The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies (68 page)

To stand a better chance of being able to create balance in your day when you're on vacation or attending a party or holiday gathering, use some of the following ideas (or brainstorm your own solutions that will work for you):

When you know you'll have one big meal in a day, eat light for the other meals. (Don't skip the other meals though. That can hurt your metabolism, as explained in Chapter 8.)

Incorporate exercise and movement. This may be as simple as taking the stairs more often or going on a walk to catch up with a friend or family member. If you're on a destination vacation, take advantage of the fun activities that may be available, such as a nature hike or swimming.

If you go to a party and can't spot any low-glycemic foods for the life of you, just choose smaller portions of the high-glycemic foods that are available.

Remember that you
can
have it all while on vacation, so there's no need to splurge every meal of every day. For example, avoid choosing a high-glycemic, high-calorie breakfast every day. Instead, eat a healthier option on some days and indulge a little on the others. Also, if you know you're going to go to a recommended ice cream parlor one night, make sure to eat healthy choices throughout the day leading up to your ice cream excursion.

Grab or order a smaller piece of dessert, or just share a dessert with a friend or family member.

Choose smaller portions of high-glycemic foods and bigger portions of low-glycemic foods. For example, if you're faced with potatoes, macaroni salad, and a tossed greens salad at a picnic, choose a small serving (around 1/3 cup) of the potatoes and macaroni salad and fill the rest of your plate with the tossed greens salad.

Avoid drinking too much. Whether you're having mojitos at the beach or hot buttered rums at a holiday party, drinks add more calories to your diet. They may even increase your glycemic load for that meal. Make sure to drink plenty of water during the day to stay hydrated because dehydration can cause you to feel hungrier than you really are.

If you end up having a full day of indulging, don't get upset. That's absolutely, 100 percent not worth it. One day typically isn't enough to make a difference in your weight or health. The goal is to get back on track the next day. Take a walk or eat a healthy, low-glycemic breakfast the morning after a day of indulging. Creating balance in your day (even if it's the next day) is as easy as that. After you get the hang of this balance act, you'll never again have to endure the frustrating weight-loss/weight-gain cycle.

Finding the Meal Items That Work for You

When you're preparing your own meals in your own kitchen, making balanced choices that complement your low-glycemic diet is easy. Throw special occasions into the mix — when you often have little to no control over the available food options — and finding the foods that work right for you takes a little more creativity and planning. No matter the scenario, you can always find the best-choice option for your low-glycemic lifestyle. All you need to balance your way to success are the strategies and easy solutions I present in the sections that follow.

Being prepared for almost anything

Even though you can't prepare for every circumstance, most of the time you do have some idea what to expect. That's more than enough information to make a game plan ahead of the event.

Go through this checklist of questions to help you become more prepared to find foods that'll work for you in a variety of special-occasion scenarios. I offer strategies for each one to give you some ideas, but you're welcome to brainstorm your own strategies too.

Is thevent a one-time meal or a week-long deal, like a vacation?
One meal isn't too big an issue; you can just make the best choices when you get there. A vacation is another story. Think about where you're going and what types of foods will be available in either the supermarkets or the restaurants so you can plan ahead.