Plenty to Lose

We've got a ghost page 30 on this topic now.

And, the really embarassing thing is that I had the broker on my speaker phone, so everyone in my office heard the news. They now call me Tubby. :(

:D
Good luck with the classes.... Tubs...

HA! :lol:

So what's with the ghost page thing? Just this thread? Haven't seen it before.

I have discovered, from another forum I am involved with, that when someone that is a member goes away and they have posted in a thread then you will get "ghost" entries from their posts. Not sure of the details, but that is what is happening.

Jim

It's just the post losing weight.

Nick has the gravitas to push it over to a REAL Page 30.

well .. . a new year and i've decided to jump on hte bandwagon . . .

I started eating a low-GI diet after the holidays. I've dropped 7lbs so far .. my goal is to get back down to 200 . . . got a long way to go from my starting weight of 264 . ..

Welcome to the loser's corner, Kingpatzer! :D

I don't know much about the low glycemic index diet, so maybe you can fill us in on the basics. Can you have whole grain carbs, such as whole grain bread or brown rice? I'm sure potatoes are out, but what about sweet potatoes?

Margaret

Hi Margaret, and all, broccolini is apparently a cross of broccoli and chinese kale, here's what they look like:

I get my kids to eat their veges by saying they won't be able to watch their favourite TV show if they don't eat them, works most of the time,
some kids are just very stubborn :)
One of my favourite soups for winter is leek and potato, very nice!

Thanks for that pic of the broccolini, Violet. Apparently it is not the same as the broccoflower. I'll be watching for it in the stores, though it'll probably take a while to show up in my little burg.

I'm also going to do some checking and see if I can find out if broccoflower, broccolini, and the like are just traditional hybrids, or if they are GMO's (genetically modified organisms). If they are the latter, I will likely avoid them.

I was about to give up soy when several soy products were giving me stomach trouble. Then I read that GMO corn products had been known to cause stomach upset. Since then, I started buying only soy products that are marked non-GMO, or at the very least, organically-produced, under the assumption that producers interested in organics are less likely to use artificialities such as genetic modification. I haven't had any trouble with soy since.

Margaret

Welcome to the loser's corner, Kingpatzer! :D

I don't know much about the low glycemic index diet, so maybe you can fill us in on the basics. Can you have whole grain carbs, such as whole grain bread or brown rice? I'm sure potatoes are out, but what about sweet potatoes?

Margaret

Here's the basics (you can get very detailed and get into things like glycemic load, which I'm not doing at the moment...)

You can look up the glycemic index value of any food with carbohydrates in it on a standard GI value chart (available on-line).

The values range from 0 to 100+.

Higher is badder :)

The general breakdown is that foods with a value of 55 and under are "low glycemic carbs," 56-65 are "moderate glycemic carbs" and over 66 are high glycemic carbs.

Plan on eating 3 meals and 2 snacks every day.

For each meal, you can have one serving of meat/protein (4 oz of meat, about the size of a deck of playing cards), + 1 or 2 serving of non-starchy carbs, preferably low glycemic, + 1 serving of starchy carbs.

You can have whole grain breads, pastas, cereals, etc.

Sweet potatoes are great, but regular white potatoes aren't, they're pretty high on the GI chart and are best avoided.

Pasta tends to be low or at worst moderate.

Rice is ok, but you have to be careful, several types of sticky white rice are pretty high.

I've made several whole-grain dishes and I find I really like them. I had a bulgar and swiss chard thing the other night that was fantastic!

KP, could you share some details on the bulgur and swiss chard dish?

One of my goals is to incorporate a wider variety of veggies, and that sounds like a winner. I fixed swiss chard a long time ago and liked it, but can't really remember what I did to it.

I also like tabouli, which is made with bulgur (I've used a box mix). I put diced fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, cilantro, etc. in it. Makes a great chilled summer side dish, or you can stuff it in a whole wheat pita with some lettuce for a meal.

Margaret

The glycemic index concept briefly got a lot of attention in the early '80s with regard to diabetic diets, but quickly faded out because it's pretty meaningless when you combine different foods that affect the rate of stomach emptying. It's only valid when you eat that food by itself under controlled conditions. The general concept of minimizing intake of rapidly absorbed sugars is useful.

The glycemic index concept briefly got a lot of attention in the early '80s with regard to diabetic diets, but quickly faded out because it's pretty meaningless when you combine different foods that affect the rate of stomach emptying. It's only valid when you eat that food by itself under controlled conditions. The general concept of minimizing intake of rapidly absorbed sugars is useful.

Well, yes and no.

You can't get an accurate GI rating for combined foods. But you can get a general idea.

And the GI is only part of the picture, you really have to be concerned about glycemic load (that is serving size is important too!)

However, GI value is a great way to easily id bad foods. But there are lots of variables, you're right.

For example, hot spices lower GI values, and no one knows why.
Cinnamon does too, and again no one knows why . . .

But, if you start out with all low GI foods, you're NOT going to end up with a high GI dish unless you seriously process the hell out of it . . . like put it in a blender with some digestive enzymes before you eat it processing . . .

O.K. ... that said, the Bulgur and Swiss Chard dish:

3 cups cooked #3 or #4 Bulgar
1 1/2 lbs of swiss chard
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 tsp salt
2-3 TBS Olive Oil
1-2 TBS Balsamic Syrup ( 1 cup balsamic vinegar reduced by boiling to 1/3 cup -- do this outside, it stinks!!!)
1/3 Cup Toasted Hazelnuts, coarsely chopped

Serves 6


How's everybody doing here? Sticking with your programs?

I haven't tried the chard recipe yet--the prospect of boiling down the balsamic vinegar outside has been a bit daunting with the daily high temps hovering around 0 degrees (F) and below. :twisted:

I want to try cooking beets from fresh, but the store wants $3.29 for a clump of four tiny little beets, and I just can't bring myself to pay that, yet anyway. :?

And I haven't found the broccolini to buy yet, so I continue on with my staples of broccoli, cauliflower, broccoflower and green beans for my cooked veggies, and romaine and various field greens for my salads.

Tried a new variety of "red flesh" sweet potato the other day. No butter or brown sugar needed! :D

And got a big yellow squash to dice up and saute in olive oil and garlic one of these evenings. Might throw in some fresh basil and diced tomatoes and put it over whole wheat pasta. Yum!

What's new on the health and fitness front with you guys?

Margaret

Hi Margaret, Sorry for not checking in for a while, so hot in the computer room lately, can't believe it's only a few weeks since I checked in seems more like 3 months with all the happenings on the homefront,
anyways keeping up the exercise and healthy foods. Scales don't seem to be shifting much, at least there not going up and up! Had a few long hikes. Just doing salads and such at the moment. Got some chocolates for St Valentines which am valiantly sharing around.

How are you doing with your last 7 or so pounds Margaret? I read somewhere you have to drop the calories down to 1,200 for women to shift the last bit of weight, guess you could do it just twice a week if you were happy to lose it slowly, it seems a bit stringent, on the other hand you could just increase the exercise time.

Cheerio til next time :)

It's ghost page time again.