THE GI DIET - Support, Tips, Recipes And So Much More!!!!

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

A thread for all us GI diet followers (and anyone interested in it).

If you have any yum recipes or tips to share, please do .

If you have any questions about following a GI diet, there's bound to be a Mumsnetter who knows the answer .

I'll be posting my progress on the thread weekly - if anyone else wants to - great!

Here are some useful links (some posted on other threads, but I thought I'd bring them together here):

Sunday Times GI Diet

The Glycemic Index (including database of foods)

GI diet recipe ideas at bottom of this page

As I said on the other thread I am a month in and a stone lighter!

Great supper dish, low GI

Salmon baked in the oven. 100 g of peas, 75 g of new potatoes. Six asparagus spears coated with 25g of fresh paramsan cheese and grilled until it chars a little. I know spuds are not low GI, but new ones are better than old and it is a small amount which reduces the GI impact

Fab

I'm interested, Puff, need to halt my expansion! I know vaguely about it but can anyone tell me how fab it is/how fast I could lose weight.....?

Thaks Puff, some good recipe ideas there, made me hungry though!

I am so impressed with this low GI diet, for ages I have had terrible afternoon slupms of energy but NO MORE! I am also a convert to porridge and actually like it now with some chopped apple and dried fruit. Plus it really does keep me full till lunchtime.

God, I sound like an advert

My book says a pound a week, but I have lost a lot more than that and I have done it to the gram!

It is based on eating
a. Low fat
b. lots and lots of fruit and veg (so very healthy
c. carbohydrates that slowly release their glucose so that you stay feeling full longer as you miss out on the sugar rush of processed foods. These sorts of carbs are also full of fibre, so very good for the bowel. It also reduces the risks of things like stroke and type 2 diabetes.
d. lean protein.

I have felt full all along, and as a biology teacher I can tell you that it is the healthiest weight loss diet I have ever seen. I also feel that it can easlily be changed to a healthy eating maintenence life long style of eating when you get to your ideal weoght.

An easy supper - penne (should be al dente to keep it low GI) with huge amount of tomato sauce made with tinned tomato, garlic, onion, some chilli/tabasco, mushrooms, courgettes, whatever else and a tin of chickpeas. Chickpeas are very low GI and very filling. The chilli and chickpeas make this sauce a bit different from a usual tomato one.

Thanks Happymerryberries - sounds ace. What book have you got? Can you write down a typical day's menu?

Bunny you do sound like an advert.

I am using 'Easy GI diet' by Helen Foster....came with an extra cook book for £9.99 at WHSmiths just after new year. But to be honest they are all good. This one gives you 2 weeks of menus, with 2 weeks of vegie options as well.

Tomorrow
Breakfast
Boiled egg with 2 marmite crisp breads, half a grapefruit and a fresh berry smothie made with skimmed milk, blueberries, strawberris and raspberries (this is fab btw)
Snack
slice of granery toast with 1 table spoon (yes!) of peanut butter
Lunch
bean salad with 100g tuna (in water not oil), with baby carrots a cherry tomatoes
Snack
apple or orange
Dinner
The salmon thing I listed earlier

This is not the best or the worst day, they are all about the same....not doing the felafels thing again tho that was awful!!

do your family eat the same meals?

Dh does. Kids will eat some. they do the cooked breakfasts and the pancake b'fasts with us. there is also a roast for sunday! Which they love! We have sweet potatoes, and so does dd, I do some ordinary for ds

right, daft question but when you are following the diet do you right down all the ingredients you'll need when doing weekly shop and only buy those?

is it basically having no refined carbs and nothing high fat?

Yes, we have done it by the letter for the first 2 weeks. We then did our best when dh was away on buisness and I had the kids to myself
This last week has been by the numbers. Nes=xt week we are substituting some thing we did like for things we didn't 9while keeping an eye on the over all calorie count....but this *isn't a calorie counting diet)

The first shop is expensive, but lots of the packets of nuts and grains etc do last several weeks. And you are saving by not getting convenience foods.

