The GI Diet Blog and Forum

I’m ‘about to get serious’ about what I’m eating these days. I must be the case right? After all, I bought two more books on the subject so that must mean something right?

Indeed it kinda does actually because it’s the sort of holistic approach to eating and working out that I need. Turns out I’m not the only one out there who’s made the obvious connection between eating right and being environmentally conscious. But there was one thing that totally got my attention:

“In terms of energy consumption, serving a typical family-of-four steak dinner is the rough equivalent of driving around in an SUV for three hours while leaving all the lights on at home.” — from a book I’m currently reading that I hope to share on my blog over the summer.

With reading this new book comes the decision that I’m going to personalize this blog even more by including my food ‘plans’… I hope this will be lead into creating actual food plans that other can use.

In the interest of keeping my food bill down, I’m always looking for alternatives. Thankfully with a more than a healthy enjoyment of variety, I like looking for different foods to switch things up a bit. And that’s where Ricotta comes in. I’ve already written plenty about my love for spinach, and we also know that ricotta is a traditional italian favorite cheese with spinach in many pasta recipes. While I have sung the praises of yocheese, ricotta comes in at a very close 2nd place if you’re interested in still keeping cheese in your life while watching your fat intake. Consider this. Feta cheese, already a low fat substitute to many types like mozza, or cheddar, or an assortment of other cheeses; feta cheese still has 22% milk fat. Ricotta? try 10%. As for carbs, I worry less about the carb intake from ricotta considering par serving there’s 3 grams of carbs and SIX grams of protein. Ricotta is now part of my dairy line up that I can enjoy:

yocheese
cottage cheese
ricotta

- I haven’t looked up whether any of these cheeses are listed as “green light” foods, but they’re definitely not red light. Combined with spinach and egg whites this morning, my protein intake was substantial, and very tasty in a whole wheat wrap!

Below is an excellent article that mentions the health benefits of soy. It specifically states that soy is a lower glycemic index food. That’s why I love my Soy milk folks.

Enjoy the read folks. I love finding news articles that promotes the glycemic index. Can you feel the buzz? I sure can!

Soy provides many health benefits

Incidentally? This was a hard fought battle eventually won by my wife. I spent about a year after I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes dismissing soy, hating soy, refusing soy. The truth of the matter is: try out the products out there. Some will taste good to you and some won’t. Like with soy milk for example, I’m a loyal product user there unlike regular milk. But once I discovered the brand I use exclusively, I can tell you that the switch from regular milk to soy milk was an easier change from 2% to skim milk when I used to drink skim.

Originally posted 2007-03-24 00:10:06. Republished by Old Post Promoter

I don’t really have a nice title for this recipe. Although the title itself is inspired by my buddy who made breakfast for me one day and had this to say about his home fries: it’s just a conduit for the hot sauce. Indeed! I use this sauce for meats and omelettes. This is not at all for those who are not fan of the hot! You’ve been warned. I’m including this recipe because it’s the first time I asked for a home made recipe for hot sauce and I want to get into prepping things from scratch.

16 scotch bonnets (habanera peppers)
2 red onions, chopped
8 green onions, chopped
8 garlic cloves
2 inch ginger, chopped
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary

2 cups tamari
1 cup balsamic vinegar
4 stalks of lemongrass
1 cup dijon mustard
2 teasp curry
2 teasp cayene
2 teasp crushed peppers
1 teasp oregano
1 teasp cinnamon
1 teasp ground cumin

puree first 7 ingredients in a blender/food processor.
put pureed stuff in a pan with the tamari. cook over low until dark brown, about 5 mins.
add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for about 30 mins.
remove from heat, cool, and jar.

this will make approx 6 small pints.

have fun!!!!

p.s. don’t forget to wear latex gloves when working with scotch bonnets. SUPER hot.

I’m not presenting any sort of medical fact, because it appears as though I have a near blind eye to this phenomena. That is until there was a berry explosion on the internet. But seriously folks, are we surprised?

I’ve been dabbling in Internet Marketing since 1998 so I know the drill, I see the trends even if I don’t want to, and once again we have another trend of yet another supplement that’s being advertised obsessively on the internet. I know that Oprah has something to do with it, and Dr. Oz not doubt (which is a shame because I think he gives decent advice).

I get extremely angry when I feel that people are being scammed due to the marketing of these weight loss products. I get more angry at other people than I do at my own self for getting suckered in. Remember Hoodia? Yep, I can say I’ve purchased a bottle of something called “smart burn”. I had maybe 3 pills of it and never really returned.

