The 3 Apple a Day GI Diet: The Amazing Superfood for Fast-track Weight Loss
Tammi Flynn
Want to lose weight with minimum effort and maximum results? You can – and it’s as simple as eating three apples a day. Apples are the magic bullet for losing those excess pounds and when you eat them in combination with this low GI eating plan the pounds will melt away.What’s the secret behind this diet? It’s down to ‘pectin power’. The pectin in apples gives you a feeling of satisfaction so you don’t feel hungry. They are also a low GI food so you don’t get that sugar high and then crash, which encourages your body to store fat. Even better, the good fibre in apples can lower your total cholesterol by as much as half.Has this diet been tried and tested? It sure has! Dietician and nutritionist Tammi Flynn first experienced incredible results with apples when one of her clients was stuck on a dieting plateau. She got her to eat an apple before every meal and, without changing anything else about her eating habits, lost 1% of her body fat in just one week. Since then, hundreds more of her clients have lost an average of 17 pounds each over three months on her 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet.Now you, too, can lose weight effortlessly with The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet. All you need to do is eat your three apples and follow Tammi’s low GI eating guidelines with the help of some easy meal plans. She also includes some simple exercise guidelines if you want to get physical.
THE 3 APPLE A DAY GI DIET
THEAMAZING SUPERFOODFORFAST-TRACK WEIGHT LOSS
TAMMI FLYNN, MS, RDwith Jeanne Drury
DEDICATION (#ulink_b38b8eaa-a3ef-5fbd-9bee-3a1ea587ad08)
This book is dedicated to my sisters, Tia and Teri, as
well as to those of you who are seeking balance and control over
food and exercise issues. Finding the path of health that allows you to
enjoy the process of eating healthily and exercising will provide you
with a sense of well-being and peace—in
mind, body, and spirit.
All the best,
Tammi
EPIGRAPH (#ulink_b8dca641-a9d2-54da-a82b-cbf92154c4c9)
Just knowing what to do is not enough. You need confidence, motivation, and a plan to make permanent changes.
—Anonymous
CONTENTS
Cover (#u7dd3455b-ab28-599f-b646-07b4e03598a2)
Title Page (#ubab0a410-055d-553b-84b8-4df47b185865)
Dedication (#ua7a296f7-b8b1-5f10-bd91-bc4655eb8908)
Epigraph (#ulink_8bb030c2-66af-5055-b026-6591b62fa144)
Getting Started (#u4e8c62a5-3e7e-5e2f-9d6f-648dbcd1921d)
Introduction (#ua9320b08-a78d-5f84-a7bf-f3c6b50a0fbc)
PART I The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet (#u9f45d9ae-8a6f-5350-81f9-b9511c480004)
Chapter 1 (#ue6e312d5-1776-5f6b-976e-0212d62bde55)The Creation of the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet (#ue6e312d5-1776-5f6b-976e-0212d62bde55)
Chapter 2 (#u38e39035-59cf-5eb1-b2e2-0f0cec2ba982)Overweight versus Overfat (#u38e39035-59cf-5eb1-b2e2-0f0cec2ba982)
Chapter 3 (#ub995bc1c-d383-5187-86b0-30863603daee)Genetics and Obesity (#ub995bc1c-d383-5187-86b0-30863603daee)
PART II Mental Preparation (#u732b1efb-a785-5511-89ac-fe02bd07192f)
Chapter 4 (#ude54c535-904a-5a53-83c1-bc0a559cc0f8)You Have the Power! (#ude54c535-904a-5a53-83c1-bc0a559cc0f8)
Chapter 5 (#u01ca14a8-cf51-56c7-8c65-228a10e69df0)The Importance of Setting Goals (#u01ca14a8-cf51-56c7-8c65-228a10e69df0)
PART III Good Nutrition (#ud1831570-85d1-531e-92d5-388555c2d4ce)
Chapter 6 (#uf02e7e78-86b4-5c27-975e-b6926ae6c3f6)The Truth about Nutrition, Diet, and Fat Loss (#uf02e7e78-86b4-5c27-975e-b6926ae6c3f6)
Chapter 7 (#u39de71b0-c0a0-5fdb-b2a4-1ea7c2d8ffa3)Carbohydrates—Good Food for Your Brain (#u39de71b0-c0a0-5fdb-b2a4-1ea7c2d8ffa3)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)Protein—The Body’s Building Blocks (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)Fats—Healthy versus Unhealthy (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)Cholesterol and Triglycerides (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)Energy, Water, and Alcohol (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 12 (#litres_trial_promo)The Metabolic Cost of Food and Meal Frequency (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 13 (#litres_trial_promo)Dining Out, Portion Control, Convenience, and Supplements (#litres_trial_promo)
PART IV Exercise: A Key to Staying Young (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 14 (#litres_trial_promo)Physical Activity versus Exercise for Permanent Fat Loss (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 15 (#litres_trial_promo)A 12-Week Beginner’s Exercise Program (#litres_trial_promo)
PART V Success Stories (#litres_trial_promo)
PART VI Putting It All Together (#litres_trial_promo)
Quick Start (#litres_trial_promo)
The Pre-Plan Buildup (#litres_trial_promo)
PART VII Meal Plans and Recipes (#litres_trial_promo)
Eating and Cooking with the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet (#litres_trial_promo)
Meal Plans (#litres_trial_promo)
Recipes (#litres_trial_promo)
Apple Varieties (#litres_trial_promo)
Appendix (#litres_trial_promo)
Your Before-and-After Photos (#litres_trial_promo)
Bibliography (#litres_trial_promo)
Recipe Index (#litres_trial_promo)
Index (#litres_trial_promo)
Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
GETTING STARTED (#ulink_b88a3840-f6cc-5a40-868b-f38507104f20)
How much do you want to know?
1. Ready to start the plan today? Go to Quick Start (#litres_trial_promo).
2. Want to learn just the basics? Read only the Key Points at the end of parts I–V (Key Points from Part I (#ulink_5817cba9-118c-583f-8211-169b5a8d4d57), Key Points from Part II (#ulink_4b17ad59-da19-5725-91ee-1b463fb9dbd8), Key Points from Part III (#litres_trial_promo), and Key Points from Part IV (#litres_trial_promo)).
3. Want to know the science behind the plan? Read this book from cover to cover.
Ideas to jump-start your motivation
• Take pictures of yourself in a swimsuit (two-piece), front and back, and decide if you want to make a change.
• Train for a marathon.
• Take your doctor’s advice to shape up.
• Train to climb Mt Everest.
• Create a get-fit contest in your office.
• Train like an athlete.
• Enrol your family in a “Fit Family Group” and get healthy together.
• Buy an expensive swimsuit in a smaller size and plan a trip to Hawaii.
• Go to your twentieth high-school reunion and check out an old flame or, better yet, the prom queen who snubbed you because you used to be fat!
