portion sizes, you won't see success. I can't tell you how many times I hear people saying, "As long as it's low-glycemic, you can eat as much as you want." That's simply not the case.
Eating inappropriate portion sizes hurts you in two ways:
Low-glycemic foods can become high-glycemic foods if you eat too large of a serving. The low-glycemic status of many foods is dependent on you consuming the right portion size, meaning if you eat more than that amount, your glycemic load will add up. So if you eat two servings of pasta rather than one, you wind up with a higher glycemic load for that whole meal. (I explain glycemic load in detail in Chapter 4.)
More food equals more calories. Adding more calories with large portion sizes will defeat your efforts at weight loss quickly. Whether or not your calories are coming primarily from low-glycemic foods, eating too may of them raises your insulin levels and causes you to gain weight.
Portion sizes are probably one of the biggest culprits in weight gain. People are eating larger portion sizes than ever these days, a fact that correlates directly to the rate of weight gain in many countries.
For some guidance on the appropriate portion sizes for several different foods, flip to Chapter 9.
Eating More of the Right Foods to Lose More Weight
If you want to keep your body working at peak performance to ensure an increased metabolism, improved health, and success with long-term weight loss, then you need to make the foods you eat work for you. In other words, aim to get the most nutritional bang for each bite. The following sections help you pick the foods that can add balance, vitamins, and minerals to your diet.
Choosing lots of fruits and vegetables
Two food groups are generally safe to eat in greater amounts when you want to lose weight: vegetables and fruits. These foods (particularly vegetables) contain lower calorie levels and lower glycemic loads than most other foods. In fact, most vegetables aren't even measured for their glycemic index/load because the amount of carbohydrates in them is so low (approximately 5 grams on average). As for the calorie factor, a whole cup of raw vegetables or a half cup of cooked vegetables is, on average, a mere 25 calories. That's a lot of food for such a small calorie amount! On the fruit side of things, most fruits tend to have a low glycemic load, and one small piece averages out to 60 calories. Sure, that's not as low as the veggies, but it's still lower than many other food groups.
When you want to lose weight, you can choose to either have tiny portion sizes of high-glycemic foods or pump up the volume with fruits and vegetables and still maintain a lower calorie level. Consider the following calorie information:
1 cup of steamed broccoli = 50 calories
1 cup of fruit = 60 calories
1 cup of pasta = 160 calories
1 cup of ice cream = 340 calories
As you can see, for the same volume of food, you can consume far fewer calories by eating more fruits and vegetables. The beauty is that most of the foods in these two food groups end up on the low-glycemic food list! (See for yourself in Appendix A.)
The following examples illustrate how you can cut the calorie level of your dinner and dessert with some simple, low-glycemic food swaps:
Dinner
Grilled garlic chicken served over 1 1/2 cups of pasta = 345 calories
Grilled garlic chicken served over 1/2 cup of pasta with 1 cup of broccoli, red pepper, and snow peas = 235 calories
Total savings: 110 calories
Dessert
1 cup of ice cream with chocolate sauce = 440 calories
1/2 cup of ice cream with 1/2 cup of fresh strawberries = 230 calories
Total savings: 210 calories
By incorporating more low-glycemic fruits and veggies, you get the same volume of food on your plate but with fewer calories, a lower glycemic load, more fiber, and more nutrients. Not bad for a simple switch!
You can also use vegetables and fruits to increase your overall volume of food for the calorie level. For
Eating inappropriate portion sizes hurts you in two ways:
Low-glycemic foods can become high-glycemic foods if you eat too large of a serving. The low-glycemic status of many foods is dependent on you consuming the right portion size, meaning if you eat more than that amount, your glycemic load will add up. So if you eat two servings of pasta rather than one, you wind up with a higher glycemic load for that whole meal. (I explain glycemic load in detail in Chapter 4.)
More food equals more calories. Adding more calories with large portion sizes will defeat your efforts at weight loss quickly. Whether or not your calories are coming primarily from low-glycemic foods, eating too may of them raises your insulin levels and causes you to gain weight.
Portion sizes are probably one of the biggest culprits in weight gain. People are eating larger portion sizes than ever these days, a fact that correlates directly to the rate of weight gain in many countries.
For some guidance on the appropriate portion sizes for several different foods, flip to Chapter 9.
Eating More of the Right Foods to Lose More Weight
If you want to keep your body working at peak performance to ensure an increased metabolism, improved health, and success with long-term weight loss, then you need to make the foods you eat work for you. In other words, aim to get the most nutritional bang for each bite. The following sections help you pick the foods that can add balance, vitamins, and minerals to your diet.
Choosing lots of fruits and vegetables
Two food groups are generally safe to eat in greater amounts when you want to lose weight: vegetables and fruits. These foods (particularly vegetables) contain lower calorie levels and lower glycemic loads than most other foods. In fact, most vegetables aren't even measured for their glycemic index/load because the amount of carbohydrates in them is so low (approximately 5 grams on average). As for the calorie factor, a whole cup of raw vegetables or a half cup of cooked vegetables is, on average, a mere 25 calories. That's a lot of food for such a small calorie amount! On the fruit side of things, most fruits tend to have a low glycemic load, and one small piece averages out to 60 calories. Sure, that's not as low as the veggies, but it's still lower than many other food groups.
When you want to lose weight, you can choose to either have tiny portion sizes of high-glycemic foods or pump up the volume with fruits and vegetables and still maintain a lower calorie level. Consider the following calorie information:
1 cup of steamed broccoli = 50 calories
1 cup of fruit = 60 calories
1 cup of pasta = 160 calories
1 cup of ice cream = 340 calories
As you can see, for the same volume of food, you can consume far fewer calories by eating more fruits and vegetables. The beauty is that most of the foods in these two food groups end up on the low-glycemic food list! (See for yourself in Appendix A.)
The following examples illustrate how you can cut the calorie level of your dinner and dessert with some simple, low-glycemic food swaps:
Dinner
Grilled garlic chicken served over 1 1/2 cups of pasta = 345 calories
Grilled garlic chicken served over 1/2 cup of pasta with 1 cup of broccoli, red pepper, and snow peas = 235 calories
Total savings: 110 calories
Dessert
1 cup of ice cream with chocolate sauce = 440 calories
1/2 cup of ice cream with 1/2 cup of fresh strawberries = 230 calories
Total savings: 210 calories
By incorporating more low-glycemic fruits and veggies, you get the same volume of food on your plate but with fewer calories, a lower glycemic load, more fiber, and more nutrients. Not bad for a simple switch!
You can also use vegetables and fruits to increase your overall volume of food for the calorie level. For
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