There’s a great article that discusses the acai berry scam so I’ll save myself the trouble of writing about it when this article pretty much says it all but I want to add my own two cents about supplements and practicing a low glycemic index lifestyle. I firmly believe that *on average*, those of us who have a well rounded diet with adequate PROTEIN, FAT, and CARBOHYDRATES, need not worry about all of these supplements. Those are the 3 main things to focus on as far as I’m concerned, along with Fibre, sodium content and vitamins.

Remember that the scam (as the article I point to states) is mostly in the COST of these supplements. Some of them are priced as much as 20,30,or $40 per month; if not more. At $40, I can get myself 40 cans of tuna (more when they’re on sale), or a decent sized beef or pork roast. In an era where most of us are realizing we need to watch our pennies, I caution anyone who wants to part with their money for supplements, let alone questionable products that are most likely fillers.

I’m warning you readers, as someone who does get suckered into this from time to time. I’m not proud of that at all, which explains why I’m maintaining this blog more often these days.

The supplement game in my humble opinion is kinda like an off shoot of what we’ve come to expect from the diet industry. I’m talking about the *industry*, not the methods of weight loss, because while I’ve personally chosen GI (since it works for me), I believe others will have successes if they’re strict atkins, or strict vegetarians or weight watcher fans. Any of those in particular, the average advice is: take a multivitamin.

This article is serving me a reminder to not get suckered into these scams. Oh and before I sign off, I want to mention something else about how some sites market this stuff. Unlike the
acai berry scam article I’ve mentioned, some sites will talk about the Acai Berry ’scam’ and then they mention some supplements have fillers but if you check out THEIR suggested Acai product, you can be assured you’re getting the real deal. Don’t be fooled by this marketing tactic! The same goes for some sites who do ‘reviews’. Finally the next time a new product like this starts to increase in popularity, go to your favorite Google search and type the word ’scam’ beside the name of the basic product: ie: ‘acai berry scam’ or ‘hoodia scam’. I use the Google search in a tool bar and sometimes see suggested keywords. Tonight as I typed in ‘acai berry’ in the top 10 suggested keywords I saw ’side effects’ and ’scam’ come up. Do your research. It will be time well spent.

Meanwhile, I’d love to hear from any readers on this subject, such as what they’ve heard or experienced as well as what sort of supplements they’ve tried. I’m not against supplements per se. I’m just personally very protective of my wallet during this recession.

photo credit: Muneeb2Good

Esparregado is one of those recipes that might actually get you and your family eating spinach without fussing over the fact you’re eating something healthy. I’ve been searching for a recipe to this online either in English or Portuguese and am a little disappointed. So much so I wanted to scream to the monitor and say “don’t put MILK in it you’ll ruin it!!”. But each their own I guess, for even in Portuguese cuisine there are many variations. I can tell you however, like many recipes out there that call for extra fat or extra cream, at times they are unnecessary in making a successful dish. A perfect example is my recipe for faux mashed cauliflower that I wrote almost 2 years ago. My father’s method of thickening this dish involves making a rue with the spinach juice that’s collected as the spinach is being cooked. Flour is the only thickening agent you need. Not milk.

Traditionally, this side dish is usually served with a Portuguese style steak and home made fries. Tonight dad served this with a garden salad, tomato rice (left overs), asparagus, and medallions of lamb cooked with Port wine. I’ve heard of people mix esparregado with their rice making it more like florentine rice which is awesome but this is so good on its own I don’t even bother with that.

With that said, here’s the recipe.

Esparregado

Ingredients:

2 spinach bunches or 1 package of frozen spinach (cooked). If you’re trying out this recipe for the first time, go with the chopped frozen spinach so you have an idea of how much to make for 3-4 people. if you insist on using fresh (any kind, baby or regular spinach), the amount fresh chopped spinach equal to a 8 inch pan full of cooked spinach.
6 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped or sliced
1 tbsp flour
salt and pepper
2-3 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice

Method

1. In a 8-9 inch frying pan, at medium heat, defrost/heat up frozen spinach or cook down fresh. As it cooks, drain liquid into a measuring cup until about 1/2 – 2/3rd of a cup. This liquid will be green in colour. Set aside for the rue.

2. push aside spinach in the pan and add the olive oil and garlic. Fry garlic in olive oil for about 1-2 minutes, then combine with the spinach, mixing the garlic and oil well into the spinach. Add vinegar and mix. Continue to cook for 1-2 minutes

3. Meanwhile, prepare the rue by adding 1 tbsp of flour to the green liquid set aside. Using a fork, whisk flour until well combined with liquid. Add to the spinach, olive oil, and garlic mixture. Cook until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste.

