Alternative Health Life

I remember waking up not to long ago looking down and realizing that I could not see my toes.  I bent over a little and still could not see anything but a large round belly.  A few weeks later I went to the doctor and found that my liver, blood pressure, and cholesterol were all a bit unhappy.  He suggested a radical change to my diet cutting out all sorts of simple carbs and eating vegetables and lean meats.

I took his suggestions to heart and searched the internet finding that my new diet was very similar to some low Glycemic Index diets out there.  I then decided that it would help me if I keep everything straight if I just said I can eat most things on the GI under thirty.  Thus was born the GI30 Diet.

Here is the rundown of my diet that has helped me lose 25 pounds in 6 weeks.  As with all posts you can find about diet and exercise, these are SUGGESTIONS!!!  Don’t be an idiot see a doctor first.  If this routine is not working for you, or is jeopardizing your health, STOP! First I would like to say that I do not count calories.  I tried that for a while and the hunger made me a grumpy crotchety old man with a grudge.  No I follow the rule of eating as much as I feel I need, only eating the right stuff.  I have found that my portion size has reduced dramatically as my cravings have decreased.  My desire to drink water has also increased dramatically.  So here is the deal.  Eat the right foods and avoid the wrong foods.

If you eat only foods that are lower on the Glycemic Index, a good list of foods can be found at http://www.glycemicindex.com/.  Simply click on the “GI Database” link and pit a number (I recommend 30) in the “Less than or Equals” field and click “Find Records”.  The food on this list will take longer to break down into the simple sugars that your body uses, giving a longer steadier stream of energy and not hitting the peaks and crashes of blood sugars that require a constant need to eat more and more.  Further I suggest going a little bit farther as described below.

RIGHT FOODS:

• Lean Meats: Fish, I eat a lot of Salmon, it has those omega3 oils that make your skin feel awesome.  Also, Salmon helps increase the good cholesterol and decrease the bad.  I generally stay away from the canned tuna.  Besides tasting awful, eating too much tuna can raise your mercury levels. Chicken, eat the breasts only and make sure to cut off all the fat. Beef and Pork I eat very sparingly.  Make sure it is lean.

• Veggies: All leafy veggies, squashes, roots, etc.  This is where your good carbs are going to come from.  Eat as much as you like as often as you like.

• Beans and Lintels:  Use the dried stuff not the canned stuff.

• Nuts/Avocados: Nuts and Avocados are full of great oils and proteins.

• Olive and Coconut oils: These are the only oils you should be using.  Do not fry with the olive oil it will lose it’s health benefits.

• Water: Lots and lots of water, lets flush those toxins and other crap out.

• Supplements: Get on a good multi vitamin.  Make sure it has b vitamins, they will help with metabolizing your food.  I would also consider getting some niacin (the flushing kind).  This will help improve blood flow and flush the toxins.  It is unpleasant at first but get on a daily dose.  I have worked my way up to 500mg per day; I started at 100mg a day it took me 2 weeks to get up to 500mg.

WRONG FOODS

• Sugars: Stevia is about the only sweetener that is allowed on this diet.  NO ALCOHOL!!!  Or sodas for that matter.

• Food fried in oil:  even if the food choice is good, frying it just kills lots of nutrients and breaks the food down.  If you need a little bit of oil to keep things from sticking to the pan use coconut oil.

• Dairy:  I know, I know there are lots of Dairy on the Glycemic Index that are below thirty.  Just trust me and stay away until you hit your target weight.

• Starches: Potatoes, Rice, Corn, and Pasta easily turned into sugar, and are easily stored by your body as fat.

• All Grains: Wheat, oats, other gluten products, etc. (The only exception is Balled Barley which is a great replacement for rice.)

• Fruits: What we are mainly trying to avoid is the fructose.

• Salts: We get enough of just being American, plus it makes you retain water.  Stay away.  If you need salt use sea salt.

So the idea is to stay away from all sugars and anything your body can readily convert into sugar.  Not only is it easily stored as fat, but depending on the type of sugar (high fructose corn syrup) it can really have a negative effect on your liver. The first week or two are going to be crazy you are going to want to eat all sorts of stuff you shouldn’t.   I want you to know that the cravings WILL go away, usually after about a week.  My secret was to break the no fruit rule.  I got frozen 100% orange juice concentrate and drank about 3 liters of that a day.  Every time I had cravings I would have a glass of orange juice.  After two weeks I then stopped the orange juice and went to water; this tip was my salvation.

So give this diet a try, if you follow it I know it will work for you too.  Also keep an eye out for recipes coming in future posts..  Leave a comment and tell me what you think.