just like any other type of diabetes, you may need to follow a bit stricter protocol with a low-glycemic diet. Don't hesitate to get help from a registered dietitian or a certified diabetes educator when you need it.
Part II
In this part . . .
Changing your eating habits isn't easy because there's so much involved with your daily food choices. Just think about it. You enjoy the taste of some foods and dislike the taste of others. Perhaps you grew up eating specific foods or you've never tried healthy foods such as quinoa, tofu, or asparagus. Aside from personal preference and eating habits, food plays a variety of roles in modern culture. It's used for celebration, consolation, and welcoming friends and family. With all of those factors in play, changing your eating habits can seem daunting, but it doesn't have to be that way.
The chapters in this part help you formulate specific behavior-change goals to help you meet your individual weight-loss goals and understand the process of successfully developing new habits. They also explain behaviors and strategies designed to increase your metabolic rate. Finally, to help you implement a lower-glycemic style of eating, this part provides you with healthy-eating strategies as well as smart grocery-shopping strategies so you can stand a better chance of purchasing healthy, low-calorie, low-glycemic foods your entire family will enjoy.
Chapter 6
:
Preparing Yourself for a Successful Weight-Loss Program
In This Chapter
Recognizing the power of positive, reason-driven thinking
Discovering how to set realistic and practical goals
Keeping a food journal to better understand your eating habits
Knowing what you're in for with a low-glycemic weight-loss plan
S
o, you're ready to get started with your new low-glycemic plan for weight loss. Congratulations! Before you jump in, though, you need to take some time to prepare yourself mentally, set some realistic goals, and make sure you know what you're in for. That's precisely what this chapter helps you do.
You may be tempted to skip this chapter. After all, you're excited and want to get started on this diet right away, right? Please resist that temptation! The strategies in this chapter can
significantly
increase your weight-loss success and keep you motivated for the long haul. Without them, you may find yourself floundering down the road.
Getting and Staying i
n the Right Mindset
People who lose weight and keep it off have one important thing in common: They have a positive mindset. They love the way they feel, enjoy food more, possess new stress-management tools, and have activities that make them feel great.
Although you may be starting this new journey excited and motivated, if you're honest with yourself, you'll probably realize that you're still thinking some negative thoughts like
I'm going to have to give up foods I love.
I'll try it, but I don't know if it'll work.
I'm going to have to exercise — and I
hate
exercising.
If you don't get these negative thoughts in check, self-sabotage can rear its ugly head. It turns obstacles and challenges into reasons to give up. These saboteurs show up as
Decreased focus on absorbing new information
Feeling defeated with normal challenges
Letting other areas of your life always take priority