Irish Molly's GL Diary

[irish molly]

11/07 Have not been on for a few days as I have had a busy week. Food wise, I have been pretty o.k. I have been snacking a bit too much and it looks like a stay the same week this week. At least not a gain so I am doing something right. Hope GI/GL folks are getting on well. Never see any one posting here but lots of people must be following a GL type diet. So many of the newer diets are all based on GL principles and it is easy to stick with it. Just gotta watch portion sizes and any tendency to snack!!

 

[JanD]

That's my downfall! If I stick to my 3 meals I can even have my l'il tipple and still lose but if the snacking or in my case more like 'picking' creeps in it all falls apart!

You're doing really well though! xx

 

[irish molly]

Thanks Jan, yeah with me a few drinks leads to way too much picking even though I cod myself that the snacks are healthy!!! It all adds up though and leads to a god awful slippery slope!! Weigh in tomorrow and looks like a sts, I hope. All I cling to is the fact that I am keeping gains at bay!!

 

[mum_of_one]

dont stop posting cos I read your diary all the time! x

 

[irish molly]

Thanks mumofone, nice to know that.
Well, it was a STS week as I thought. That is a result, as I have been eating a bit more and having a few drinks as I had a friend staying with us. All in all GL is no burden to stick with and I am so thrilled that in addition to maintaining my tfr losses that I am still losing, if at a slower rate.
Don't let that put off any potential GL dieters because I am not starving myself and I take almost no exercise as I have a very bad back and tendonitis problems. So if I was more active and eating a little less then I would easily lose a couple of pounds every week. As it is, I am averaging just over a pound a week on GL. So, all in all, I can't complain.
Food today:
Brekkie; 50g porridge
Lunch: side plate size of tuna salad and two crispbreads
Dinner: lentil curry with a green salad
Dessert: apple chopped with 100g greek yoghurt
Snacks: two peaches, two Aldi harvest morn 70 cal bars.
Water: 2 litres
3 coffees with milk

 

[irish molly]

19/07 Hi all, I have had a very busy week, so had not much time for posting. anyhow, I had a good week food wise. I kept pretty much on track. O.K. I had a few drinks one or two evenings and eat out a few times but I still managed to lose a pound . The slow rate of loss suits fine as my eating habits are suiting my lifestyle. If I wanted to lose at a faster rate I would need to cut back a bit more. At present I am eating Gl friendly foods and keeping to 1300 cals overall. As long as I dont start gaining I will be very happy.
Hope everyone is having a good week.

 

[JanD]

I think that's BRILLIANT!! Living your life the way that you want and STILL losing weight. I think you've got it cracked lady!!! xxx

 

[irish molly]

Ah thanks Jan, that's a great compliment coming from the queen of maintenance. As you well know, it is all careful monitoring and knowing that on a week you want to eat a bit more means you may gain a little. I am trying to keep a pretty relaxed attitude to it all as I have to bear in mind this is for life!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JanD]

Exactly! Not sweating too much if you may have a little gain - it's life!! I love your attitude xx

 

[irish molly]

26/07 Hi All. Hope everyone is doing well on GI/GL. I had a good week. I have cut back my overall calorie intake as I felt my weight was stabilising at my current intake. So, I'm sticking to good GL choices with an overall calorie intake of 1200 cals a day. I am not hard and fast about this, it is just my general guideline. Anyhow, I am glad to report a loss of another glorious pound this week. A pound down is better than a pound up so I am very happy with that. As I keep saying, I am not active, don't have any exercise regime and am happy to be just able to maintain my losses to date. Any little extra is a bonus.
a typical day for me has;
Brekkie: 40g porridge
Lunch: Very small tuna or ham salad
dinner: lentil curry made with 50g lentils OR 150g salmon with veg and 40g quinoa or prawn stir fry with 40g quinoa.
Dessert: 150g strawberries or blueberries with 100g yoghurt
Snacks: couple of plums with dessert spoon mixed seeds, two aldi 70cal bars.
Three times a week, I will have one slice of homemade brown or spelt bread and jam. I will also have a few glasses of wine and a couple g&t.
Hope everyone has a good week this week.

 

[mum_of_one]

You are doing so well. Love reading your diary. Take ideas here and there from you. Aldi bars - are they yum? xx

 

[JanD]

I was wondering about those too - what are the merits Irish?

You're doing so well - you seem to have Just the right attitude. I admire the way you seem to be quite relaxed about it all now. GO YOU!! xx

 

[irish molly]

Thanks ladies. It's good to get the feedback.
Aldi do quite a good range of GL friendly foods. The bars are the Harvest Morn - Benefit Cereal Bars in a range of flavours and are only 62 cals with 1g fat,12g carbs. They are just enough to satisfy a longing for a biscuit. They have other bars in their healthy range , all quite tasty but have a good few more cals. IMO they are just as good as the more expensive ranges in the health food shops.
Aldi also do their own oat cakes in their Savour Bake range. I also find their rye crispbreads good too as they are smaller than a ryvita. Check out their oat flake cereal range too, again this is very GL friendly.

