to ensure you don’t find yourself at the supermarket checkout with a whole load of high-GL foods.
Get organized – decide which day you want to start the plan, and stick to it. Get everything you need for at least the first two to three days. If you can, get rid of high-GL foods like biscuits, sweets, white breads and cakes that may act as trigger foods for you to fall off track.
Take some measurements such as waist and hips as well as weight or BMI (body mass index – there is a BMI chart on our website) before you start and don’t measure again until the end of the seven days. Weight can fluctuate daily for lots of reasons so you won’t get a true picture of your success by jumping on the scales every day – and anyway, that’s what people stuck in a diet trap do and you are now breaking free from all that!
Although we have given some general guides for portions, don’t start weighing everything you eat! There’s no need. The guides are there just to give you an idea of a sensible portion. Maybe weigh a food once, and then you’ll recognize the right portion the next time. Do use the cupped hands portion guide (see page 191) – this is the only portion rule you’ll ever need!
Don’t get hung up about counting GL points either. Although we have given you the GL values of foods it’s just to give you a basic understanding. We are all for ‘Diet Freedom’ and making everything smooth and easy, which fits in perfectly with this way of eating. Counting points and weighing food is too much like dieting for us – and remember WE HATE DIETS!
? Get active. You will lose weight following the 7-day GL diet on its own, but this book is all about helping you towards a healthier lifestyle and that means moving about more (see page 18 for details). You will feel even better and get fantastic results if you increase your activity levels by even 30 minutes a day, along with following the eating plans.
So What Can You Expect from the 7-Day GL Diet?
A lot will depend on where you are starting from, what your diet is like right now, how much you weigh, how active you are, and of course how closely you follow the plans!
The one thing we can promise you is that you will lose weight following the 7-day GL plan. You can expect to lose between 2lb and 5lb in the first week, more if you’ve got a lot of weight to lose. Unlike other diets, the difference is that if you keep to a reasonably low-GL diet you’ll keep the weight off. If you just want to lose a few pounds then a week or two following the plan may be all you need. However, most people feel so well on the plans that they carry on just for the many health and emotional benefits (see research in Chapter 13).
For those of you who have more weight to lose it will take a little longer, but you will get there, just take it seven days at a time. Whatever your goals, we – and the many wonderful Diet Freedom Fighters – are here to help and support you. Check out our website to help keep you going.
You can use the plans for as long as you like. They are nutritionally balanced; there are no food groups you have to avoid; and above all you won’t be hungry. Once you have got the hang of things it becomes second nature, but to start with we really recommend you take it in seven-day steps, building on your success as each week passes.
When you reach your goal we’ve also given you lots more help to maintain it (see Chapter 4).
The Seven-day Plans
Each of the 7-day plans has a particular type of person in mind. However, because we are complicated souls, and our daily routines aren’t all the same, please remember you can jump into one plan today and another tomorrow. As long as you stick to a breakfast, lunch and evening meal plus two snacks from any of the plans you’ll be just fine.
The Seven-day Fast and Friendly Plan
This is for people who probably know there is a cooker in the kitchen somewhere but don’t have what you’d call a loving relationship with it. It’s all about fast, healthy and delicious food to help you lose weight and snacks you can munch on the run. We even give you tips for eating out and grabbing ready prepared food.
The throw-together evening meals take no more than 20 minutes from start to finish, but if there’s the odd night you do want to spend a bit longer cooking, no problem – just choose a recipe from the Foodie Friendly plan for keen cooks. Similarly, if you like to eat meat-free every now and then you can dip into the seven-day plan for vegetarians too.
What we wanted to give you was a fast, easy and convenient plan that fits in with your normal routine. This is Tina’s speciality area – she’s a great cook but far too busy to waste a minute more than she needs to in the kitchen.
Fast and GL-friendly is Tina’s mantra!
The Seven-day Veggie Friendly Plan
This pretty much does what it says! Vegetarians are so often forgotten about when it comes to weight-loss plans, but not here. We have a mixture of quick, tasty recipes and one or two that take a little more time. The most important thing is that they taste fantastic – no more ‘vegetarian lasagne’ every night for you. Our recipes use clever ingredients, imagination and lots of variety to keep you nutritionally balanced and happy with fabulously indulgent food that’s good for you and your waistline.
The Seven-day Foodie Friendly Plan
This is for the keen cooks amongst us. Deborah is a fantastically experimental cook who thinks nothing of starting preparation for a dinner party three days before anyone arrives – she’s our domestic GL goddess.
Although you might not have quite as much passion as Deborah for cooking, this plan was designed for people who enjoy winding down at the end of the day by taking a little time to prepare dinner. The recipes aren’t complicated but don’t rely on convenience and time-saving tips. While they are all delicious, don’t be fooled into thinking they must also be full of calories and luxury ingredients. We’ve kept a beady eye on our Deborah and have made sure these recipes will achieve the same weight-loss results as the other two plans.
Just in case you are wondering, I fall somewhere between Tina and Deborah when it comes to being bothered to cook – and would be the perfect example of someone who would mix and match from one plan to another throughout the week.
Activities!
OK, you know which plan you want to follow, or how you are going to combine the plans to suit your routine, so what else do you need? Ah yes, an activity plan. Don’t panic – this is going to be so easy but we do think it’s a really important part of your success.
If we asked whether you were prepared to find 30 minutes a day to get to your goals, what would you say? Just 30 minutes or 1800 seconds every day will do so much to move you towards your goals:
It will encourage your body to make new lean muscle tissue – that means your metabolic rate will speed up and you’ll burn more calories even when you are asleep.
It will exercise your heart muscle and improve your overall health and wellbeing.