INTRODUCTION (#ulink_c5d88d3b-00cf-57ea-89af-c3cc3249f675)
The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet is not about eating apples because they are healthy, even though it’s a proven fact that they are. It’s about shedding unhealthy fat layers, building strength, keeping lean muscle, and transforming yourself—body and mind—into a fit, self-confident, full-of-life person.
The plan came about by accident as part of the “Get-Lean” Diet I designed for a fitness contest at our gym. In an effort to include more fibre in the diet, in the form of fruits and vegetables, I added an apple before each meal. The results were absolutely astonishing! Who would have guessed that 346 people would lose 6,000 pounds of fat in 12 weeks? Since then, the “accident” has been repeated countless times all over America—with the same amazing fat-loss and body-sculpting results. Read some of the personal success stories in Part V.
If you’re tired of diets, pills, and gimmicks and tired of being a human rubbish bin for all kinds of “convenience” foods (which are insidiously turning us into the fattest, unhealthiest people on earth) start the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet today for good health, good nutrition, and permanent fat loss.
One more thing—be prepared to look and feel fabulous!
How and why it works
The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet offers a variety of meals and over 100 recipes custom designed to feed your muscle, not your fat. Each meal is calculated to provide your body with a balance of lean (low-fat) proteins, low-GI (based on the Glycaemic Index), high-fibre carbohydrates, and essential fats. This balance will keep your blood sugar and insulin levels stable, which is necessary for your body to get into a “fat-burning” mode. This balance also helps control your appetite, so you are less tempted by unhealthy foods. The recommended intake of calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fat is based on your current weight so you can maintain lean muscle tissue while shedding the fat.
The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet with its moderately high protein level is similar to some of the popular high-protein diets—at first glance. Protein provides calories that do not raise blood sugar, stabilizes blood sugar levels when eaten with carbohydrates, and provides necessary building blocks for maintaining muscle tissue.
Why this diet is different
This plan differs from those popular high-protein diets in two major ways:
1. The focus of the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet is not on weight loss alone but primarily fat loss and muscle retention. Many popular diets are based strictly on weight loss, regardless of whether the weight loss is from muscle tissue or fat. When muscle tissue is lost, our metabolism decreases, making it difficult to maintain permanent weight loss.
2. Other high-protein diets are very low in carbohydrates and high in fat, which induces ketosis (a high accumulation of ketones; see Chapter 7 for more on ketosis). People do lose weight quickly with these plans, but, again, they may lose valuable muscle tissue, making it more difficult to keep the weight off. With low carbohydrate consumption comes some unpleasant side-effects, too, such as constipation (due to lack of fibre or bulking carbohydrates), low energy or fatigue during exercise, not to mention mental confusion and moodiness. As if we weren’t moody enough already!
In my professional experience, consuming a diet too low in carbohydrates and/or eating in such a way as to induce ketosis is not an optimum way to retain muscle tissue and achieve permanent fat loss. The key to healthy carbohydrate intake is to consume enough for normal bodily functions (bowel elimination, fuel for the brain and red blood cells), but not in excess.
In the following chapters, you’ll find out how, by consuming the right combinations of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and fibre, you can be successful at permanent fat loss. You’ll also find out why thousands of successful “losers” call the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet the “terminator” of all diets!
PART I THE 3 APPLE A DAY GI DIET (#ulink_284f7f59-55bc-5b5f-9113-472393dc0f4f)
CHAPTER 1 (#ulink_90bc2f70-0351-5421-acff-50b5e617391d)
The Creation of the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet (#ulink_90bc2f70-0351-5421-acff-50b5e617391d)
The beginning
It all started when the American Cancer Society’s daily recommendation of five to nine daily servings of fruits and vegetables (in general, a serving is 4 ounces raw or 2 ounces cooked) was proving difficult for one of my personal training clients. She was adamant about getting in her daily requirements but was struggling because she was extremely busy and travelled often. I asked her what her favorite fruit was, and she said apples.
Perfect, I thought. Apples are full of important nutrients, have lots of fibre, taste delicious, and, most important for her, travel well. I suggested she eat an apple before each major meal (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) to see if that would solve her problem.
Amazing results in just seven days
Just one week later, she came back to have her body composition retested saying that since she’d been eating three apples a day, she felt her body had actually changed. She was excited because she hadn’t noted any changes for several months.
So we measured, and sure enough, she had lost 1 per cent body fat in one week! Now, a 1 per cent body fat loss (1.5 pounds of fat) in one week is difficult to accomplish in a fit person—and she was already lean at 16 per cent body fat.
“Wow,” I said. “Have you been running more?”
She said the only thing she had done differently was to add apples to her meal plan (which actually increased her caloric intake!).
At this point, I was cautiously optimistic. I decided to try this idea on others to see if the results could be duplicated. When Gold’s Gym of Wenatchee held its 12-week Get-in-Shape Contest in January 2001, I added apples to the diet (which was then called the “Get Lean” Diet).
The Get-in-Shape Contest
The annual 12-week contest, which I created in 1997, was (and is) a body transformation contest designed to lower body fat while retaining muscle tissue. Although judging is based primarily on visual change from before-and-after pictures, body composition changes are also recorded. As part of the contest, we provided the diet; exercise recommendations; tips on calculating calories, protein, carbohydrates, fat, and water; and other information pertaining to the program.
Apples and the “Get Lean” Diet
The original “Get Lean” Diet was always a balance of low-GI (see Chapter 7 on glycaemic response) carbohydrates, lean proteins, fruits and vegetables, and essential fats—with a calorie distribution of 40 per cent carbohydrates, 40 per cent protein, and 20 per cent fat. On this balanced 12-week fitness contest diet, women averaged a body fat loss of 5 to 7 per cent, and men averaged 7 to 10 per cent loss.
In 2001, when apples were added to the “Get Lean” Diet, Gold’s 12-week Get-in-Shape Contest participants experienced record fat losses! Women averaged body fat losses of 7 to 10 per cent, and men averaged losses of 10 to 12 per cent. Not only that, two women broke the “most fat loss” record with 21 per cent body fat loss each! One of those women, who later became a Gold’s Gym National winner, lost a whopping 53 pounds of body fat and gained 10 pounds of muscle!
The following year, one male contestant lost 84 pounds of fat and acquired 19 pounds of lean muscle. Another man lost 85 pounds of fat and gained 26 pounds of lean, calorie-burning muscle (see the success stories in Part V).
Remember, these changes were made in just 12 weeks!
What a bunch of (happy) losers!
We were on a roll and truly excited about what we had accomplished. In the 2002 contest, 346 people lost 6,126 pounds of fat. In 2003, 351 people lost 6,453 pounds of fat! In both of those years five of the ten Gold’s National contest winners hailed from Gold’s Gym of little old Wenatchee, Washington!
What’s the one thing Wenatchee winners all had in common? You guessed it … apples!
But was it really the apples?
After the first year of adding apples, even with all our contest successes, I still had reservations about whether apples were actually what helped these contestants lose more body fat than in years past. But adding apples was the only change we had made in the program.
Actually, I had eaten apples for many years when I was dieting for bodybuilding contests, but I never connected eating apples with losing body fat. In fact, I kind of felt like I was cheating when I ate them during my contest dieting phase—because they tasted so good!
