The first step to creating a healthy lifestyle is to choose foods that do not spike your blood sugar. By doing so, you will release fat from your body and improve your overall health. Even better, you will experience sustained energy throughout the day!
There are some challenges in transitioning to a low-glycemic diet, but overall it is surprisingly easy. You won’t have to weigh your food, count calories, or get on the scale. On this plan, you get to eat three low-glycemic meals daily, along with one or two low-glycemic snacks…so you should never go hungry!
The key is to choose good carbohydrates, good proteins, and good fats…and to combine them together in the right proportions in every meal and snack.
Rather than focusing on what you need to eliminate from your diet, let’s take a look at the delicious foods you get to choose from.
- 5-8 servings of vegetables (excluding starchy veggies like potatoes)
- 4-6 servings of fruit
- 3-5 servings of nuts, eggs, legumes, olive oil, fish, beans, and flaxseed
- 1-2 servings of skinless chicken or turkey, with an occasional serving of lean red meat
- Occasional whole grain bread, cereal, pasta or rice
About 40-50% of your calories should come from good carbs (veggies, fruit, and the occasional whole grain). You will choose 30% from the good fats, and 20-30% from protein. That’s it!
One way to simplify your food choices is to buy one of the many guides to low-glycemic eating. Dr. Strand has a great cookbook for sale on his website, Low GI Meals in Minutes, that takes all the guesswork out of shopping and cooking for your healthy eating plan. You can sample some of their recipes and get answers to frequently asked questions on their website.
I know, you are probably thinking, “This sounds too easy. What’s the catch?”
Well, let me tell you. If you have been eating the typical American diet, chances are you are addicted to carbs. I’m not going to kid you, giving up the bread, pasta, cereal and sugary treats may not be easy.
Fortunately, Dr. Strand and USANA Health Sciences have come up with a program that will make the transition easier by “resetting” your metabolism. We will tell you all about it on the next page.
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