My fish consumption has practically quadrupled since I first arrive in Toronto for my visit with my family. This is no surprise to me of course as I am blessed with having people in my life who truly know how to cook seafood and cook it well. I know of least two trained chefs within my past and present extended family, and while I have been served great dishes by both, there really is nothing better than home.

Is it nostalgia for me? Or the style? It’s a bit of both but importantly, Portuguese cuisine is quiet different to most culture particularly where fish is concerned. The only other group of people that likely have as close (or closer) to a tradition with fish as us, it would probably be the Japanese. Between these two cultures, fish is consumed most in almost an unaltered state. Typically I am served boiled white fish that’s been fully cooked with no spices (other than salted while thawing in the fridge). Once on our plates, it’s up to us what we add. Portuguese tradition is drizzled olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.

Although this dish is different from basic cooked fish as described above, I mention this because not many people are experienced of willing to buy a full fish, as opposed to already sliced, cleaned and filleted. This recipe calls for the use of a full Red Snapper. If for whatever reason, you can not handle the fish head, I suppose you can also ask your local fish vender to do something about that. Finally, while I’ve titled this “Roasted Red Snapper” , this baked fish stew is a great recipe for any white fish such as Perch.

Piexe assada no forno / Roasted Red Snapper

Ingredients:

1 large Red Snapper (or 2 small – medium)
Sea salt
1/2 of a large white onion
1 large potato per person (for G.I. dieters, always use red skinned potatos)
1 Jalapeno (this should be to taste, but I think this recipe would call for 1 whole medium sized pepper)
1 bell pepper sliced (green, red, yellow, or a bit of all three if you wish)
2-3 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
3 large blanched* tomatoes quartered
3-4 tablespoons olive oil (for drizzling)
1 cup of white wine

Method:
**pre-heat oven to 375 degrees**

1. Clean snapper with fresh cold running water. Pat dry. sprinkle sea salt liberally on both sides of the fish. Place in the centre of a shallow roasting pan.

*Meanwhile, have boiling water in a pot on the stove ready to blanche the tomatoes. This process helps make the skin easier to separate from the rest as the tomato roasts. place in boiling water for 1 minute. Remove and quarter the tomatoes.

2. In layers add to the pan surrounding the snapper: sliced onion, sliced bell peppers, sliced (or loosely cut) potatoes.

3. sprinkle all over: chopped jalapeno, chopped garlic. Add bay leaf.

4. over the entire pan, drizzle the olive oil evenly so that all vegetables are slightly coated. Pour white wine evenly.

5. Place on medium rack in oven for 1 hour. When you can prick a potato easily with a fork, your meal is cooked so I would suggest checking after about 45 minutes.

The picture below was taken after 45 minutes.

So, I’m on the sure for possible plug-ins for this blog to help track my fitness goals.

I’m hoping adding more tools could help others as well as others who are using a low g.i. diet for weight loss. I’m not sure how effective or even how important it is for my to worry about BMI for example. Given I’m still morbidly obese, I’m not in the stage where I’m ‘fine tuning’. But a BMI calculator has been added, and I hope to find more plug-ins for this blog, such as a calorie counter or with any luck, a pedometer.

Fitness is an essential key to living a low g.i. lifestyle. What is the point of having one and not the other? After all, I became proactive about my health after years of mobility issues. Diabetes wasn’t ‘the’ reason for starting this. It was merely the catalyst.

Meanwhile, I’m becoming more curious about vitamin supplements specifically Vitamin B12 and have yet to really explore this as an addition to my regime. It is noteworthy for me however that since I’ve been home visiting my father, I have access to more home made meals, most on a the lower end of g.i., lots of fish, and lots and lots of water (it’s notably drier in Toronto compared to the West Coast). Since then, I’ve gone on three significant walks, with a goal of approximately 10,000 steps per day. I’m not sure where that figure came from, but I’m far from reaching that goal. One thing is clear to me however: the more I work on eating less crap and eating more low g.i. type foods, the more motivated I am to walk, which keeps me motivated to eat better. It would be great if I can continue this ‘vicious’ cycle. So look for more pages set up here in the future discussing supplements and excise in the next few months on this blog.

So the other day someone searched and reached my blog with the phrase “G.I. Diet making me hungry.” Well? I can certainly understand that sentiment. I’ve thought about this for a while, and understand this feeling quite well. When I was really actively losing weight, I was exercising and following a low gi diet to near atkins level with some meals. The atkins meals that I tolerated within the limit of GI diet usually encompassed a lot of salad. So, taco salad for example was a great meal for me. With or without the tortilla chips. I went without last time, and unless I do multigrain, I plan on making taco salads a lot this summer as I work out.

