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

Or Suzywong follow the planned days on the link right at the start of this thread.

Not sure what sort of food you like but you can have

Breakfast -
Allbran or Porridge (I add a little honey) for breakfast.

Drinks -
Green tea instead of tea and coffee.
Water
Fruit Juice (dilute slightly to give max isotonic effect and reduce calories)

Lunch -
Tuna/Salad and Ryvita,
Lentil/Veg soup (no potato),
Chicken salad and wholegrain bread,
Sardines and Wholemeal Pitta.
You can have dressings but must be low fat or Balsamic Vinegar and a little olive oil.

Dinner -
New potatoes/any meat and any veg/salad
Veg Curry
Replace rice with Bulgar wheat which is the easiest thing in the world because you just put hot water and a little stock powder on it so it's ready in 5 mins soaking and it tastes of more than rice. Get at Sainsburys or Tesco.
Pasta but don't cook as much as usual...leave a little bite. Add in any veg/meat and a low fat sauce. I had Bacon and low fat philedelphia the other day.
Stir fry whatever meat and veg you fancy with Soy and Ginger and Garlic.

Snacks -
Low fat fruit yoghurt
A few nuts/seeds
Digestive biscuit
Most fruits

Try also to give up alcohol....if I feel the need for a treat at night I have dinner and then about 9pm make myself a hot chocolate with proper Cocoa powder and a spoonful of sugar or sweetener. If you go out for the evening drink Red wine as it's the lowest GI but be prepared because your hangover will be much worse than normal.

I have one treat a day which can be a piece of birthday cake going round at work, glass of red wine or hot chocolate.

The best thing about this diet is you're not breaking it by having a biscuit so you don't have to feel like you've blown it when you do. Also, I still get hungry, but don't seem to feel tempted to eat rubbish...I genuinely don't for the first time ever I can take or leave cakes/biscuits/chocolate.

START TODAY....I promise it works and once you get used to what you can/can't have, it becomes a way of life. I would also get the Easy GI book at some stage because it gives you the detail to adapt this to suit your personal food likes and dislikes and 20 good reasons to stick to this which I read at night before going to bed to encourage me.

GOOD LUCK....let us know how it goes.

thanks
will see if we can get the Helen thingy book over here

I weighed this morning and have lost 5lb in the last two weeks . Very pleased with that as usually on diets my weight loss seems to stop after the first couple of weeks.

only 36 hours in to it and I now know what you all mean about not feeling hungry and like snacking. I don't have scales, I just want the lard on my arms and the mummy tummy to shrink and I'll be happy.

Sophable, I tried that mushroom and bean dish and really is great, I had butterbeans so I bunged those in and cheated slightly by enriching the sauce with a dollop of Greek Yogurt but that's OK isn't it?

Hi, I'm in my last week of pregnancy, and was browsing for the after-baby-is-here "diet" and this sounds really great. I have a good cookbook, which is not specifically GI but has some very good recipies in it: Sophie Michell "irresistible". Might be worth having a look at next time you are in WHS ... as I am no expert on GI ...yet

We love this one:

roast cherry tomatoes and baby onions

225g/8oz small shallots
olive oil
400g/13oz cherry tomatoes
splash of balsmic vinegar
1/2 bunch of shredded basil
salt/pepper

preheat oven 200C/400F , peel shallots and place in small roasting tin with a bit of olive oil. Roast 15 - 20 min. Add tomatoes and bals. vin., roast for another 15min or until tomatoes begin to soften. Remove from oven + stir in basil.

Its very simple and very yummy/ have it with you meat/fish /beans whatever

I have been using that a lot and think it's really great especially for veg. Had spicy aubergine and chick peas tonight - very yummy although the children were unimpressed .

half a stone!!!!!!!!!!! yippeeeee!

Well done sophable, and everyone else.

I've been away 4 weeks and put on 3 lbs, which considering how much I ate and drank is very good! I admit I stoppde even thinking about GI after the first couple of days.

Have to get back on track now, as have to make up the 3 lbs and lose another stone or so.

Didn't weigh myself at the start but did two weeks ago and then on Sunday.....9lbs in 2 weeks! This diet/eating plan is a miracle...I can still have a couple of glasses of red wine if we have visitors or chocolate or afternoon tea on a Sat afternoon but if I stick to it the rest of the time it's fine.