I understand that Tescos will do a plan for you (for 2.50 I think) with a shopping list and you can say if you want to cook from scratch, eat convenience foods or a mix. I havn't done this myself

Is it basically just healthy eating?

Well yes and no - there are some things that are high GI and on the red list which surprised me, like broad beans, but generally it is just healthy eating in that you'll have heard/read a lot of the information before.

It is healthy eating, but based on foods with a lower GI value, which make you feel fuller for longer.

Dinny, I recommend the book from Tescos if you have one nearby, it's only £3.99 (less if you buy it with a Sunday Times) and it's pretty straight forward. The articles in the Sunday Times from the link on this thread are very informative too. This diet is especially good if you have trouble controlling your blood sugar levels e.g. if you have periodic cravings or energy dips, or if you have conditions like PCOS which might predispose you to insulin resistance/diabetes.

Before doing the GI diet, I thought potatoes were well.....potatoes. But different potatoes have different GI values.

Boiled new potatoes have a GI of 56, much lower than baked potatoes which have a GI of 84. The theory (and it seems to work for me) is that if you eat the boiled new potatoes instead of the baked potatoes, you are likely to feel fuller for longer and not be tempted to snack in between meals etc.

Oh fabulous .. I have ordered a book on this and will be swapping over from Slimming world on 20th February (have a 'do' the day before and already have outfit planned )

anyone know if are shreddies low or high GI?

Don't know for definite but I would think at least medium if not high (another of those things that surprised me) SO are wheetabix. The only low GI ceriels are sugar free musli, all bran (not bran flakes they are higher) and real porrige (not ready brek). All of these things are slowly broken down so give you a steady level of sugar, so you dont get the peak and dip that stimulate hunger and snacking. I've got to be honest, this is realy working for us and I can see it being a major change in how we eat, rather than a short term thing.

I am very impressed with the diet, and you know what a cynic I can be!

give me 6 months, then watch out babyweight! hmb, how do you think it would work for me as i have diabetes? instinctively it sounds pretty good.

You would need a chat with your doctor/practice nurse to make sure but I think it would be excellent (please remember tho I am a biology teacher not a doc or a nutricianist!!!!!). It was, again I think, first worked out for diabetics. Steve Redgrage, who is diabetic uses it. It can also reduce the chance of developing type 2 diabetes.

But check it out first!

don't worry, i'm 16 weeks pregnant, i've got plenty of time to investigate before i do anything!

twiglett, the GI database gives GI values for 2 diff types of "shredded wheat" - one is 67, one is 83. I haven't got my book to hand, but I think anything with a GI in excess of 70 is considered high GI and best to avoid if poss.

If you type in breakfast cereals to the database, it will give you a big list and you can compare all the different GI values. Most of the brands/types are recognisable even though the database was compiled in Australia (I think).

Hoxtonchick, someone in my family is diabetic too and although they don't need to lose weight, they are following GI eating principles because of all the research showing how eating lower GI value carbohydrates has a markedly beneficial effect on stabilising blood sugar levels.

Following on from twiglett's cereal question, I have one of my own!

I've been having porridge every morning, but fancied a change, so bought some "Sultana Bran" breakfast cereal as this is a suggested breakfast in the latest Sunday Times supplement. But, I've just checked its GI value on the database and its 73 which is high - hmmmmm, this compares to All Bran which is 30 (but I can't stomach that stuff!)

I like porridge, but need an alternative that doesn't require any preparation in the morning (and isn't All Bran).

i am on the gi diet, have similar problem with porridge
to increase variety making quinoa, millet, araramanth and going to try rye porridge and barley , put it in a casserole the night before and in oven and use timer so that when i get down with ds there is a hot porridge for the bears to eat
alternatives, how about ground flax seeds/ pumkin seeds, flakes e.g. oat or wheat dried fruit and yoghurt, special k is supposed to be low gi , health shops sell sugar bree millet, rice etc.. cereals in packets ready to use ie just add milk