What was great about the taco salad was the mouth feel of the meat. It dawned on me then how power fat and carbs really are… at least for me, and I’m sure for many others. Think about it, what makes everything that’s ‘bad’ for us taste so good? Answer: the mouth feel. the mouth feel of fat and sugar combined, or greasy fries or any number of food. When we had fish a few nights ago, I found myself grabbing a bit of higher fat cheese as a mini snack. The fish was light, and I wanted something more “filling”.

I’m not really sure I have any sound advice on how to combat the cravings. I think this is a matter of personal choice and comfort. What I try to do is figure out what I’m craving and finding a low gi alternative when possible.

Some examples:

Craving a milkshake? Try lower carb protein/soy/whey powder with soy milk or 1-2%. want to sweeten it up even more? My ‘trick’ are berries. They’re full of fibre and frankly, they taste better than splenda or sugar any day.

Sweets in general? I don’t buy at much at home as I’d like, but fresh fruit is almost always the answer for me.

Cheese? I posted about yocheese the other day. It’s been a great addition for me.

What about crunchy things? Chips is still a bit of a downfall for me personally. On my flight here I ordered a snack box and was pleasantly re-introduced to Melba toast. Now.. the only thing that’s stopping me from purchasing that is the fact that it’s as ‘tricky’ a thing to have in the house as bread.

Hopefully some of these ideas will work for you.

I’m sure there are other ideas out there. Please feel free to comment on what works for you.

Foods that will help you lose weight

Once in a while we get to hear those sound bytes in the news don’t we? Watching the night time news with my father tonight was a pure example of that, as they made a preliminary comment that eating fat could help people who suffer from obesity to lose weight. It’s beginning to be like a merry go round. So much so, I often wonder what is *my* personal message in this sea of stupidity. Are we so distracted in our lives that our health tips are garnered from casual nighttime tv viewing?

One of the things that was mildly amusing was my father agreeing with me 110% on the matter. He could have framed it in his head that his obese offspring was making excuses or something but luckily the success of the past keeps me present, and relevant and … how shall I put it bluntly: I’m an authority on weight loss. Sure, I’ve gained some/lost some. it’s the same 20 lbs I gain/lose/gain/lose in the last 5 years. But a FIVE YEAR maintenance is something to be proud of (can I do another 5 years and another 100 lbs? only time will tell).

Anyway, another “sound byte” showed up by way of the ‘Today’ page when loading up my msn messenger service. “Foods that will help you lose weight”.

The list is simple:

1. Cucumbers
2. Grapefruit
3. Lentils
4. Oats
5. Foods with shells
6. Apples
7. Eggs

The rest of the list in another article included vegetable soups, almonds and dark chocolate.

Are you noticing a pattern here? If you’re a GI dieter, you should. *EVERYTHING*on this list is either a ‘green light’ food or can be incorporated into a low gi diet. Oats I tend to avoid especially when I struggle with carbs in general. Even so, I have to smile that the majority of this list ends up on my grocery list or is collected in the pantry.

I see the Glycemic Index be part of almost every ’sensible’ diet regimen I’m aware of: Weight Watcher’s Momentum program, or Core (with a heavier focus on lower fat and fibre – all things that GI diets look out for), Atkins (though by way of being high fat, Atkins is *not* GI, but the low carb culture and a diet that can be rich in veggies can be a close cousin), and then the most obvious of mainstream commercial diet programs that incorporate the GI almost exclusively is without question the South Beach diet.

In other words: everything in moderation, a repetitive personal philosophy of my libra born father.

One final thought on this: it still bothers me how the media will film fat people walking whenever they touch on the obesity / losing weight topic in their news program. They will film fat people without their heads or faces, to make it more “anonymous”. It just dawned on me… hey wait a minute.. they’re showing fat people WALKING. It’s a makes a great visual emphasis as the anchorman says the words “obese” or “fat” while we watch these poor fat souls.

Is it a shaming? I mean, am I the only one that is seeing the contradictory message here?

Maybe I’m just too sensitive, but I know I’m not the only fat person out there that’s affected by this style of reporting. Half my demon battles have to do with getting out there in the first place to exercise and not feel like a complete fat fool. In fact, I have a public confession to make on that score: I feel that I am selectively agoraphobic due in part because of this media assault… all in the name of keeping us ‘informed’.

Just now, on a whim, I started to type in my google search box “headless” I wanted to type in “headless fat people”. To give you an idea of how pervasive this topic is… the Google *suggested* keyword phrase that came up after I typed “headless” was “headless fatties”

I hate to say it but I think my paranoia, and opinion on this matter is *spot on*.