I think Ally has got it right.
I'm planning a Low GI/GL lifestyle. With calorie counting too.
I've read the Holford Low-GL diet book, and Helen Fosters GI diet plan.
Refinded sugars/flour and lots of deep fried food made me fat. I loved take-away chinese, pizza, and chips- which I would eat with thickly buttered slices of white bread. All are GI disasters!!
GI is reccommended especially for women with PCOS and/or insulin resistance.
If you are insulin resistant, you are at risk of diabetes and all that that intails: Nerve disease, eye diseases, artherosclerosis, kidney disease, infections, and skin diseases.
There's a test for insulin resistance in the Holford GL book.
1. Are you rarely awake within 20 mins of getting up?
2.Do you need tea, coffee, a cigarette or something to get you going in the morning?
3. Do you really like sweet foods?
4. Do you crave bread, cereal, popcorn or pasta most days?
5. Do you feel as if you 'need' an alcoholic drink most days?
6. Are you overweight and unable to shift the extra pounds?
7. Do you often have energy slumps during the day or after meals?
8. Do you fall asleep early in the evening or need naps?
9.Do you have mood swings and difficulty concentrating?
10. Do you get dizzy and irritable if you go more than 6 hours without food?
11. Do you find you overreact to stress?
12. Do you get irritable, angry or aggressive unexpectedly?
13. Is your energy less now than it used to be?
14. Do you get night sweats and frequent headaches?
15. Do you ever lie about how much sweet food you have eaten?
16. Do you ever keep a supply of sweet food close at hand?
17. Do you ever go out of your way to make sure you can have something sweet?
18. DO you ever feel you could never give up bread?
19. Do you think of yourself as addicted to sugar, chocolate or biscuits?
If you answer yes to 10 or more you're probably insulin resistant.
I answered yes to 15, and I know I'm insulin resistant, as I was tested in hospital a few years ago. I don't drink alcohol more than once a month, smoke or drink tea or coffee, but I answered yes to the rest of them.
I don't see low fat as any good because you miss all the lovely essential fatty acids in fish. Low cal will leave your body constantly hungry, and the counting is hard to maintain. Low carb tends to be low in good carbs, like fruit n veg carbs, and complex grains and seeds.
Hope this helps.
Guen