It wasn’t until I had read some of the contestants’ amazing and inspiring personal stories—writing a personal story was a requirement for completion of the contest—that I was finally convinced. There just were too many testimonials naming apples as a major contributor to contestants’ success to be a mere coincidence.
The $500,000 Gold’s Gym Challenge
I became a true believer, and I was not alone. The entire staff at Gold’s Gym in Wenatchee was so strongly convinced that apples were a key to people’s weight-loss efforts that we approached the Washington Apple Commission and Gold’s Gym Corporate about sponsoring a national contest.
Of course, the folks at corporate headquarters were sceptical at first. But with real numbers, testimonials, and real contestants, they signed on to the idea, and the $500,000 Gold’s Gym Challenge was born. At the same time, Gold’s Gym Corporate adopted the Washington apple as “the Official Diet Pill of Gold’s Gym”.
How and why do apples work in fat loss?
I was never hungry. In fact, I had to retrain myself to eat enough. Never tiring of the three apples per day, I had no cravings for sweets. I believe the sweet Fuji apples helped in this area. I looked forward to having my apple as a snack every night! I had more energy and was amazed at how steadily I lost weight. I plan to continue using the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet to maintain my weight.
—Sandi Anderson, age 53, lost 31 pounds of fat and
gained 2 pounds of muscle in 12 weeks
When the Gold’s Gym Challenge began, I started getting a lot of questions about apples, mostly about how they work in fat loss and what research I had to back up the claims of significant fat loss from our contestants.
At first, I was unaware of any research studies that linked apples with weight loss—let alone fat loss! I chose apples originally because of their convenience, their sweet, crunchy texture, and their high fibre content (4 to 5 grams per apple). I had found a few studies linking increased fibre intake to weight loss, because increased fibre intake was associated with decreasing hunger and food intake, but none naming apples as the fibre source.
Recently, a Brazilian study of overweight women compared diets that contained three apples per day, three pears per day, or oat cookies, to determine their respective effects on body weight. The results showed that the women who ate either three apples or three pears per day lost significantly more weight than did the oat cookie group. This study is similar to what we found in our Gold’s Gym contest.
Apples are one of the only fruits that have high amounts of both soluble and insoluble fibre. The soluble fibre, pectin, helps steady your blood sugar. Researcher Kay-Tee Khaw at Cambridge University says, “Pectin turns into a sticky gel as you digest it, keeping your stomach from absorbing the sugar too quickly.” According to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, pectin eliminates the urge to eat for up to four hours.
Apples, too, are low on the Glycaemic Index (see Chapter 7), at a rating of 38 (compared with sugar at 70 or maltose at 105). Low-GI foods don’t spike your blood sugar level, making them an ideal appetizer prior to a main meal or a perfect snack between meals.
In a more general sense, a 12-year Harvard study of 74,000 women, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, concluded that those who consumed more fruits and vegetables were 26 per cent less likely to become obese than women who ate fewer fruits and vegetables over the same time period.
Also, many studies have shown that apples can help in other aspects of health, such as preventing heart disease, stroke, and cancer and improving lung function and dental health.
The phenomenal increase in fat loss that thousands of Gold’s Gym clients experienced when they added apples to their diet plans, along with their personal testimonials naming apples as a key component to their success, is a more compelling reason for controlled studies to be done at the scientific level.
Right now, we’ll settle for what works!
Good news for people with Type 2 diabetes
The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet is also used by Gold’s Gym of Wenatchee in other challenges. One of those, the Type 2 Diabetes Challenge, is a six-month program based on a point system. As with the Get-in-Shape Contest, using the same diet and measuring body fat only, the contestants were required to keep food, beverage, medicine, and exercise journals; to test their blood sugar twice a day and blood pressure once a week; and to have pre- and post-challenge lipid (blood fats) profiles, including cholesterol and triglycerides (see Chapter 10), and an A1C test (a measure used to determine long-term blood sugar control). The participants did not have any kidney dysfunction before starting or after finishing the challenge.
The results from the Type 2 Diabetes Challenge showed that the group that ate at least three apples per day lost an average of 19 pounds of body fat. The group that ate only one to two apples per day lost 11 pounds of body fat. The other group, which ate one or no apple per day, lost only 3 pounds of body fat. Overall, the average A1C reading was reduced from 7.5 at the starting point to under 5 (normal range) at the finish.
Similar results were obtained with our six-month Wellness Challenge. The parameters were similar as far as keeping food, beverage, medicine, and exercise journals plus pre- and post-challenge lipid and glucose panels. Again, we saw a correlation between eating three apples a day and the greatest fat loss and a lowering of total cholesterol (mainly LDLs).
Worried about cholesterol? More good news
Most people who had high blood lipids before following the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet experienced dramatic changes in their blood work afterward. Exercise and eating the foods on the plan not only lowered their total cholesterol, LDLs, triglycerides, and blood pressure, but increased their HDLs (good cholesterol).
Here’s a great example. Byron, a 40-year-old male, started with an unhealthy cholesterol level of 211 and triglycerides level of 637. In week 11 of the program, his cholesterol fell to an amazing 97 (the low end of the range) and triglycerides to 51 (normal range)! On top of that, his HDLs improved from a low of 25 to a normal level of 35. With astonishment, his doctor asked if he felt OK and suggested they double-check to make sure the readings were accurate. Byron said he hadn’t felt this good since high school. And yes, the reading was accurate!
Others around the country also noted improvements in their blood work. Richard from Utah lost 36 pounds and lowered his cholesterol from 218 to 152. More important, his LDLs went from 128 to 86 and his triglycerides from 270 to 61. His HDLs increased from 36 to 49.
Scott from Maine lost 83 pounds and lowered his cholesterol from 243 to 125. His LDLs dropped from 133 to 58, and his triglycerides fell from 220 to 55.
Pete from Florida lost 53 pounds, lowered his cholesterol from 278 to 176, decreased his LDLs from 180 to 116, and his triglycerides from 309 to 58. His HDLs improved from 36 to 48. Pete’s doctor told him he was a heartbeat away from a heart attack before he started the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet. When his final blood work was done, the doctor couldn’t believe the improvements Pete had made in just 12 weeks!
Who can use this plan?
The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet is useful for most people. My clients consist of women and men of all ages—ranging from 18 to 80—many of whom have adopted the plan for their entire family. Others, who have heart disease, high blood pressure, thyroid dysfunction, and Type 2 diabetes, are interested in improving their health and reducing their medications.
As mentioned earlier, people with Type 2 diabetes have been very successful using this plan. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are 17 million Americans with Type 2 diabetes, currently termed the “obese disease”. This number has tripled since 1960 and is anticipated to triple again by 2050. By that time, one in three children born in 2000 will have diabetes if people don’t start adopting a healthier lifestyle—meaning healthier eating and more exercise. What’s even more frightening is that the CDC estimates 70 million Americans are currently overweight, including one out of four children! And the numbers are rising in the UK, too, as more and more adults and children are becoming overweight or obese.
