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3 reasons why we fail
Well you‘re not alone – 90 to 95% of diets ultimately fail and they fail for the same simple reason – people just can‘t stay on them. You know the pattern; diet for a couple of months; lose some of that fat and flab; then back to your old eating habits. All diets help you lose weight. It‘s sticking with them that seem to be the problem. Here‘s why:
1. We feel hungry and deprived.
2. Too complex and time-consuming: counting calories or points; weighing and measuring foods.
3. We don‘t feel healthy and lack energy.
Addressing these three barriers is essential for reducing and maintaining your weight. What it really means is permanently changing the way you eat.
Boost your digestive power
My interest in weight loss was both professional and personal. On the professional level, I was the President of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario and was heavily involved in public education on risk behaviours for heart disease and stroke. Diet and weight are both critical risk factors.
Personally, I put out a disc in my back which prevented me from participating in a favourite activity, jogging. The result was a weight gain of 22 pounds, and worse for my vanity, four inches around my waist. The idea of ‘Tubby Gallop’ preaching weight control was clearly unacceptable, so I made a decision to do something about it.
Success not only meant losing weight but keeping it off permanently, therefore I had to address the three barriers. This is how writing The G.I. Diet started and why it‘s become the best-selling Canadian diet book ever, with sales in 17 countries and in 14 languages.
Overcoming barrier #1
During my diet research (I was overwhelmed by the number of ‘diet’ titles) I came across the Glycemic Index (G.I.) developed by the Canadian physician, Dr. David Jenkins. Dr. Jenkins‘ research was on how to measure the speed at which various foods are digested and converted into glucose – the body‘s energy source.
When you eat a high-G.I. food, it digests quickly, turns into glucose and enters the bloodstream. This spikes blood sugar levels to give you a short-term sugar high, and brings insulin into play. Insulin‘s job is to remove sugar from the bloodstream and store the surplus as fat around your middle, hips and thighs. The more you spike your blood sugars, the more insulin is produced, and then you‘re heading for a sugar low desperately looking for your next sugar fix.
Most of us experience this regularly after eating a bowl of cold cereal (high-G.I.), by the time we reach the office we‘re grabbing a coffee and Danish because we‘re starving. High-G.I. foods include: products made with white flour, such as bread, bagels, croissants; most cold cereals.
Conversely low-G.I. foods digest slowly. Eating a low-G.I. cereal, such as old-fashioned oatmeal provides a steady release of glucose into the bloodstream, you feel fuller, longer. “Its rib-sticking,” as my mother used to say. You eat less without feeling hungry– the holy grail of successful diets. Low-G.I. foods include: most fruit and vegetables, pasta, wholegrain foods, nuts and low-fat dairy.
An Oxford University study split a children‘s class into two groups; half ate a high-G.I. breakfast of cold cereal, the other half ate a low-G.I. breakfast of oatmeal. At a buffet lunch both groups were allowed to eat as much as they liked. Those that ate the high-G.I. breakfast consumed up to 50% more calories at lunch than those that ate the low-G.I. breakfast.
This study confirms that G.I. foods tackle this first barrier: eating less without feeling hungry.
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Addressing barrier #2
Keeping it simple, not complex or time-consuming. The Glycemic Index doesn‘t measure calories or fat levels in food, both which are critical in the battle of the bulge, so how can this be addressed? What I did was to combine the G.I. rating, calorie density and fat levels for nearly every food category in the supermarket and colour-coded the results into the three traffic light colours.
Red-light foods are high in G.I., calories and fat, especially saturated (bad) fats. Avoid these foods.
Yellow-light foods are only to be used once you have reached your target weight then eat with caution.
Green-light foods have a low-G.I., low in calories and saturated fat, can with a few exceptions, be eaten freely. These foods help shift those stubborn pounds and inches. Go, go, go.
These simple traffic light solutions overcome this second barrier: diets that are too complex or time-consuming. So simply follow the green-lights and you‘ll never have to count another calorie again. It‘s that easy.
Hurdling barrier #3
Our concern for good health and high energy levels was the easiest to resolve. The green light foods contain an ideal combination of the three principal food groups for a healthy, balanced diet:
• Complex carbohydrates, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, pasta and low-fat dairy products
• Lean protein such as chicken, lean cuts of beef, pork, veal and all seafood • Low in saturated (bad) fats.
Low-G.I. foods don‘t spike blood sugar levels but rather provide an even steady supply of energy to your brain and body thereby eliminating the typical mid-afternoon slump that inevitably follows a typical high-G.I. lunch such as a burger, fries and pop.
To keep yourself motivated after six to eight weeks on the G.I. Diet, have one of your old high-G.I. lunches. By mid-afternoon you‘ll be lethargic, sleepy and just feeling plain awful. Since your body has become accustomed to low-G.I. foods with its steady supply of energy (sugar) it reacts strongly to the sudden high-G.I. onslaught. I‘ve received hundreds of letters from readers of The G.I. Diet attesting to this little experiment.
To ensure that your tummy is kept busy digesting green-light foods, we suggest three meals and three snacks a day. Many readers comment: I can‘t believe that I always seem to be eating yet still losing weight.
The G.I. Diet simplified
The G.I. Diet can be simplified into two phases: Phase 1 – the weight loss phase; Phase 2 – how you‘ll eat for the rest of your life. In phase 2, you can add some yellow-light foods to your diet. Include some treats such as dark chocolate (70% cocoa), popcorn, and even a glass of wine.
So here you have it, The G.I. Diet in a nutshell; a simple, healthy way to overcome the three traditional barriers of staying on a diet. You won‘t feel hungry or deprived; it‘s simple, just follow the green-lights; and its balanced nutrition is good for your health.
In fact, it‘s not so much a diet, as a whole new way to eat. Enjoy! H&L
This international best seller has been purchased by over 2,000,000 people world-wide. To read their stories please visit www.gidiet.com where you‘ll also find many delicious recipes. The G.I. series includes The Family G.I. Diet, Living the G.I. Diet, The G.I. Diet and G.I Diet Guide to Shopping and Eating Out all published by Random House Canada. This series can be purchased online or in major bookstores nationally.
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