Friday, June 1, 2007

‘The low GI lifestyle works. My weight dropped 35 kilos over 18 months.’ – Lisa
‘I turned 42 last week and have been living with diabetes since my first pregnancy when I was 23. I was also diagnosed with gestational diabetes at the onset of my second pregnancy 7 months later (yes I know, nice and close). I largely ignored all the advice from the health sector for the first 7 years after diagnosis, swallowing the prescribed pills and conducting blood testing when I remembered. I made the odd trip to the specialist who was always at pains to tell me how non-compliant I was along with all the dire warnings about heart disease, blindness, amputation etc. By the time I was 30, I was extremely overweight with out of control BGLs and generally disgusted with myself. Around this time I discovered a new GP who really put himself out to try to get me on the straight and narrow. He gave me a copy of The New Glucose Revolution and I have been religiously following the concept ever since. My weight dropped 35 kg over 18 months and has stayed off to this day, my BGLs average around 5 mmol and I still have my eyes, feet and very luckily for me, no obvious complications from my years of self neglect. The low GI lifestyle works and it was so easy to make the changes to my every day foods with such amazing results.’

[SCALES]

‘We are finding more energy to do more activities as a family. I believe this is due to a conscious decision to eat better carbohydrates with a lower GI.’ – Michael
‘In the 1990s I was extremely fit, competing in triathlons of all distances including Ironman. However, since 2000, a back injury and work commitments led to a fairly sedentary lifestyle where I put on 15 kg. The back would not heal and finally a chiro advised me to start back exercising. By exercising at least once daily I was able to cure my back injury by strengthening my abdominals. Recently I discovered low GI foods and their assistance with weight loss and in sustaining energy allowing longer sessions without flat – last weekend I completed a 3-hour run without any after effects, my longest run in 7 years.

I used to eat only white bread and jasmine rice etc. I have now changed to wholegrain bread, Doongara and basmati rice. I am now learning that these foods actually taste better when creatively used. Some of the recipes found on http://ginews.blogspot.com have really helped bring back the flavour to foods and also assist with a steady flow of energy rather than the quick hit and drop off of the type of carbohydrates I was used to consuming.

My whole family is benefiting from this. We all eat the same meals and no one complains about my cooking or my wife’s. My wife who has always been fairly sedentary is now running and doing triathlons as are 2 of my daughters, aged 7 and 11 (at 20 months the youngest is still a bit young). My wife has also lost approx 8 kg and working towards her pre-children weight. We are finding more energy to do more activities as a family. I believe this is due to a conscious decision to eat better carbohydrates with a lower GI. I still am amazed about the differences in GI content in not only the individual raw ingredients but also amongst different brands etc.

Recently I completed a 25 km 2 day hike with my 2 daughters (7 and 11 years old). Without the use of low GI foods I don’t believe it would have been as easy. We are finding every week that we are benefiting from making a conscious choice of low GI foods.

Websites such as www.glycemicindex.com have proved invaluable as a resource to assist us in our quest for a better form of carbohydrate as we know that they are not the evil foods portrayed in the late 90\'s but rather an essential part of an active lifestyle.’

‘I lost 10 pounds within 3 months and feel great!’ – Jamie
‘At the age of 31 I had my first child. After a 3 month maternity leave I returned to work thinner than before pregnancy. My weight gain began after I weened my daughter 6 months later. I was used to eating more food. When my daughter turned one, I knew I needed to make some changes. I weighed 17 pounds more than before pregnancy! I learned of the Glycemic Index eating plan. Our family now consumes very little processed carbohydrate. I lost 10 pounds within 3 months and feel great! Now I plan to add in more exercise and lose those last 7 pounds.’