60 Day Challenge - Day 34: Eating for Weight Control

Day 34: Eating for Weight Control

Choosing the right foods to eat is simple if you follow my color-coded plan.

The message couldn't be simpler: eating low-glycemic foods is the best way to lose weight and create health. That’s why I’ve developed a system to make choosing and preparing low-glycemic foods a breeze. At the system’s core is a series of color-coded charts highlighting choices from each food group. You can use these charts at home when you’re preparing meals, while shopping, or when you’re ordering food in a restaurant.

Here’s your rule of thumb:

Dark green = lowest glycemic (the best foods for weight loss and optimal health)

Light green = moderate glycemic (foods to be eaten in moderation)

Red = high glycemic (foods to be avoided)

I owe my weight loss to the consumption of a low-glycemic diet.  It has gotten to the point that when I do eat something that has a negative impact on my blood glucose levels, I am completely aware of it.  The past me would pass these sluggish feelings off as the after meal drowsies.  Not any more. 

Spinach is a common place on my plate.  We try to have the following on hand at all times:

Mushrooms

Onions

Spinach

Bell Peppers

Green Beans

Carrots

Shopping For Food

In the next few exercises, we will explore each food type in greater detail, but there are some general rules that you should keep in mind when you buy food. Fresh is better than frozen, canned, or in a jar, and natural is better than processed, but it can be difficult to buy truly fresh food. If it sat in a warehouse for any amount of time, it probably lost vitamins and nutrients. Solution: when possible, buy locally grown produce.

The Costco membership was one of the best choices as far as buying fresh goes.  Of course, they are a warehouse and I am sure the produces does sit in a warehouse...for some period of time.  Either way, the amount of fresh produce that is consumed in my household has increased greatly.

Following this same reasoning, you should strive to eat natural and organic foods instead of processed foods. Processed foods often contain unhealthy ingredients, like sugar and high-fructose corn syrup, while their natural or organic counterparts do not.

Every piece of food that I consume I run against the processed food filter.  It is a very challenging task to completely avoid processed food, not impossible though.  Costco provides a lot of natural and organic food options.  There are some items on my list that will most likely work them selves off when I reach my goal weight; egg beaters for one, pre-package protein bars, etc.

Many people worry that organic food is too expensive, and it’s true, better food costs more, but you need less of it. When you eat bad, processed food, your body is never really satisfied—so you eat more and more, even if you’re stuffed to the gills. With higher-quality food, your eating habits change—you’re eating nutrient-dense food that fulfills the body’s requirements. When your sense of taste is satisfied, your body’s satisfied, and as a result you’re able to stop eating before you’re stuffed.

This is so completely true!   I have been living this way for the past 10 weeks and the weight loss has just...sorta...happened! :)

Keep in Mind

Here are the main points about your healthy eating system to keep in mind as you plan your daily meals:

• Choose all your carbohydrates (vegetable, fruit, and starch components) from the green lists, with the majority from the dark-green sections.
• The majority of the food I eat comes from the green list.  When I eat starches they are always whole grain.
• Remember to serve your new, healthy food choices on a nine-inch plate.
• Not a problem.
• Maintain the proper proportions for healthy eating and weight loss: 50% vegetable/fruit (mostly vegetables during the weight-loss phase), 25% starch, and 25% protein.
• I am not shy with my fruits and veggies.  I usually weigh all my servings and find that I can have a ton of steamed broccoli for so little calories.  These items always dominate my meals.
• Select healthy fueling-break foods. Remember to choose from the healthy periphery of the store, not the interior aisles that are full of unhealthy, processed foods!
• This happened naturally, when I do visit the conventional grocer, I rarely find myself in the center of the store.
• Keep with your Phase I meal schedule: two meals (400 calories each) and four fueling breaks (100 calories each).
• Well my meal plans is a little different  (400+ for Meal 1, 2-300 for Meal 2, 2-300 for Meal 3, 1-200 for Meal 4, 3-400 for Meal 5, x for Meal 6 (depends on workout schedule.)