The G.I. Diet Cookbook Review

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(More customer reviews)This diet has really worked for me and I want to add some of my observations. There are some pretty comprehensive reviews on here already so I will not summarize anything from the book to minimize repetition.
Stats on me:
I started in May of 05 and lost 5 pounds a week for the first four weeks. I only lost so much because I was well over 200lb (as a 5'5'' female). After that it was more gradual with plateaus and minor ups and downs. I have gone periods were I was only following it 50% faithfully and did not gain the weight back. I am moderately active: gym two to three times a week (usually for an hour water aerobics class) and I do not have a car so I walk everywhere.
Diet Pro's:
- Its Healthy. No doctor would be concerned if his/her patient ate veggies and balanced whole grains and lean proteins. Worst-case scenario: you try it and don't loose weight, but you will not have hurt your metabolism or raised your cholesterol in doing so.
- Its Not a Gimmick. This is not based on "eat all the bacon and cheese you want" or some other counter-intuitive nonsense. Its principals are in line with what is known and widely accepted in medical science.
- Cuts Cravings and is designed to keep your belly full. With three meals and three snacks a day of slowly digested food I am not hungry. Additionally, keeping my blood sugar stable stopped the need to binge eat.
- Not dogmatic. Ever read a diet book where you feel like the author is practically trying to convert you to a religion? Gallop certainly believes in this diet and he makes no mention that it might not work for every person (see con below), however he spends most of his time laying out simple science and practical guidelines. He even says your goal should be to follow it 90% of the time. If you have a cookie, big deal, the worst thing that can happen is it will take slightly longer to lose some weight.Diet Con's:
- Unfortunately, as with all diets, this will work great for some people and not for others. Its more likely to work for you if you:
o Tend to carry your fat in the belly. i.e. "apple," "barrel," or "cone" shaped for women, or a guy with a "beer belly"
o Have major cravings for carbs - perhaps even binge eat on things like pastries, candy, pasta and bread.
o Have been diagnosed with insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, or even type II diabetes
-The recipes can be bland - more from the author not being a chef, not the principals of the diet, so if you are a practiced cook you can make alterations for flavor and texture that stay true to the diet. The book encourages you to go the author's website where there are recipes submitted by readers available for free and they are quite good.
-You will have to cook. I have been on this diet for over two years and like to cook, so its been great for me. This book in the series is by far my favorite.
***UPDATE June 2008***
Make that 90+ pounds lost in three years. I still cook most of my food from the recipes found in Gallop's books. They have passed the picky boyfriend test, potluck test and the I can stick to this for the rest of my life test. Some points:
-During this time I have gone months and months with no weight loss but I was only *mostly* following the diet. I think I needed these breaks.
-I work out intensely for 60 minutes 4 days a week now.


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Lose weight while enjoying fabulous food with this newest addition to the internationally bestselling G.I. Diet series, featuring 200 recipes. Fans of the G.I. Diet always say that it shouldn't be called a diet but simply a different way of eating. With the G.I. Diet, you never go hungry as you eat three square meals plus three snacks a day – and yet the pounds steadily fall off. And because no food groups are eliminated – not even desserts – you'll never feel deprived. Now The G.I. Diet Cookbook offers a plethora of tempting recipes to add to your G.I. repertoire. With two hundred nutritious, low-G.I. recipes for breakfasts, lunches, snacks, appetizers, dinners and desserts, you'll lose weight effortlessly as you indulge in delicious food. There are simple-to-prepare dishes for weekday meals, simmers and roasts for leisurely weekends, and elegant fare for entertaining friends. Through the week, enjoy Crunchy Granola for breakfast, Creamy Seafood Chowder for lunch, a slice of Strawberry Tea Bread for a snack, Spinach-Stuffed Chicken Breasts for dinner and Chocolate Pudding for dessert. Throwing a dinner party? Serve appetizers of Spinach Bites and Baba Ghanoush with Basmati Rice Crackers, a first course of Mushroom Soup with Roasted Garlic and Ginger, a main of Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Balsamic Glaze and Gingered Peach Salsa and a luscious dessert of Chocolate Cake with Ganache Icing. The G.I. Diet Cookbook will introduce you to a whole new world of sumptuous, healthy eating and a slim new you.

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The G.I. Diet: The Easy, Healthy Way to Permanent Weight Loss Review