 

[JanD]

I'll look out for those .. thanks

So when you're shopping and looking out for low GI/GL stuff, what do you look out for on the nutritional info? xx

 

[irish molly]

Gosh Jan, how can I advise you as I think you have the whole Gi thing cracked from looking at your food choices.
From what I have read, strictly speaking for GI/GL, the less processed the better. In fact the less cooked the better! Apparently the more you cook food the higher the GL values. Less starchy is better therefore lower carb choices are good. Starch converts to energy very quickly and thus peaks blood sugar which in turn drops back again and we then feel hungry again. Sugar is a big no no too for the same reason. So I look out for the sugar and starch content of foods.
In veg, less starchy veg are the leafy veg or think of it as "anything that grows above the ground". For example spinach is a better choice than carrot. Less starchy fruits are any berried fruits. Bananas are very starchy so you should limit these to a few a week.
Cereals are generally wheat based and therefore not so GL friendly. Wheat is very starchy.The advice is to go for oat cereals but not very processed ones. For example microwaveable porridge, the one on the tubs, is not a good choice as it has been processed. It is better to opt for plain old porridge oats.
As to sweet treats this is a minefield. All biscuits/cakes etch are full of processed ingredients and have a very high GL so they are for very limited consumption. We should use fruit, yoghurt and seeds and some nuts as substitutes. If we do have biscuits, again maybe the oat based once like Nairns are a very good GL choice. Their stem ginger ones taste just like a ginger nut and are low GL. The Aldi bars are not too bad either.
What do you look out for when you go shopping?

 

[JanD]

Nothing beige ... it's said light-heartedly but actually is mostly true!!


Seriously .. when it comes to bread the darker the better (not that I eat much bread) I knew that berries were the best fruit, not to eat anything too ripe and leafy greens the best veg. I DO eat weetabix nearly everyday but rationalise they're better than lots of other things - DH has oatibix and I s'pose I could have them but I find them rather stodgy and they soak up sooooo much milk.
I'm okayish with the fresh stuff but when it comes to packaged food I haven't a clue so then tend to look at the calories for guidance. I wondered if there was a magic number to look out for on the nutritional values like RC has her 5gms of fat per 100gms rule. Not that I use much processed/packaged stuff at all really which is probably WHY I haven't a clue!

Thanks for your help xx

 

[irish molly]

03/08/10 Wahayyy!!!! A whopping 4lb loss this week!! I am absolutely thrilled with that. Why? Not just because it is a great loss but also because I had a few days away with eating and drinking. BUT, I made as healthy choices as I could without stifling my enjoyment. After all, I had a whole bottle of wine one night!!
Foodwise, I was careful. At breakfast, I refused the fry up and had fruit and yoghurt with porridge and then a slice of wholemeal bread.
For mains, I had fish dishes. If it had a rich sauce I left some of the sauce on the plate. I had veg and baby boiled potato but had three of these at most. If I had salad I asked for the dressing on the side so I could control how much I had. I had a few slices of wholemeal bread too. Overall, I was very careful to watch the portion sizes and I had just a taste here and there of OH’s desserts. When having falafel as a dish, I opted for salad with it instead of having it in a bap.
Over the few days away, I never felt hungry or deprived. So far, so good. A day at a time, a week at a time and try a keep a sense of balance is the approach that works for me to date.

 

[JanD]

FANTASTIC MISSIS!!!! Well done ... don't it make ya feel good when you can be 'normal' and still lose!! xxx

 

[irish molly]

09/08 Hi All. I have had a mega busy week. lots of work pressures etc. Usually times like this make me head for the biscuit tin or the jumbo bags of crisps but I am proud to say that I am coping well. I have been home very late most days and it is so tempting to have fast food etc but it is just as fast to prepare a healthy meal and, boy, do you feel the better for it. It really is a bonus to have a tin of chick peas or mixed beans in the cupboard as you can have a tasty salad or a nice quick spicy fry up in no time at all.
I probably have not been having enough water every day. Genuinely just did not have the time!! I miss it too. I feel so much better having a couple of litres of water every day.
I had my weigh in this morning and am glad to report another little loss of a pound.
GL suits my lifestyle so well and I hope I don't change that opinion.
Anyways, hope you all are doing well and keep strong.

 

[JanD]

Well done on another loss Irish .... you really do seem to have it cracked xx