The 7-Day GL Diet: Glycaemic Loading for Easy Weight Loss. Nigel Denby
filled the fridge with diet food
I just played it by ear
I cancelled my social life
Other ________
What did you dislike about the diet?
The food was boring
I was hungry and just thought about food all day
The diet was really confusing so I had to guess what to eat a lot of the time
It would have been fine if I was home all day, but eating out was a nightmare
I ended up cooking different meals for the rest of the family
Other ________
What did you like about the diet?
I got results
It was really simple
I knew exactly what to eat and when
I was dieting with a friend and we kept each other going
My friends and family were really supportive
I had a clear goal to work towards
Other ________
What about eating out?
I’d starve all day so I could enjoy going out for dinner I didn’t eat out
Once I started eating out it was the slippery slope
I just ordered salads
Lunchtimes were the hardest; all I could get was a sandwich or fast food
Other ______
Why did things start to go wrong?
I got really stressed and gave in to comfort eating
My weight loss slowed down and I got fed up
The effort just got too much for me
I had a lapse and just couldn’t get back on track
Friends and family were trying to be helpful, but they were driving me mad going on about my diet
Other ______
How did you feel when you realized you’d stopped dieting?
Relieved
Guilty
Angry and upset
It was inevitable
Hopeless
Other ______
OK, now you’ve got your answers in front of you, let’s start to unravel them. Those answers are actually the most powerful tool you can use to help you break free from your diet trap. They are the roots of your diet behaviour and they open the door to breaking those behaviours and helping you start walking towards your own personal ‘diet freedom’. Remember the phrase we used earlier?
‘If you do what you always do, you’ll get what you always got!’
This is your chance to change this around to:
‘If you change what you always do, you can get what you always wanted.’
What Sort of GL Diet is Right for You?
The 7-day GL diet is designed to be very flexible. We’ve got plans for busy people who hate cooking, for vegetarians and for keen cooks. You just opt in and out of whichever plan suits you on each day; or if you know you’re pretty consistent in your approach to food then pick a plan and follow it to the letter. We’ve always known that there is no universal diet which will suit everybody, but the science behind GL tells us that the principles of the diet can suit everyone. So we’ve taken those principles and made them work for everyone in a flexible format. If a friend has recommended the GL diet, you may need to approach it in a different way to them.
Our GL diet doesn’t have a restrictive ‘start-up’ phase that leaves you feeling hungry, deprived and miserable. These plans have been designed to guarantee results. They are nutritionally balanced, so once you start you can just keep on going. We’ve also thought about eating on the run, and have given you comprehensive shopping and eating-out guides so you’ve got everything you need to make the GL choice a lifestyle in just seven days.
Planning for the 7-day GL Diet
Planning is vital. Think about the 4Ps:
Perfect
Planning
Produces
Permanent weight loss
You are about to change the way you eat, something you have done every single day of your life. If you just jump in without giving it a thought, isn’t it likely you are going to make a mistake or forget something? Of course it is – one of the biggest causes of diet failure is that people don’t plan enough.
By planning, we don’t mean it needs to be a military exercise, but there are some basic requirements. You need to know what you are going to eat, the ingredients you require, and what you are going to do about food when you are away from home. The layout of the eating plans, recipes, shopping guides and food lists makes food planning as easy as possible. However, like any other tool, these are only helpful if you use them properly.
This is how we suggest you plan for your first week:
Take a quiet half hour or so the week before you want to start.
Sit down with the book and look at the eating plans.
Consult your diary and see what the week looks like. Will you be eating at home every night? Can you take your lunch with you to work? What about snacks? Do you need to remind yourself to take snacks out with you so you don’t get caught out when you’re on the hoof?
Choose a selection of meals and snacks from the plans which will fit in with your schedule, then look at the recipes and see what you’ll need.
Write a list of everything you need – that’s your personal weekly shopping list done.
You’re off to the perfect start through perfect planning – easy!
After a week or two of doing this you’ll get quicker and quicker at it, and it will begin to feel like second nature. Having everything you need at home is one of the most effective ways of successfully beating those old triggers to graze on sugary, fattening, high-GL snacks.
Making the 7-day GL Diet Work for You