What exactly do we mean by “overweight”? That’s a tricky question. I’ll discuss it in the next chapter. The answer may surprise you, and it is one of the things that sets the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet apart from any diet you’ve tried before.
Always check with your doctor before starting a food program, especially if you have had previous health risks.
CHAPTER 2 (#ulink_c1df13b1-3cbe-555d-9f62-22c7039f1e11)
Overweight versus Overfat (#ulink_c1df13b1-3cbe-555d-9f62-22c7039f1e11)
What’s the difference?
Researchers have learned that body fat, instead of weight, is a better predictor of health. High body fat, or “overfat”, is associated with conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and cancer.
Being overfat is more dangerous to your health than being overweight. Traditionally, being overweight has been defined as weighing more than the healthy weight listed for your age and height in a weight table. But that doesn’t account for differences in body composition. For example, athletes are often overweight according to the weight-table standards because of muscle development or large body frame, but they are probably not overfat.
The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet was specifically designed and developed for permanent fat loss and muscle retention (keeping lean muscle tissue). This plan was not necessarily designed for weight loss—at least using the traditional method of measure, the scales. Other measuring techniques to determine progress have been highly effective and motivational. These include girth measurements (waist, hip, and thigh), body composition testing, and body mass index, which we’ll get into later.
The scales tells you only the partial truth
Weighing yourself on bathroom scales tells you next to nothing about how healthy you really are. Gaining or losing a pound doesn’t always mean it’s a pound of fat. In fact, small, frequent shifts in weight typically reflect fluid changes in your body. Your body’s fluid levels vary depending on the amount of salt you eat, your activity level, and hormonal changes. It seems that many people, mainly women, are controlled by the numbers on the scales. If the number goes up, they’re discouraged. If the number goes down, they are motivated and happy. The numbers on the scales do not measure the progress you have made, and they can even be detrimental to your program. Why not break those barriers and get permanent results without the frustration of the scales? The following photos show how people with different body types and levels of body fat, and different degrees of lean muscle can weigh the same.
Males 40–49 years old
All these men weigh 195 pounds!
Females 30–39 years old
All these women weigh 135 pounds!
Get the picture?
Other methods for measuring
Methods of body-fat measuring that should be done by a trained professional include skinfold measurements, infrared interactance, bioelectrical impedance, and underwater weighing. Other methods, such as girth measurements and body mass index (BMI), can be done at home. A BMI reading is based on your height and weight and is just a gauge for determining health risk. This measurement may not be appropriate for athletes or very active people. The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet asks you to chart your girth measurements.
For girth measurements, use a tape measure. Measure the waist at the navel, the hips around the buttocks, and the thighs at their upper part. Every one inch lost from the waist is equal to 4 pounds of body fat (Muscle and Fitness magazine, March 2003). Use the chart in Charting Girth Measurements (#ulink_3a52f2b8-f190-5f8d-935b-dbe333d09e99) to keep track of your girth measurements in inches as you work the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet.
Charting Girth Measurements
Calculating Body Mass Index (BMI)
To determine BMI, use the following formula (or use the free calculator at nhlbisupport.com/bmi):
Weight (pounds) ÷ Height (inches)
× 703 = BMI
If your BMI ranges from 18.5 to 24.9, your weight is not likely to have a major effect on your health. If your BMI is 25 or more, talk to your GP about the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet.
Is it time to act?
The health questionnaire in Is your health at risk? (#ulink_b732a6f3-80b6-50a7-991c-723905f62e1a) is a screening tool to help you assess your physical activity and nutrition habits. Whether you find that you’re at high risk of becoming overfat or not, answering the questions may increase your awareness about your current habits. If you have decided that you could stand some improvement, try simply changing one of your undesirable food or activity habits instead of focusing on the scales. Use The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet for guidance. You will be amazed at how easily the fat will come off when you make even small changes, such as eating an apple before every meal.
Is your health at risk?
• Do you eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day?
• Are you physically active at least 30 minutes per day, seven days per week?
• Do you eat fewer than three deep-fried foods per week?
• Is your waist measurement under 35 inches for a female? Under 40 inches for a male?
• Is your BMI under 25?
• Do you consider yourself at a healthy body fat level?
• Does your family history show healthy body weights without obesity?
If you can answer yes to most of these questions, you’re probably not at high risk of developing overfat-related diseases. If you answered no to at least three of the questions, your chances are greater for developing overfat-related diseases.
This is not a medically proven questionnaire to determine the risk of becoming overfat. It is used exclusively as a screening technique for increasing health awareness.
In the next chapter, we’ll look at other factors that determine if you’ll become overfat, and we’ll see how the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet can make a big difference.
CHAPTER 3 (#ulink_e481cb09-ddb4-5cba-856c-c720f49b4981)
Genetics and Obesity (#ulink_e481cb09-ddb4-5cba-856c-c720f49b4981)
Were we born to be fat?
Genetics play a role in your body type and how you store fat. Yet other factors greatly influence your risk of being fat or overfat—factors that you can change or prevent.
The big fat facts of life
Fact one: we can’t always blame our parents. Yes, our genes affect the rate at which our body accumulates fat and where the fat is stored. And, yes, a family history of obesity does increase our chances of becoming obese (overfat) by about 30 per cent, and of course our family affected our eating habits and activity levels when we were children. But we have 70 per cent control over how healthy and fit we are as adults—what we do to take control is up to us.
Fact two: No matter who we are, we all have an unlimited potential to make new fat cells, which means we all risk obesity and obesity-related diseases if we continue to overeat and under-exercise.
So now’s the time to start making changes. The thousands of people who have followed the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet have come from a variety of backgrounds. Most everyone who stuck with the plan has seen great results.
The difference between boys and girls
Have you ever wondered why men seem to lose weight at the drop of a hat and women seem to have more of a struggle? Or why building muscle seems to come naturally to guys but takes longer for us gals? Does “you are what you eat” ring a bell?
In my 20 years of experience in the health and fitness industry, I have observed that men and women have different preferences, which may influence how they lose body fat. When it comes to food preferences, for example, men tend to choose protein over carbohydrates. In terms of exercise, they go for the weight training every time—with as little cardiovascular training as possible.
My women clients, on the other hand, prefer carbohydrates over protein, and they choose walking for weight loss (cardiovascular training) instead of weight training.
Are you connecting the dots?
Muscle, fat, and metabolism
Because of their higher muscle mass, men tend to burn 10 to 20 per cent more calories than do women (who have higher levels of body fat). Think about this: 1 pound of muscle tissue burns 40 to 60 calories per day whereas 1 pound of fat tissue burns a measly 2 calories per day. No wonder these guys lose weight so easily. Their higher muscle mass endows them with a higher metabolic rate. But ladies, you can change all that by adding some muscle mass through weight training!
Use it or lose it!
As you age, if you do not use your muscles, you’ll lose them. The muscle tissue shrinks, resulting in lower metabolism and an inability to burn calories. Starting around age 25, you lose about 1 per cent of muscle every year, which results in a reduction of metabolism. So let’s do the maths.
