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You may become overly focused or obsessed about food, calorie counting, and the numbers on the scale.

100- to 400-calorie deficit with a low-glycemic diet

Pros:

Taking the slow-but-steady approach to weight loss gives you time and space to change your habits and get used to a low-glycemic diet, which leads to better long-term compliance.

You'll be more likely to stick with the changes and therefore see significantly better long-term results.

Focus is still necessary, but you can focus on a few things at a time instead of trying to adapt to 10 to 15 different lifestyle changes at once. This narrower focus allows you to tackle bigger obstacles that continue to get in the way of weight loss, such as life-long conditioning, food cravings, and emotional or stress-based eating.

You're less obsessive about food and calorie counting than someone trying to lose weight quickly. In other words, you don't let weight loss consume your whole life.

Cons:

Results happen over months, not weeks. (Note: This varies; some people may lose 1/2 to 1 pound per week. In general, though, the overall process is slower.)

Failing to see immediate results when you're making positive changes can be frustrating, requiring you to find other ways to self-motivate than looking at the scale.

Taking a Close Look at Your Dieting History

Reviewing your dieting history can give you a glimpse into whether a low-glycemic diet will work for you long term. It can also give you some strategies for approaching a low-glycemic diet differently than past diets you may have tried.

Looking back at past dieting attempts to see what worked and what didn't is alwaysgood idea. By truly evaluating your past dieting history you can prepare yourself to try a new approach instead of sticking to the same old style that never worked for you in the first place.

In the next sections, I explore a few factors to think about regarding your past dieting experience. When you know the dieting style that works for you and you're able to recognize bad dieting behaviors such as restrictive dieting and yo-yo dieting, you'll have a better shot at making your low-glycemic diet a true lifestyle change.

Evaluating types of diets you've tried

As you determine how best to adopt a low-glycemic lifestyle, take some time to evaluate the types of diets you've tried in the past. Were they strict? Did they call for you to eliminate certain foods or follow menus? Did you have to buy specific food? Not all diets work the same for all people, which is why the goal of this exercise is to help you find your personal dieting style. (Note: At times you may need to use a mix of styles to get yourself on track. That's fine so long as you find those styles that work for you long term.)

So many people try to fit into a dieting style that just doesn't work for them, making it difficult for them to stick with it for the long haul. For example, if you aren't much into counting calories, like me, depending on calorie counting as the main focus of your diet is difficult. Allow yourself to let go of this model and instead focus on your choices so you don't get stuck in a behavior that isn't getting you results.

Anyone can lose weight, but only a small percentage of people can keep it off. Part of that process is discovering what type of dieting really works for you.

One of the reasons I love the low-glycemic diet is that you can really make it fit your dieting personality, thereby molding it into the perfect diet for you. For example,

If you're a numbers person and really like counting and tracking calories,you may enjoy taking the approach of counting your glycemic load for the day.

If you like structure, planning, and lists, then making a low-glycemic meal plan and shopping list each week will work well for you.

If you like simple rules, you may benefit from setting up how many low-glycemic foods you want to use in a meal or making sure you have a fruit or vegetable each meal.

If you respond better