Hi, GI newbie here!

Tinsel81

Full Member
Hi everyone! I'm new to the GI diet and could use any support or advice anyone has to offer. I've lost a fair bit of weight over the past few years by switching back and forth between Slimming World and WeightWatchers, and now have only a stone left to lose, but I want to try something different. SW was nice and easy to follow, but I ended up living off stodge and lost weight very slowly. WW worked well (before propoints, which didn't work for me at all), but I hated counting points. And the meetings weren't cheap, though the support was good. Someone recommended a low-GI diet to me as a good way of keeping my energy levels stable throughout the day, which sounds great as I'm forever "crashing" mid-afternoon, so I got a few books and decided to give it a go.

I read a couple of books, but am using the principles from Rick Gallop's "Living the GI Diet" (though I have been mixing and matching recipes from other low-GI/GL books too). This was what I ate yesterday (my first "proper" on-plan day): does it sounds ok? I want to get it right but I don't want to feel like I'm overthinking it, I want a diet that's simple to follow so I don't end up off the wagon again. I don't mind baking and cooking from scratch, but obsessing over weights and measures of every little thing is definitely not for me.

Breakfast: Homey oatmeal with blueberries (this is a recipe from the Gallop book: a mixture of oats, wheatgerm, skimmed milk and a few flaked almonds)
Skimmed milk decaff latte

Mid-morning snack: Apricot cinnamon bran muffin (another Gallop recipe, where I substituted apricots for cranberries)

Lunch: Four-bean tomato soup
Slice of multi-grain bread with low-fat olive spread
Pink lady apple
Another muffin (these are very moreish!)
Cup of roobios tea

Mid-afternoon snack: Oat cake with salmon paste
Glass of skimmed milk

Tea: Bulgur wheat chilli (Gallop recipe)
1tsp grated Parmesan cheese
Small portion of basmati rice (50g dried weight)
Handful of grapes

Evening snack: Oat cake with houmous
More grapes

Does that seem like too much food? I really want to get this right and finally shed my last stone!
 
Hi
I am back on GI after dallying with Dukan, also a non counting method of eating, but far too much protein for me.
I have stopped eating bread and pasta and potatoes. I do sometimes have whole grain crackers though.

Annoyingly I have lost my GI book which I think I may have lent to someone!

You seem to be eating a lot! But then I am a salad gal and like fruit and veg a lot. I would say if you are following the book then you should be OK and the scales will soon tell you. I just love not counting!!

Good luck.

 
Thanks for feedback! The book says I should be eating three meals a day and three snacks, so I am eating more often than usual, if not more food overall. The meal plans in the book seem to have a lot of food in them too, though I'm not following them specifically because there isn't a non-meat-eater plan. Hope it will still work!
 
Hi and welcome to the Gi/GL forum. Your menus look great. GL is based on the principle of regular but small meals to balance blood sugar levels. Your menus look fab. Just watch portion sizes!! When I was in a weightloss mode the only time I stalled losing weight was when I was having portions a little on the large side!! I weighed everything for a couple of weeks until I could visualise the correct portion sizes. The GL gurus maintain that it is the combination of foods that is important rather than the amounts.
I love GL and it never feels like a diet plan at all. I have so much more energy and skin looks so much better etc. I eat foods as fresh and unprocessed as possible whilst also limiting bread potato pasta and rice. I never miss them!
Keep posting on here to keep yourself on track.
 
Thanks irish_molly! I have been watching portions of things like bread, fish, nuts, oil and basmati rice, but having as much fruit and veg as I want, I hope that's ok. The Gallop book uses a "traffic light" system, with the idea you eat the green-light foods until full at meal times with three small snacks spread throughout the day. A few green-light foods have to be eaten in limited portions (eg bread), but most are unlimited. I don't eat meat (apart from fish), so most of my meals are based on lots of veg and vegetarian protein like pulses and Quorn. I hope I'm not having too many grains: is it ok to have a recipe containing bulgur wheat with a rice side dish in one sitting?
 