Key Points from Part I
• Try to see the big picture. Having a balanced eating and exercise plan will help you become a fit, self-confident, full-of-life person.
• The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet is a balance of lean proteins, low-GI and high-fibre carbohydrates, and essential fats.
• Eat three apples per day, one before each major meal.
• Apples are full of fibre—4 to 5 grams each—and fibre has been shown to be effective in weight loss.
• Being overfat, not just overweight, brings a higher risk of obesity-related diseases.
• Avoid the scales for measuring your fitness progress. Use the tape measure instead.
• Genetics has only a small influence on becoming overfat. You have 70 per cent control.
• Muscle tissue burns more calories than does fat tissue.
• Weight training builds muscle tissue.
By the age of 35, you will have lost approximately 5 pounds of muscle. For each pound of muscle lost, you lose the ability to burn 40 to 60 calories per day. So 5 pounds of muscle times 40 to 60 calories per day equals 200 to 300 calories less that your body is able to burn per day. By the age of 50, you may have lost 25 pounds of muscle, reducing your calorie-burning ability by 1,000 calories. You may begin to notice that you eat less, but you are getting fatter. Although this may be somewhat exaggerated, I think you get the point.
But all is not lost. Weight training increases muscle mass, which increases your ability to burn calories. It’s possible to minimize, even reverse, some of the damage from inactivity—if you start now!
If your goal is permanent fat loss, weight training is the answer, and it is a vital part of the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet (see Part IV on exercise).
PART II MENTAL PREPARATION (#ulink_34b80ba1-731f-5893-8eb1-8dc14898b13f)
CHAPTER 4 (#ulink_f80c481c-9bbf-54b6-a7d0-41f7d7617901)
You Have the Power! (#ulink_f80c481c-9bbf-54b6-a7d0-41f7d7617901)
If your eating habits have been less than healthy, you have the power to make the change! Every step you take to improve your health will get you closer to adding life into your years. The foods you choose, along with your activity level, will determine whether you become fat or not. The most notable causes of being overfat or obese are lack of proper diet and lack of physical activity. Thank goodness these are things you can change. If you can visualize it, you can become it!
Being an obese, out-of-control Type 2 diabetic, I talked with my doctor, who said he could no longer help me, I had to help myself. Then I heard the words “train like an athlete”. So I started practising being an athlete—started a food and exercise journal, joined the gym, bought athletic clothes so I could look like an athlete, and after work and days off I would change into my athletic clothes to feel like an athlete. So who cares if I looked like the Pillsbury Doughboy
? In my mind I was an athlete.
—Donald Housden, age 55, lost 33 pounds,
and is now an athlete
Getting and staying motivated
How do you get motivated and stay motivated? Motivation comes from within. Webster’s Dictionary defines “motivation” as “a mental force to induce an act or purpose”. “Inspiration” is any influence that inspires thought or action. What inspires you?
I have found that my clients are inspired by money, family, and other people’s successes. In the beginning, you may be motivated to win (through a bet) or to look like someone else (if they can do it, so can I), or you may believe that if you can make a change it will help inspire your family to change. But what will really keep you progressing towards your goal is how good you’ll feel as the changes add up.
Some people are naturally self-motivated and others need a little extra help from outside influences. Here are a few ideas that may inspire you to get started:
• Try a walkathon.
• Train for a marathon.
• Shape up for your class reunion.
• Work out with your significant other.
• Decide to improve your family’s eating habits.
• Aim to fit into your smallest clothes size.
• Read the success stories in Part V.
TIP: Find something or someone that inspires you. Health clubs can be inspirational because you’re surrounded by people with a common interest—getting healthy!
Are timelines a good thing?
Does focusing on a short period of time, such as 12 weeks instead of a lifetime, prove unsuccessful for permanent fat loss? It all depends on whether you are enjoying the experience of getting fit or struggling throughout the entire process. You may be highly motivated when you first start a new diet or exercise program, but maybe your motivation dissipates over time if you cannot see or feel results.
Most people who start the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet adjust over the first few weeks and are excited by how good they feel. For some, it’s more difficult, especially if they’ve never exercised or been aware of their eating habits. On the other hand, if they finish the 12 weeks, they are thrilled with their progress. And more important, most of them maintain their results.
Twelve weeks will pass by anyway, so why not do something during that time that will make a difference in how you look and feel? Think of 12 weeks as just the beginning of a lifetime of healthy behaviours.
TIP: Set small, realistic, short-term goals that will lead you to your major goal. If you bite off more than you can chew, it can be overwhelming!
CHAPTER 5 (#ulink_15c3a40e-76bc-58eb-9494-25cd32503b6e)
The Importance of Setting Goals (#ulink_15c3a40e-76bc-58eb-9494-25cd32503b6e)
Health versus fitness
What is your goal in following the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet? Do you want to improve your health or improve your fitness? This is an important question because the answer helps determine what goals to set. You can improve your health by making simple or major changes such as adding or increasing activity, improving diet, quitting smoking, reducing stress, getting adequate rest, and laughing.
Yes, laughing. According to William Fry, MD, professor at Stanford University, who has conducted 50 years of laughter research, laughter conditions the heart muscle, exercises the lungs, works all the abdominal thoracic muscles, boosts the immune system, and even increases adrenaline and blood flow to the brain. Humour can add years to your life! Many of these changes will show up in improved mental health status but not necessarily as a noticeable physical change.
Fitness improvements may take more effort. But the resulting change in body fat, increased muscle tissue, cardiovascular and respiratory efficiency, and improved mental alertness will all be worth the extra sweat!
That said, fitness goals require fitness-oriented strategies, including a regular exercise routine, a well-balanced meal plan, adequate rest, and a plan of action. The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet is designed for fitness-oriented people, but most people can use this plan for health improvements, too.
Determining your goals
Do you want to run to your goal or walk? In other words, do you want to achieve your goal quickly or make gradual changes? Goals need to be set according to what you are planning to accomplish. The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet was designed for people who want to lose body fat and keep their muscle tissue. The following examples may give you some ideas for setting goals:
1. Although weight loss should not be the primary focus, most health experts agree that 1 or 2 pounds of weight loss per week is safe and healthy. Rapid and extreme weight loss can also result in muscle loss, which is often associated with low-calorie meal plans.
TIP: Make your goals specific and measurable so you’ll know what you’ve achieved.
2. Reducing your clothes size is a measurable goal. Get out your smallest-size clothes so they’re visible. If you can see it, you can achieve it!
3. Waist, hip, and thigh reduction—measure those areas and try to lose one inch per month in your “problem” area (waist or hips).
4. Lower your cholesterol, blood pressure, or blood sugar by starting a regular exercise routine.
5. Increase your daily energy by improving your eating exercise and habits. You can measure your progress by keeping a food and exercise journal (see the section on journaling later in this chapter).
6. Gain strength or increase lean muscle tissue through weight training. Improvements can be measured by increased weights lifted or body composition testing.
