The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies - Meri Raffetto [63]
Split the portion size of two high-glycemic foods. If you're out to eat or at a party and you see two foods you love that are high-glycemic, eat a half portion of each to enjoy your favorites while still keeping your glycemic load down. For instance, maybe you spy potato salad and chocolate cake at the company picnic. You can have your cake (and potato salad too!) if you eat a small slice of it and 1/3 cup of the potato salad. This compromise is better than consuming a cup of potato salad and a large piece of cake.
An all-or-nothing approach will almost always keep you stuck in weight-gain/weight-loss cycles. Ditch that approach and find a balance instead. On a low-glycemic diet, you can and should allow yourself to indulge without feeling guilty, but you shouldn't abandon your low-glycemic lifestyle for weeks at a time. When you indulge, make sure it's a conscious decision that you know works within your guidelines. After all, who doesn't want to have cake on his birthday or potato salad at a barbeque?
Chapter 10: Navigating the Grocery Store
In This Chapter
Boosting your low-glycemic grocery shopping know-how
Deciphering nutrition labels
Staying on track with your weight-loss goals by keeping convenience foods on hand
A low-glycemic diet isn't always black and white — a fact that's apparent the moment you set foot in a grocery store. Rarely will you find the words low-glycemic on product packaging. You can certainly go for healthy, high-fiber foods, but they may not always be low-glycemic.
Wandering through the grocery store without some preparation will leave you in a fog of questions. Was it oats that were low-glycemic or wheat? Do crackers count like bread? How do I figure out this box of macaroni and cheese? Should I pay attention to calories? With a little planning, though, you can make grocery shopping for low-glycemic foods much easier on yourself — and save your valuable time and money in the process.
In this chapter, I help you figure out how to navigate the aisles to find your best low-glycemic choices, how to cull glycemic information from food labels, and how to stock a healthy, low-glycemic kitchen. Grocery shopping will be a breeze from now on!
Being a Savvy Low-Glycemic Shopper
Shopping for groceries when you follow a low-glycemic diet is a little different from going grocery shopping while on other types of diets. Some foods haven't been tested for their glycemic index, leaving you to make your best judgment call while shopping. Knowing what you're going to buy before you enter the grocery store and how to find the best products once you're there are the keys to having a good grocery shopping experience when you're on the hunt for low-glycemic foods. The information in the following sections combined with a little preplanning will go a long way toward saving you from grocery shopping-induced headaches.
Planning meals to create your grocery list
A grocery list is the golden ticket to a relaxed grocery store trip that saves you time and money and keeps you from buying those oh-so-tempting cookies and chips. Using a grocery list helps you focus on buying low-glycemic foods and decreases impulse buys that may sabotage your weight-loss efforts.
You come up with a solid low-glycemic grocery list by planning out your meals for the week. Without a meal plan, you can end up buying foods you don't eat, having the wrong foods in the house, or purchasing something just because it sounds good in the moment.
For years I regularly went to the grocery store without a plan and picked up either foods that sounded good or items I thought I might use. Time and again I wound up with a half-eaten roast chicken and spoiled broccoli and spinach. I'd then make two or three more trips to the store during the week to pick up items I didn't have when I decided to make a certain recipe for dinner. This weekly routine cost me time and money, but it also convinced me that having a plan