The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies - Meri Raffetto [74]
Go easy on stuffed entrees. It's hard to know whether the stuffing has a higher glycemic load. Plus stuffed entrees, such as casseroles, are often loaded in fat and calories. One exception is tortellini and other stuffed pastas. These are typically lower-glycemic (unless of course you load them up with a heavy cream sauce).
Avoid "supersizing" combo meals. Supersized meals may be an economic value, but they can add up to 2,000 calories for just one meal. That's more calories than most people should eat in an entire day.
Skip fried foods. They just add unnecessary calories and fat.
Go for grilled vegetables, fruit, or salads as a side. Doing so can help you save calories, lower your glycemic load, add important nutrients, and help you feel fuller for a longer period of time.
Share one dessert. Splurging is fine, but most restaurant desserts are also as large as the entrees. Sharing a dessert is a good way to have your cake and not feel guilty about eating it too.
Is your favorite coffee drink making you gain weight?
Many people frequent coffee shops more than they do restaurants. Coffee in general is a low-glycemic item, which is good. Even when you add milk you're still in pretty decent shape. However, after you add all the others bells and whistles to your coffee, that once-low glycemic load increases — along with the amount of calories.
If you've ever wondered how many calories and sugar grams are in your favorite coffee drinks, then the following list can give you an idea. Oh, and just for reference, consuming 250 extra calories per day will lead to a 1/2-pound weight increase each week, or about a 24-pound weight increase in a year.
Regular coffee drinks:
Medium brewed coffee: 10 calories, no sugar
Medium Caffè Americano: 15 calories, no sugar
Gourmet coffee drinks:
Medium Caffè Latte: 260 calories, 19 grams sugar (5 teaspoons)
Medium Caffè Mocha: 400 calories, 33 grams sugar (8 teaspoons)
Medium Caramel Apple Cider: 410 calories, 68 grams sugar (17 teaspoons)
Medium Caramel Macchiato: 310 calories, 34 grams sugar (9 teaspoons)
Medium Chai Tea Latte: 240 calories, 41 grams sugar (10 teaspoons)
Medium Hot Chocolate: 350 calories, 40 grams sugar (10 teaspoons)
Medium White Chocolate Mocha: 510 calories, 55 grams sugar (14 teaspoons)
Gourmet coffee drinks are good, but as you can see, many of the popular ones are equivalent to eating a dessert. (A couple also exceed the daily recommended sugar consumption of 12 teaspoons or less.) If you're trying to manage your weight, keep the gourmet coffee drinks to a once-in-a-while treat rather than an everyday habit. But if you must feed your gourmet coffee addiction, consider these alternatives and tips, which will decrease the calorie, sugar, and/or fat counts of your favorite coffee beverage:
Order regular brewed coffee or a Caffè Americano (hot or iced).
Drink unsweetened iced tea or hot tea brewed from tea bags.
Choose skim milk over regular milk with lattes and chai teas.
Ask for half the syrup or powder in flavored lattes and chai teas.
Skip the whipped cream.
Picking Low-Glycemic-Friendly Restaurants
Eating out when you want to lose weight frequently means you need to pay a little more attention to the restaurants you're choosing, which in turn means you should know a little something about what a low-glycemic-friendly restaurant looks like. Such establishments tend to
Offer a wide variety of menu options
Feature multiple choices for breads, rice, and pastas (rye, whole-wheat, brown, and so on)
Have menu items that contain low-glycemic food choices, such as vegetables, beans, and whole-wheat bread
Serve side vegetables or salad entrees
On the flip side, some restaurants may leave you hard-pressed to find much of anything that's low-glycemic. Restaurants that aren't so low-glycemic-friendly generally have these characteristics:
A very limited menu
A lack of vegetable choices