7. Commit to eating breakfast every day.
8. Switch the nightly food binge to fruits, vegetables, or lean proteins only.
9. Reduce body fat to the healthy range—women 17 to 24 per cent, men 14 to 20 per cent.
10. Exercise for 20 minutes during your lunch hour every day.
The list can go on. It may take several small goals to achieve your results. I call these “mini-goals”.
Put it in writing
A great way to launch a new health-and-fitness regime is to commit yourself to it on paper. That’s what the 3-Apple-a-Day Personal Contract is all about.
When filling out your contract, first start by determining what you’d really like to achieve—your ultimate goal. All mini-goals will be set to lead to your main objective. Think of it as walking up stairs—eventually you reach the top. How long it takes will depend on what your ultimate goal is. Take some time to think realistically about your goals. If you decide you want to lose 50 pounds but you’ve never been that light, then this type of goal may not be realistic in a short time frame. An example of the contract is on the next page.
Tammi’s Personal Contract
1. Tammi Flynn, plan to accomplish my ultimate goal of competing in a mini-triathlon. To reach this goal, I have established several mini-goals, which are as follows: 1. Continue the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet.
2. Start swimming on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 6 A.M.
3. Increase my biking to four days per week, 45 minutes each. I am beginning my journey on Monday, July 5, to reach my ultimate goal by September 18. I will continue to move forward and redefine my goals. My motivation level is extremely high. As I reach each of my mini-goals, I will reward myself weekly by getting a massage.
Signed by: Tammi Flynn
Date: July 1.
Support person: husband, Dan
The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet Personal Contract
I, __________, plan to accomplish my ultimate goal of _______________. To reach this goal, I have established several mini-goals, which are as follows: 1._______________. 2. _______________. 3. _______________. I am beginning my journey on this date: _________________________. I would like to reach my ultimate goal by this date: _________. If I don’t make this date, I will continue to move forward and redefine my goals. My motivation level is [circle one] high very high extremely high. As I reach each of my mini-goals, I will reward myself
by ______________________________.
Signed by: ____________________
Date: ___________________________________
Support person:
(#ulink_cc655a05-e52d-5198-a1a9-eb751cf1db35) _________________________
Find someone to lean on
The Personal Contract has a place for the name of a support person. This person should not only cheer you on but also hold you accountable to your contract for as long as you want him or her to. My husband, Dan, is my support person, and he takes care of the kids in the mornings so I can go swimming. He also checks my training journal each week.
Give yourself a treat
Finally, think about how you will reward yourself for reaching your goals. Just make sure your reward isn’t an unhealthy choice and a step in the wrong direction. Some positive rewards include a massage (my favourite!), a manicure, or a good book. One of my clients hires a babysitter every Friday afternoon for two hours so she can do whatever she wants. It’s usually shopping!
Journaling prevents “amnesia”
Keeping a food and exercise journal is a key way to stick with your plan. Writing down an accurate record of your intake of food and beverages daily and recording the calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates, and fibre will help you become more aware of what is in the foods you eat.
Writing it down will also hold you accountable for what you have been eating or drinking. Although you may have good intentions, what you intend and what you actually do may be two different things. I call this “amnesia”. An exercise journal works the same way. You’ll know if you are making progress by keeping records of where you were when you started. In the Appendix, you’ll find a sample form for keeping a food and beverage record (Appendix (#litres_trial_promo)).
Tips from Past Contest Winners at Gold’s Gym
1. Keep a food and exercise journal. This keeps you accountable and on track.
2. Focus on a specific goal. Visualize your end result. Keep reminding yourself that you are committed to achieving that goal.
3. Plan, prepare, and commit.
Plan what you want to accomplish (goal), how long it will take you (time line), and how you can accomplish your goal (specific program).
Prepare—know what you’ll be eating and when you’ll be exercising daily. Prepare meals ahead of time and plan your workout before you get to the gym.
Commit—make a contract with yourself, spouse, children, or trainer to accomplish your goals. Again, be specific and use this contract to hold yourself accountable.
If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. —Nancy Vanhoven, group fitness instructor, Gold’s Gym of Wenatchee, Washington
Don’t kid yourself
A frustrated client e-mailed me saying she had been following the plan but wasn’t making any progress. I asked if she was writing anything down. She wasn’t. I asked her to keep a journal and send it to me after a few days so I could see where she might be struggling. No wonder she hadn’t made progress! Her journal indicated that she ate almost everything out of a box or a container! Except for eating two apples per day, she wasn’t following the plan at all. In addition, she hadn’t changed her exercise program (walking) for over a year. I made some suggestions in order to accommodate her busy schedule (the reason for her dependence on convenience foods) and food preferences. A few weeks later, she e-mailed back to say, happily I might add, that she had finally started seeing some results.
Again, your intentions may be good, but writing it down is the only way to outsmart your biased and forgetful mind!
Breaking barriers and excuses, excuses, excuses!
Why is it that when we start an exercise or food program we often don’t follow through (as in “it seemed like a good idea at the time”)? There are a few legitimate reasons that may be out of your control that can inhibit you from reaching your goals—such as illness or certain disabilities. But mostly, barriers are excuses that keep you in your comfort zone—or rather, out of your discomfort zone! Changing eating and exercise habits may be one of the most difficult challenges you’ll experience. But remember, the rewards you’ll gain far outweigh those initial struggles.
Here are some of the common controllable barriers that factor into changing your lifestyle habits:
• Not enough time to exercise. Exercise needs to be a priority just like brushing your teeth!
• Too intimidated to go to the gym because you’re out of shape. Start walking or working out at home with exercise videos. But remember that a good gym can offer professional help to guide you to your goals.
• The belief that you need a diet very low in calories in order to lose weight. Eating too few calories is a sure way to lose valuable muscle tissue. Women need at least 1,200 calories per day, and men need at least 1,800.
• Environment. You’re surrounded by a feasting society. Fast foods and quick-food markets are loaded with high-fat, high-sugar, nutrient-light temptations. When you plan ahead and prepare your meals yourself, the temptations will become less, and you will not have to rely on willpower.
• No energy or too tired. The first thing many people notice when they start following the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet is that they have more energy. Get started, you’ll see!
Beware of emotional triggers—They make you eat!
Have you ever been sad and sat down with a tub of ice cream smothered in chocolate and just kept eating it? Or been stressed out and stuffed a whole bag of crisps (family size!) in your face? Or just felt bored and wandered through your kitchen “searching” for something interesting to eat and discovered (and ate) your kid’s leftover Halloween candy? Or felt the “winding down” of a busy day and needed a little pick-me-up from food?
This is emotional eating. There are several emotional triggers—anger, stress/anxiety, PMS, boredom, and sadness—that cause us to eat. And we usually don’t choose healthy snacks in this state of mind. Instead, we choose “comfort foods” that temporarily fill the void. Often, not only do we consume way too much of these foods but we repeat this type of eating way too often, all of which leads to weight gain and low self-esteem.