I am calorie counting at the mo RC way but am hungry and what I am eating doesnt fill me up or give me an awful lot of energy I am running to keep fit and finding that after 3k I have very little energy/drive to carry on and think it might be down the the food - so GI might be the way for me to go... when doing GI do you stick to a calorie limit >?? I have Rick ????? book that is GI will dig it out and have a look.

I want to lose 2 stone - am I better losing it with low calorie and then moving to GI or do you reckon I will be able to lose at a good rate on GI too??? At the moment I am losing betwen 2 and 4 lb per week.
 
I personally can't abide calorie or point counting, which is why I chose to use the Rick Gallop book. He uses a combination of GI rating and calorie content to categorise foods as green, amber or red light. You can eat freely from the green-light foods, as much as it takes to feel full at each meal (although certain green-light foods which are higher in calories, such as nuts, oil, meat, fish and bread, must be limited in portion sizes). You should eat three meals a day and three snacks on top of that. In "phase 2", which is what he calls his weight maintenance diet, you can reintroduce limited amounts of the amber-light foods into your diet. The red-light foods are to be avoided except as a very occasional treat.
 
Tinsel81 said:
Thanks irish_molly! I have been watching portions of things like bread, fish, nuts, oil and basmati rice, but having as much fruit and veg as I want, I hope that's ok. The Gallop book uses a "traffic light" system, with the idea you eat the green-light foods until full at meal times with three small snacks spread throughout the day. A few green-light foods have to be eaten in limited portions (eg bread), but most are unlimited. I don't eat meat (apart from fish), so most of my meals are based on lots of veg and vegetarian protein like pulses and Quorn. I hope I'm not having too many grains: is it ok to have a recipe containing bulgur wheat with a rice side dish in one sitting?

I try and stick to half my plate being leafy veg or salad. Then a quarter with protein and the remainder for starchy veg or grain. If I had bulgur or cous cous I'd have a little more of it and avoid the rice for that dish.
Like you, I now eat mostly pulses and quorn and some fish.
I substitute quinoa, beans, lentils etc for potato, rice and pasta. I do this because I can have a bigger serving if them than if I had rice etc.
I have rye crackers or oatcakes or a wrap instead of bread or wheat in general.
For fruit, eat more berried fruit , then pears, apples. Grapes are high in sugar so watch them. Bananas are high carb so a small one or half a large one is ok. I use frozen berries a lot. You can have 140 g in one serving which is lovely with a little yoghurt over it. It makes a kind of slushy ice cream as it thaws!!
 
Ineedtobegood said:
I am calorie counting at the mo RC way but am hungry and what I am eating doesnt fill me up or give me an awful lot of energy I am running to keep fit and finding that after 3k I have very little energy/drive to carry on and think it might be down the the food - so GI might be the way for me to go... when doing GI do you stick to a calorie limit >?? I have Rick ????? book that is GI will dig it out and have a look.

I want to lose 2 stone - am I better losing it with low calorie and then moving to GI or do you reckon I will be able to lose at a good rate on GI too??? At the moment I am losing betwen 2 and 4 lb per week.

IMHO you will easily lose this on GL and not feel like you are dieting. Plus gl will become your plan for life. The correct combinations of foods will ensure you never feel hungry and have loads of energy. I never even think about food now. I feel fab too.
I lost about 30lbs on GL. I lost it at a rate of about 2lbs a week. I could have lost it faster if I had cut back a little more but I was happy to do it more slowly.
You can combine GL with calorie counting until you see the results. Myfitnesspal is a good site for tracking cals and nutrition. It has a great phone app too.
 
Hi Tinsel80! I too like the Rick Gallop books and I find them easy to follow with the traffic light system. Portion sizes are my biggest downfall and I really need to watch them, it's so easy to add a few extra spoonfuls of something here and there ;) Looks like you are getting on well so far!
 
I also started off with Rick Gallop - his traffic light system is pretty useful if you're new to GI and aren't sure what's ok. But I never even bothered trying his no caffeine manta- I mean, seriously, this girl needs her caffeine fix!
 
How has Gi been going for you? Hope you are doing well.
 
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