I might actually get under 11 stone for the first time in my adult life!

I genuinely wanted to cry when I got off the scales.

Havn't read all this informative thread yet - will do so strainght after I have asked this most burning question:
Why is it that a bowl of porridge ( real oat not instant) does not fill me up. I eat it at about 7.30 to 7.40 and am starving by 10am!!
The quantity I have is half a cup of oats with 1 cuo of liquid ( half milk and half water) - Do I need to increase the quantity??? - please help someone!

robin3 - how inspirational! - you've done it for me!! - 9lbs in 2 weeks is fantastic that would be over 50% of mt weight loss acheived! - Well done!

It's a brilliant plan and I know that when I reach target I will be able to go from 1500 calories to 2000 calories to maintain that weight and enjoy a piece of cake or biscuits or any of the items that have a low GI. It's great to know you are not facing a life of low fat cottage cheese for ever more!

sonnet, you should be having a snack around 10am anyway. oatcake? or slice of toast and peanut butter? or fruit and a few nuts?

Ahh - Thanks Sophable. I will read all the links tonight and so be fully prepared!

I've been on it since Saturday and I haven't even wanted to look at potatoes or white flour since, I love all the pulses

I've lost my half a stone, lowest weight since meeting DH
Happiness makes you fat.......... grrrr
I'm loving all the new dinners I'm making!
Oh and I lost mine without really giving up alcohol...

Great to read so many people doing so well on this diet.

Ok, as many of you know, I have been on GI since last summer and lost nearly 5 stone. I have lost weight most weeks, with only the occasional blip.

I came back from a 2 night weekend away (birthday celebration) and I have put on 6lbs!!!!.

I was so shocked when I stepped on the scales! I told dh how much weight I had put on and he couldn't believe it, because we ate the same things, didn't pig out and walked loads. Plus, neither of us are big drinkers, so I had 2 standard glasses of wine a day.

What was different was that I ate bread at every meal - I haven't really eaten bread for months as I gave up eating anything made from white flour. I love bread, but I now realise that my body hates it - I bloated up and felt really lethargic, bad headaches etc - I still don't feel great a couple of days on.

Anyway, I'm beginning to think that I have an intolerance to foods made from wheat and am thinking about having the testing done.

I've got a couple of events this week, so I've decided to be sensible on the other days, definitely stay away from bread and then start back proper on my GI plan at the beginning of next week.

Don't worry Puff....I bet you loose it just as fast. I think you've done brilliantly and deserve a break but it's interesting to hear how your body reacted to the wheat. I find hangovers are much worse now and after 2 glasses of wine my head starts to pound...probably just as well as before I didn't know when to stop.

How much more do you want to loose?

Puff, when I came back from holiday I got on the scales straight away and had put on 6 lbs. I felt really bloated and uncomfortable like you. The next morning three of those pounds had gone. That's whay I said I had only put on 3 lbs!!! Maybe in another couple of days once the bread bloat goes you will be back to what you were.

After following this thread and losing 3 stone on Atkins 2 years ago )1 stone back on!) I decided you all sounded so enthusiastic about this one I bought the Helen Foster book. However, didn't like the sound of any of the food and think I might struggle with buckwheat, bulgar something or other, lentils and pulses as I have never really had them in my diet. Can anyone tell me if you get used to them? Please help, desperately fat and fed up.... from the South!

I did get the Helen Foster book from the library a few weeks ago before I really tried the diet and I didn't like it that much (sorry to go against the flow here). I have now bought the second Rick Gallop book. It does use pulses etc which I have really been enjoying but there are quite a few more standard recipes and some nice sweet snacks such as scones, pecan brownies made with sweetener. I really appreciate those because it makes it feel less like a diet. But give the pulses and veg a try - you might surprise yourself.

Haven't got the books yet
Question; can I have al dente white pasta and tomato sauce and cheese and bacon or will that have to remain an fantasy, maybe in my fantasy when I am being seduced by Johnny Depp he could be feeding it to me, two birds with one stone and all that?

The al dente pasta and tomato sauce would be okay but the cheese and bacon...! I love this combination and the family will be having it tonight but I will stick to the sauce with a sprinkling of parmesan.

really, are cheese and bacon generally out of the picture then?