How to break the cycle
Breaking the cycle of emotional eating may take some effort. But you can do it! When you feel one or more of the emotional triggers come on, resist the urge for five minutes. Ask yourself if you are truly hungry or are just feeling emotional? Often just waiting a couple of minutes will be sufficient to overcome the urge. If waiting doesn’t work and you are still feeling emotional, try diverting yourself. Go outside for some fresh air, take a walk, turn on some upbeat music, or call a supportive friend.
If you do decide to eat, choose a healthy snack. Dip some unsalted pretzels in yogurt or spread apple slices with peanut butter. Or treat yourself to some low-fat popcorn and a diet beverage. And don’t turn on the television! Huh? That’s right! Watching TV could actually cause you to “unconsciously” eat more.
I definitely have times of emotional overeating—where do you think the examples came from? What I have found to work, besides avoiding unhealthy snacks, is having an established eating plan. If you follow the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet, as I do, you should be able to keep your appetite under control and lessen those unhealthy food temptations.
Hunger versus appetite
Blair McHaney, co-owner of Gold’s Gym, Wenatchee, Washington, suggests this visual: “Think of appetite as a sleeping lion. If you keep him fed, he will purr and sleep. If you starve him, he will attack.” The lion is your appetite. If you aren’t prepared with food on hand, your appetite may attack and you’ll be relying on your willpower. That’s doing it the hard way for sure.
It’s a lot easier to shop for healthy foods in the supermarket if you are not hungry as a lion going in. Not only that, if you don’t go in hungry, you’ll be less likely to buy unhealthy items. It’s much easier to decide not to buy junk food than it is to resist it once you’ve taken it home. Keep your home environment “safe” and junk-food free to avoid temptation.
Last but not least, eat breakfast! You’ll be less likely to eat a donut at work if you’ve already eaten at home.
TIP: Take apples with you everywhere you go.
Key Points of Part II
• If you can visualize what you want to become, it will happen.
• Keep a food and beverage journal.
• Set your ultimate goal. Make sure it’s realistic and measurable.
• Set measurable mini-goals to help you reach your ultimate goal.
• Find some inspiration to motivate you.
• Break the barriers that prevent you from reaching your goal.
• Prepare and plan so willpower won’t be an issue.
* (#ulink_62cf98e9-e6d3-5ff7-8844-0035eed86b22)Check in with this person every two weeks and let him or her know how you are doing.
PART III GOOD NUTRITION (#ulink_d9266022-71ee-5f9b-9074-222f6492e5af)
CHAPTER 6 (#ulink_90cf5c2b-9469-501f-820b-d01472f2c1ba)
The Truth about Nutrition, Diet, and Fat Loss (#ulink_90cf5c2b-9469-501f-820b-d01472f2c1ba)
Mass confusion
There are simply too many diet books, versions of food pyramids, and guidelines and too much other nutritional advice on the market today. Each source would have you believe theirs is the one. Much of the information is conflicting. Should you eat a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet? Or a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet? Should you eat high-protein, high-fat? How about the no-dairy, no-wheat, no-fat, no-meat (and no flavour) diet? Just kidding!
Amid the cacophony of opinions, there is one thing that most experts do agree on. Most people are overfat because they don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables and they don’t engage in regular physical activity. It’s as simple as that.
The low-calorie weight-loss trap
I had to laugh when I heard the phrase “skinny fat person”, and that’s when it hit me. That’s what I have ended up being every time I went on a diet because all that I did was stop eating and didn’t have a real exercise program. Then my weight always ended up coming back even heavier than I was to begin with!
—Jim Barker, age 51, lost 43.5 pounds of body fat and
gained 0.5 pound of muscle
Many of the popular programs these days are based strictly on weight loss. Losing weight can be beneficial for many reasons aside from appearance—but only if you can maintain your current muscle mass.
Some of these plans are downright harmful, especially if permanent fat loss is your goal. For example, the diets based on very low calories are the biggest trap of all. They are seductive in that they offer quick results. But in the long term they are disastrous. Ultra-low-calorie diets are the cause of yo-yo dieting, which lowers your metabolism incrementally over time until it’s almost impossible to lose weight.
Research from the University of California has shown that crash diets—of fewer than 1,000 calories a day—slow metabolism down by as much as 45 per cent!
These diets fly in the face of what is now common knowledge: To raise your metabolism, you have to eat more healthy foods, not eat less! Eating less lowers your metabolism by stripping away your muscle tissue. It is the direct cause of the dieting plateaus that are so hard to overcome. It’s likely you’ll become a “skinny fat person” if you follow a low-calorie eating program.
“But,” you reason, “if I eat more I’ll just gain weight.”
Not if you eat healthy foods and exercise you won’t. If you consume small, nutritionally balanced, low-GI meals, at regular intervals throughout the day, your metabolism will be revved up all day long.
In other words, you need the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet.
Why I wrote this book
I’m not a diet guru on the talk show circuit. I’m not selling supplements or magic weight-loss powders. What I am is a registered dietitian, a bodybuilder, and a group training instructor with 20 years of experience in helping my clients lose fat, get fit—and stay fit.
My purpose in writing this book is to use my knowledge of nutrition, diet, and exercise to guide you to permanent fat loss and muscle retention without diet pills, supplements, or gimmicks. I would also like to clear the air of the confusion and disinformation associated with nutrition and weight loss.
The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet draws on all food groups in balanced proportions to help your metabolism do its job. It features apples because of their convenience, low glycaemic rating, and high fibre content—the latter two of which are extremely important in fat loss.
The control you need to succeed
The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet will give you the control you must have over your appetite in order to achieve your weight loss goals. You can achieve this control by balancing carbohydrates, proteins, and essential fats.
The plan is for people who want to make the most out of their lives, without perpetually looking for the one and only “next best diet”. Most important, this plan when combined with an exercise program, has been successful in helping people achieve permanent fat loss.
Nutrient recommendations
The next few chapters explain how the different elements in your diet can make you healthier or make you sick. Throughout I refer to the DRIs. These are the US Institute of Medicine’s Food and Nutrition Board Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs). They provide guidance on how much of each nutrient is needed in a healthy diet. These chapters will help you understand the importance of the major nutrients in your diet so that you can maximize your fat-loss efforts while getting lasting energy from the foods you eat. They will also make sense of the recommendations in the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet.
CHAPTER 7 (#ulink_a658525e-2f6e-5c92-9469-c5ff8bbe5fb9)
Carbohydrates—Good Food for Your Brain (#ulink_a658525e-2f6e-5c92-9469-c5ff8bbe5fb9)
The misunderstood nutrient
I feel good when I think of carbohydrates, because I know they provide the right kind of fuel for my brain cells. Unfortunately, many people shun them as if they were the plague. The fact is, carbohydrates have gotten a bad rap recently for weight-loss efforts, just like fat has in years past.
What’s more (and what dieters aren’t aware of), the types of carbohydrates you choose can affect your fat-loss progress to a very high degree. So let’s set the record straight with the facts on carbohydrates.