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(More customer reviews)(See update at the end of the review)
First, I just have to say thank you to all of those who wrote reviews before me. It was reading through all your comments and that helped me decide to give one more diet a try.
(I got both books, The GI Diet and Living the GI Diet, which has a lot more recipies in it, and some of the ones I mention here are from that edition) Now, regarding the books and the diet: The books are set up in such a way that they are extremely easy to follow. I love the red, yellow, and green light idea for the various foods listed. The only part that is a little confusing at first is the portion size, but once you get used to not having to measure everything you eat, it is great! This book lists portions as how much of the plate it fills: 1/4 for meat, 1/4 for pasta, rice etc, and 1/2 for fruits and veggies. Now how much easier can that be? Sure, there are some things that you have to be more precise with, but not that many. The recipe sections are set up by categories that are very easy to follow. So far I have tried only a few of the recipes. I work very late hours, so there isn't time for serious cooking on work nights. Mom and I do meat and veggie meals, or a little wheat pasta with veggies and cottage cheese usually on those nights. But on my three days off we cook. Most recipes make enough servings that we can have leftovers the next day, or freeze the extra for meals when you need something quick. The recipes we have tried so far are fantastic! They don't even taste like you are on a diet. Three of our favorites are the Lazy Cabbage Rolls, Hunter Chicken, and Meat lasagna. Makes your mouth water just remembering how good it all was.
So, how is it working, you might wonder? Mom and I have been on the diet for three weeks. So far Mom has lost 8 pounds and I have lost 10. We have both lost over 2 inches from our waist measurements. Sure, we are just beginning, and most people can stick to a diet for that long, but honestly,this is the easiest diet I have ever done, and by far the most effective. I don't feel deprived of anything (with the exception of a nice big Hershey bar ), but I am learning that I don't need one. My energy level is higher and doesn't flucuate through the day like it did before when I had sudden peaks and dips in my blood sugar. Now, it stays level all day, and I don't feel like I am going to fall asleep at my computer at work.
Anyone who is considering starting a new diet should consider this one. You'll be glad you did!(Update) I've been on the diet now since February 1, 2005, and I have lost just under 50 pounds. I admit I wasn't as strict with it over the summer since it gets too hot in our house to do much baking or cooking of things that take very long to prepare, but I didn't gain back a pound over those three months that I was a little lax. We just ate simpler meals, stuck strictly to the whole grain and no sugar rules and I maintained my loss through those hot months. Now that it is moving into cooler weather again, I am anxious to get back in the swing of things. Oh, by the way. I have gone from a size 28 to a size 22. My goal is to reach a size 16, which is small enough for me since I am nearly six feet tall. My mother has gone from a size 22 to a size 16 and is aiming for a size 12. She's maintained her loss through the summer and even managed to drop 3-4 pounds during those hot months. This really is the easiest, and the best, diet I have ever tried and it has become a lifestyle change that I know I can stay with even once I reach my goals.


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Living the G.I. (Glycemic Index) Diet Review

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(More customer reviews)I wanted to lose weight so badly that I was prepared to do anything to achieve it, except give up my favourite foods! Then I heard about the GI Diet and ordered the book right away. I found this book very easy to read while being packed with valuable nutritional information. I have never found a healthier more sensible and balanced diet anywhere! This is not just another diet but is really a new way of eating. Most diets fail because you feel deprived or you get tired of weighing or measuring or counting (grams or calories or points...)or you just know they are not healthy. The GI Diet has already made all the calculations for you. All foods are divided into three categories: Red Light, Yellow Light and Green Light (just like the traffic lights). Just eat what is on the Green Light List! (In most cases, as much as you want) The Glycemic Index measures the speed at which you digest food and convert it to glucose. Eating low GI foods causes foods to be digested slowly, leaving you feeling fuller, longer, not causing spikes in your blood sugar levels or causing your pancreas to secrete large amounts of insulin. On this diet, you do best if you eat 3 meals and 3 snacks a day.
All the recipes included in the book, that I have tried, have been excellent! The Baked Chocolate Mousse, the rice pudding, and the granola bars alone, got me through the first few weeks. I especially like this diet because I have lost 50 pounds ( and my husband has lost 57) and because it promotes Good Health, not just weight loss.
I've lost weight on other diets before, but always regained the weight because I never really understood 'Maintenance'. This time I get it!
I finally understand how good food promotes health while preventing disease, while a poor diet, with lots of white flour, white sugar and processed foods, puts your health at risk. The biggest bonus of being on the GI Diet, is that after a few weeks, my cravings stopped! It was like breaking an addiction! (Chocolate was my drug of choice) Now my body only gets the best fuel, and my high blood pressure and cholesterol scores all fell into place!
If you are really ready to lose weight, if you want to get control of your eating habits, this is the best, easiest, healthiest way to do it.

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The easiest diet going is now even easier--and tastier. Off to an explosive start, The G.I. Diet quickly landed on New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists, and required five quick printings (for a total of 190,000 copies) to keep pace with demand after national publicity discovered the "Canadian miracle diet" (Woman's World). Now, continuing to build on the nutritional wisdom of the glycemic index, Rick Gallop follows up with the essential companion--a cookbook and strategy guide for living the G.I. Diet.Organized around the simple, intuitive principle of green-, yellow-, and red-light foods--if you can follow a traffic light, you can follow this diet--Living the G.I. Diet gets right into the kitchen with 135 dishes that are as easy to prepare as they are unrecognizable as diet food. Grilled Pesto Salmon with Asparagus. Beef and Eggplant Chili. Garlic Shrimp Pasta. Thai Chicken Curry. Pork Tenderloin with Grainy Mustard and Chive Crust. Cinnamon French Toast. Florentine Frittata. And desserts: Baked Chocolate Mousse, Basmati Rice Pudding, Pecan Brownies--that's right, brownies.In addition, the book spells out how to lose weight (Phase I) and maintain weight loss (Phase II); how to make G.I. eating a family affair; navigating holidays, restaurants, vacation eating; and exploring the psychological and emotional aspects of food and food cravings--everything you need to stay on this proven track.

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