Stevia and Almond Milk??

[MeliClark]

Hello,

I am extremely new to the low GI diet. I am doing this for weight loss. I have been scouring the internet for info on this diet for a week now. I can't seem to understand the portion sizes and what or if we are suppose to count points or something? Do you eat how ever much you want until you are full? Someone suggested I get a book called Rick Gallops Express GI Diet. I will pick that up today.

My question for this thread is...can you use Stevia (Sweet Leaf) and Unsweetened Almond Milk? While I am at it...what about dairy in general? Is this to be limited quantities?

Any help would be appreciated

 

[Plumfoodie]

Hello,

I am extremely new to the low GI diet. I am doing this for weight loss. I have been scouring the internet for info on this diet for a week now. I can't seem to understand the portion sizes and what or if we are suppose to count points or something? Do you eat how ever much you want until you are full? Someone suggested I get a book called Rick Gallops Express GI Diet. I will pick that up today.

My question for this thread is...can you use Stevia (Sweet Leaf) and Unsweetened Almond Milk? While I am at it...what about dairy in general? Is this to be limited quantities?

Any help would be appreciated

As you have found, there are different variations which is why I suggest one and stick to it for awhile to get the hang of things. Otherwise it can be very confusing.

The Internet suggests that almond milk is low GI so it should be ok, but obviously in sensible quantities. The same for stevia but try to get the more natural forms if you can as truvia and pure via etc have fillers in them which depending on what is used can affect blood sugar. The sweet leaf website says it has no GI rating so that would indicate it should be ok.

If you want a diet plan with more specific guidelines then I would suggest South Beach Diet Supercharged instead of Rick Gallop, this is a low GI plan that gives you more guidance about portion sizes which it seems might make you feel more confident. Also there's tons of info on all sorts of subjects for SB dieters online as it's hugely popular in the States.

 

[MeliClark]

Thank you responding. Yes...I definitely need meal plan help. All I need is a few weeks worth of menu plans and portion sizes and I can pretty much do the rest. I will look for the South Beach Diet Supercharged book.


Thanks again!!

 

[Plumfoodie]

Thank you responding. Yes...I definitely need meal plan help. All I need is a few weeks worth of menu plans and portion sizes and I can pretty much do the rest. I will look for the South Beach Diet Supercharged book.

Thanks again!!

Good luck, hope it goes well for you! I lost the majority of my weight with low GI and really loved it.

 

[MeliClark]

I just read some reviews...Does SBD really restrict fruit?

 

[MeliClark]

You think I would be better off just following SB? Again...I don't know much about either but I am not good at calculating this and that to figure out GI or GL....I dont understand it. I'm better at...tell me what I need to eat, tell me what food combos to eat...portion sizes. I can weigh food and track, but thats about it. I dont have hours to spend cooking.

 

[Plumfoodie]

You think I would be better off just following SB? Again...I don't know much about either but I am not good at calculating this and that to figure out GI or GL....I dont understand it. I'm better at...tell me what I need to eat, tell me what food combos to eat...portion sizes. I can weigh food and track, but thats about it. I dont have hours to spend cooking.

Common options:

- SB will give you daily guidelines on portions for dairy, fats, veg, good carbs, legumes, nuts and treats as well as what to eat and what to avoid within those categories. It's then up to you how you distribute them through the day although there are sample plans in the book. There's an optional startup phase that will help beat carb cravings quickly if this is an issue for you.

- Rick Gallop only has you measure/limit red and yellow light foods, most green light foods you just eat as much as you want. This way you don't need to know the GI values of foods as they're just classified by colour. The Express book has s lot of quick recipes which is why I recommend it as a good starter. The Collins little gem reference works the same way but with no recipes.

- GL plans tend to be those where you need to count values, they're a faff in my opinion.

- Or you can use MFP to track calories and focus on general GI guidelines like ensuring your plate has 1/2 non starchy veg, 1/4 good (low GI) carbs and 1/4 protein. Or limiting portions of good carbs to (for example) no more than 1/2 cup cooked per meal. But this does rely on you knowing or using a reference as to which starch sources are good so you'd probably still want something like the Collins book. This approach can feel imprecise to some people.

- There are some online plans (tesco diets, south beach online) that give you detailed plans and shopping lists, but it sounds like you want to learn what to eat and then do your own planning.

TBH only you can decide what way will work best for you personally. If you don't feel comfortable without set guideline portions then SBD is a good way to go, if you want to do your own cooking with the right types of foods then traffic light is good, and you could do that in conjunction with calorie counting if you felt happier with that. It can be as simple or structured as you prefer.

 

[MeliClark]

OK....great advise! I'm going to feel this out a bit and read more on the different plans and then decide whats best for me. I use MFP already so no problem there.