Diet fads seem to come in cycles. Remember when protein was the enemy and carbohydrates were the answer? Now the opposite philosophy is the new big thing. Yet with new findings about lean proteins, along with the Glycaemic Index, it seems that we were only half right on both counts.
The role of carbohydrates
At any given moment the amount of carbohydrates in the adult body is about 300 grams or less. Some of this is in the blood, but most is stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen.
Carbohydrates have many functions; chief among them is to provide (1) energy to carry on the work of the body and (2) heat to maintain the body’s temperature. Glucose, which is formed when carbohydrates are broken down, is the only form of energy used by the central nervous system, even though other tissues also use fats for energy.
Other Things Carbohydrates Do
1. Carbohydrates spare proteins. This means that with carbohydrates on hand the body need not burn protein from your diet or your body tissue (this means muscle!) to meet energy needs.
2. Carbohydrates aid in the manufacture of non-essential amino acids (refer to Chapter 8 on protein).
3. Carbohydrates are required for the complete oxidation of fats. When too little carbohydrates are available, some fatty acids known as ketones accumulate. A high accumulation of ketones is called ketosis, which interferes with the acid/base balance and causes the blood to become more acidic. Eventually, the condition known as ketoacidosis occurs, which can cause brain damage and eventually death. Dehydration is also a common consequence of ketosis because the body loses water-excreting ketones in the urine.
4. All carbohydrates except fibre have 4 calories per gram. fibre is not utilized for energy and therefore does not have a caloric value.
Is your glycaemic response making you fat?
Equal amounts of carbohydrates from different foods (such as sugar, pastas, legumes, and breads) can produce different increases in blood sugar (technically, blood glucose) in a given time. The immediate effect of carbohydrates on blood sugar is ranked on the Glycaemic Index (GI). As blood glucose levels rise, so does insulin, a hormone that helps shuttle blood glucose out of the blood and into the tissue cells to be used for energy. Insulin promotes fat storage—one reason that eating foods high on the Glycaemic Index tends to make you fat. Not only that, after your blood sugar rapidly rises, it will fall again sharply. The fall makes you feel hungry again, which can lead to overeating.
High insulin levels are associated with obesity.
Choosing carbohydrates wisely
Carbohydrates are an essential part of a healthy eating plan. The amount and type of carbohydrates you consume (using the Glycaemic Index as a guide for making healthy choices) will affect your fat-loss efforts.
The fact is, the modern diet is too rich in high-GI carbohydrates (those foods with a GI rating of 70 or higher). Common high-GI foods are cookies, crackers, bakery items, sweets, snack items, and simple sugars—some claiming to be low-fat or healthy! This is one of the major reasons that people are getting fatter and fatter, with Type 2 diabetes now showing up even in children, who will in turn become the next generation of obese adults.
Now is the time for high-profile nutritional education if we are to prevent a future health catastrophe.
It’s never too late
It’s never too late to change unhealthy eating habits. For example, middle-aged people accustomed to diets of high-GI foods can switch to low-GI foods (those foods with a GI rating below 55) and be far less likely to develop diabetes and heart disease. Examples of low-GI foods are fruits (apples, cherries, and pears), dairy products, stoneground or whole-grain products (oatmeal, brown rice, bulgur, and some cereals and breads), beans, and lentils.
Low-GI diets can also help control established diabetes by keeping blood glucose levels down. Low-GI diets also can help you lose weight, may lower blood lipids, improve the body’s sensitivity to insulin, reduce the Glycaemic Index rating of the overall meal, and improve appetite control.
Additionally, low-GI carbohydrates satisfy your appetite without “over-satisfying” your caloric requirement. This idea is discussed in detail in The New Glucose Revolution, a widely acclaimed book on the detrimental effects of high-GI foods.
In the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet Substitution List (#litres_trial_promo), you’ll find that most carbohydrate foods are given a glycaemic rating. Following are the categories of low-, intermediate-, and high-GI rating of foods:
Protein (meats, fish, and poultry) and fat (oils, nuts, and seeds) have little to no effect on glycaemic response and play a vital role in keeping the glycaemic response to a high-GI food to a minimum. In other words, you won’t get hungry an hour later.
The vicious circle of high-GI foods
You might have heard that high-GI foods are used to replenish energy stores in endurance athletes. That is true. But for everyone else, high-GI foods are best minimized, since their primary contribution to the diet is empty calories.
In her book Potatoes not Prozac, Kathleen DesMaisons, PhD, writes about people who are unusually drawn to high-GI foods. She says that sugar sensitivity can cause people to consume large quantities of sweets, breads, pasta, or alcohol. These items can trigger feelings of exhaustion and low self-esteem, yet the spike and fall in blood sugar levels causes sugar-sensitive people to crave high-GI foods even more.
This seemingly endless cycle can continue for years, leaving sufferers overweight, fatigued, depressed, and sometimes alcoholic.
The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet is right on track
The primary carbohydrates in the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet are from low-GI and high-fibre sources. However, you will also find some intermediate- and high-GI sources included in some of the recipes. According to The New Glucose Revolution, mixing a high-GI food with a low-GI food yields an intermediate-GI meal.
Carbohydrate recommendations
The DRI, for both children and adults, is at least 130 grams of carbohydrates per day, based on the minimum needed to produce enough glucose for the brain to function.
The recommendation in the 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet is that 40 per cent of total calories (which is 1 gram per pound of body weight) come from carbohydrates. This amount of carbohydrates is equal to the protein recommendation to establish your blood sugar levels and provide lasting energy throughout the day. Carbohydrate intake in the plan ranges from 128 to 187 grams per day (see Nutrient Chart for Fat Loss in The 3-Apple-a-Day GI Diet Nutrient Chart for Fat Loss (#litres_trial_promo)).
TIP: When you eat carbohydrates that are not listed in the plan, choose those that have 2 to 4 grams of fibre per 100 calories. Whole grains, fruit, and vegetables are good sources of fibre.
Fibre—it does more than keep you regular
Dietary fibre is an edible, nondigestible component of carbohydrates naturally found in plant food. Also called “roughage” or “bulk”, it has been recommended for years to maintain bowel regularity. Scientists and clinicians have also found that dietary fibre may reduce the risks of certain gastrointestinal diseases, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and colon or rectal cancers.
Two types of fibre
There are two general types of fibre, soluble and insoluble. Soluble fibre may help reduce the risk of heart disease. Insoluble fibre is essential for healthy digestion and may reduce the risk of gastrointestinal diseases.
Unlike most fruits, apples have high amounts of both soluble and insoluble fibre. So by eating apples you’re getting not only a heart-healthy benefit but a gut-healthy one also!
Modern diets are lacking in fibre owing to the glut of highly processed, conveniently available foods. The typical diets that I have analyzed from seven-day food records averaged 10 to 13 grams of fibre per day. That is only one-third of both the DRI and American Cancer Society recommendations! Adding three apples per day will give you half of your fibre recommendation. Just add to that two or three servings of vegetables and your fibre requirement is met for the day.
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