The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies (46 page)

The mayonnaise counts as a serving of fat.

The whole-wheat bread makes up two servings of low-glycemic whole grains.

The salad features low-glycemic vegetables.

The salad dressing adds another half-serving of fat.

This meal has an estimated glycemic load of 20 and an estimated 430 calories. The combination of low-glycemic grains, high fiber, protein, and fat helps you feel comfortably full for a longer period of time while avoiding major insulin spikes that may cause you to store fat more readily.

Sample dinner menu

Balancing your nutrients at dinner works the same way as at lunch. Following is a sample dinner menu that incorporates balance along with appropriate portion sizes:

4-ounce grilled chicken breast

2/3 cup herbed quinoa

5 spears grilled asparagus

Side salad (2 cups mixed greens, 1 tablespoon lowfat vinaigrette dressing)

In this example,

Chicken counts as a serving of protein.

Herbed quinoa is a serving of low-glycemic grains.

Asparagus and salad form three servings of low-glycemic vegetables (asparagus = 1 serving, salad = 2 servings).

Vinaigrette dressing and the oil for cooking the quinoa count as two fat servings.

This meal has an estimated glycemic load of 13 and an estimated 465 calories. Notice how this meal ups the ante on vegetables? If you ever feel like you aren't getting enough to eat, the trick is to have two different vegetables. You can eat a lot more food for a lower glycemic load and calorie level by simply upping your veggie intake.

Finding Moderation with Medium- and High-Glycemic Foods

Moderation is one of those important secrets to long-term weight loss, even when you're following a low-glycemic diet. Eating only low-glycemic and low-calorie foods in just the right balance is easy to do for two weeks or even a month, but it's pretty darn hard to do 7 days a week, 365 days a year. I certainly can't, and I've yet to meet anyone who can. There will always be times when you won't have the best choices in front of you or when you're just craving a specific food.

Trying to be perfect with a diet typically backfires. People who do that often fall off the plan and go back to their old habits. I call this an
all-or-nothing approach
because you're either onboard with said diet or you completely stop and say you'll start up again at a later date. This all-or-nothing approach is the difference between following a temporary diet and making long-term lifestyle changes. Following a low-glycemic diet is a lifestyle change, which means you make the best choices but still leave yourself some wiggle room for fun.

If you're a perfectionist, accepting the concept that you don't have to perfectly follow a low-glycemic diet 100 percent of the time may be challenging. Just remember that moderation really is the best way to maintain weight loss long term. In the next sections, I explain how to use moderation with a low-glycemic diet and how to balance your glycemic load throughout the day.
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Defining moderation

People in the diet industry tend to throw the term
moderation
around as if it has some concrete definition that everyone knows. But what I've learned as a registered dietitian is that people have different perceptions, or definitions, of moderation. For one person, moderation may mean having a high-glycemic item once a week. Another may say once a day, and yet another may consider it okay to have one a few times a day.

Here's a real-life example of just how confusing the concept of moderation can be: I once had a client who ate eight to ten Hershey miniature bars throughout each day, basically having a few after each meal. She considered this moderation as opposed to sitting down and eating more in one sitting. However, her "moderate" snacking still added up to way too many calories, sugar, and fat. This wasn't her fault. It was just her perception of moderation because no one had ever defined the term for her.

Having some guidelines around moderation will help you stay on track. (It also gives you some wiggle room for when you really want that jasmine rice with your stir-fry or you want to indulge in some chocolate cake at a birthday party.) Following are some quick guidelines to define moderation more clearly and make your weight-loss process much easier:

Eat medium-glycemic foods once or twice a day, or less.