So November is going to be a new month with a new approach! I've been wondering why I have weeks that are better at weight loss than others, and what helps you lose weight. I think I mayt have the answer. I've heard it said that you should cut back on your carbs. No carbs? I thought... I guess I'll never lose much weight then (not that I have that much to lose to begin with, but I do have a few stubborn pounds that I would LOVE to be rid of) since I LOVE bread. I have several boards on my Pinterest account dedicated to the different categories of carbs that I love: cinnamon rolls, anything baked and blueberry, cakes, pies, doughnuts, etc..
Anyway, I think the answer isn't cut all carbs, it's more like cut the indulgant kind that make you fat if you eat too many of them, and also, as I said in a post ..a while back, when I talked about food as fuel. Remember? Well if you don't I talked about how carbohydrates are turned into sugar or energy, and if you don't utilize that energy your body will store it as fat. Bad berries!
So, my theory is that in order to eat for weight loss an important element is not eating excess calories (duh), but also not eating energy heavy foods past a certain point in the evening say 4 o'clock. In trying to figure out what foods are ok, I found out about the glycemic index which is a system that diabetics use to help regulate blood sugar levels.
Speaking of blood sugar, the GI or glycemic index gives a points rating on how much the food you eat will affect you blood sugar levels and therefore your insulin levels. It's actually very fitting to talk about blood sugar since most of you must be in an insulin-induced coma for a couple of days after all the candy!
For those of us who are not diabetic, it is also a great tool for weight loss (I think), weight management (definately), and healthy eating. If you eat foods with a LGL, it helps reduce high blood sugar and insulin spikes which give you bursts of energy followed by crashes; instead eating LGL foods keep blood sugar levels low, and the foods you eat will help keep you feeling fuller, longer.
I sometimes feel like Pipin from Lord of the Rings, eating breakfast, midmorning snack - now dubbed "second breakfast", a pre lunch tea "elevensies", lunch or "luncheon", afternoon tea, mid afternoon snack - LOTR dubbed "dinner", and real dinner "supper". But for practial side of things for me, this means not eating processed carbohydrates after 4 PM. When it comes to any meals after lunch or "luncheon", NO processed grain products (bread, pasta, rice, po-tay-toes, and the like) whatsoever.
What?? You don't know about second breakfast? What about elevensies? Luncheon? Afternoon Tea? Dinner? Supper? You know about them right??
Yes, I am a nerd. :))
As for me, for the month of November I will aim to keep my glycemic load low or if I use the term LCL that's what that stands for Low Glycemic Load.
We will talk more about this in tomorrows post, and I will break it down further to help you understand what I will be doing, and what that means for you if you decide to adapt it into your lifestyle.
In case you are wondering about my halloween, yes my hubby and I did dress up (I was "skinny Minnie" and he was a "professional Seahawks fan" - hence the coat and the jersey) and we did go walk around with friends and their kids to go trick-or-treating. I did not eat any candy, BUT I did share part of my hubbys salted caramel cheesecake that a friend brought, and I did eat a few of these fabulous dark chocolate covered dried apricots that I brought along to satiate my sweet tooth. I caved on the cheesecake though. Darn.
FOOD
Breakfast: 2 HBE, pumpkin oatmeal and a cup of tea
Second breakfast: a whole grapefruit and a string cheese
Luncheon: I actually skipped lunch - my hubby and I got distracted - BAD berries! Don't skip meals!
"Dinner": Chili
Supper: more like sugar-fest!! I had four chocolate covered apricots and four small bites of cheesecake! Not too bad for halloween. The cake was delicious!
EXERCISE
I did 1/3 of a weight lifting routine, but then got distracted making breakfast for the Hubs. I guess something is better than nothing, but not much better :)
Thanks for reading all! Happy halloween!
No comments:
Post a Comment