The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies - Meri Raffetto [60]
The tricky part about dietary fat and weight loss is twofold: When people are overweight, they can store fat more readily because they have increased levels of the fat-storing enzyme called lipoprotein lipase, which transfers food fat from the bloodstream to fat cells. As you may already know, fat contains 9 calories per gram compared to just 4 calories per gram for protein and carbohydrates. Thus, fat adds extra calories. This combination of fat storage and extra calories can make weight loss difficult for individuals consuming too much fat in their diets.
Balancing your intake of protein, carbs, and fat at each meal does many great things for your body, not least of whih are
Helping control your total calorie level (because you're eating more low-calorie foods)
Keeping your blood sugar stable to avoid stimulating your appetite and storing more calories as fat
Helping control your food cravings
Keeping you feeling full and satisfied
Supporting your mood to avoid emotional-eating triggers
On the other hand, unbalanced consumption of protein, carbs, and fat can lead to
Unstable blood sugar that can stimulate your appetite and lead you to eat more
A cycle of food cravings
Not feeling satisfied, which may cause you to overeat
An increase in your total calorie intake because you're eating too many high-calorie foods
Emotional-eating cycles
The negative effects of not balancing your nutrients can creep up on you quite quickly. For instance, if you eat too much fat at one meal, your calorie level will increase rapidly. On the other hand, if you eat too many carbohydrates, you may experience blood sugar spikes that can lead you to feel starving an hour later, possibly creating a situation where you store more calories as body fat. Eating the right balance of fat and carbohydrates (and protein!) keeps your blood sugar and calorie level under control all the time.
Embracing the plate method
The plate method is a fabulous way of balancing your nutrients because it divides your plate into subsections so you know how much to eat of each food group. The idea is to fill your plate with the good, lower-calorie food, leaving only a small amount of room for the foods you should limit — fats and high-glycemic foods. According to the plate method, half of your plate should be filled with fruits and/or veggies, one-quarter with a protein source (such as meat, fish, or poultry), and one-quarter with a low-glycemic starch or grain (such as barley or whole-grain bread). Figure 9-1 provides a template of the plate method that you can easily follow.
When people overeat, they tend to do so with starchy carbohydrates (grains, potatoes, breads, and the like) and meats (beef, poultry, fish, and so on). These are high-calorie food groups where a lot of excess calories come from. The starchy carbohydrates also create the blood sugar spikes that you want to avoid. Using the plate method allows you to better control your consumption of these two food categories each meal so you get the perfect balance of carbohydrates and protein.
Figure 9-1: The plate method shows you how to fill your plate to create a balanced meal.
Many dinner plates nowadays are huge. In fact, they're really more like platters. My dinner plates don't even fit into a standard-size cupboard anymore, and I even have to lean them forward in my dishwasher. If you have the same situation with your dinner plates, don't strictly follow the plate method because you can all too easily pack a lot of food on those enormous plates. Instead, try measuring out the appropriate portion sizes of different foods to see what a portion of each food group looks like on your size of plates. After