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Low GI (glycemic index) and weight loss success
October 16, 2008
The glycemic index is the new buzzword in dieting. People have a tendency follow new fads or what is popular. There are several weight loss programs that mentioned the glycemic index, but most people don’t know what it is and why it is important.
Following a low G.I. program is nothing new. As a matter of fact, that is how we all use to eat. Well, at least those of us over forty. It was not until we adapted a diet so full of process foods that we had to research the glycemic index and understand its impact on our health.
The glycemic index measures the impact of carbs on blood sugar levels. High GI foods such as sugar, white flour and rice raise blood sugar levels and insulin production. High GI foods throw your metabolic switch into fat storage mode (independent of calories!)
Low GI foods promote weight loss while preserving lean muscle mass and do not lower metabolic rate. Low GI foods give your body a steady stream of energy. Low glycemic eating addresses body composition resulting in fat loss and an optimal metabolic rate.
Understand how the glycemic index and glycemic load is calculated is very important. There are some popular diets that create low glycemic foods by adding fat. I always suggest learning how to read labels which I will blog about soon.
Healthy regards,
Del-Metri Williams, MBA NC CTLC
Weight Management Coach
How do carbs affect diet and weight loss?
October 14, 2008
Most of us are not born carbohydrate sensitive. Not understanding how food influences our body has caused an increase in metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance. Many people are in a pre-diabetic state without realizing it.
One of the greatest causes of carbohydrate sensitivity is the popularity of low carb dieting. The body’s insulin response becomes ineffective when these diets are prolonged. Once you start eating carbohydrates again, your blood sugar rises too quickly. As a result, your body does not respond to insulin. The excess carbs are then stored as fat. In turn your body fat percentage increases.
When you are carbohydrate sensitive, even when you eat something that is healthy for example a salad, chicken breast and a small roll; your body will respond to the small roll as if you ate half of a chocolate cake. Carbohydrate sensitive can come from yo-yo dieting and eating junk all of your life.
I cringe when I see parents give their children constant processed foods that are filled with sugar. Even though the children don’t have a weight problem, those constant carbs and sugar are setting their children up to be carbohydrate sensitive. This is one of the reason we are seeing the age of adult onset diabetes getting lower and lower.
Healthy regards,
Del-Metri Williams, MBA NC CTLC
Weight Management Coach
The first rule of weight loss success
October 10, 2008
The majority of diets do not focus on body composition. The first rule of healthy weight loss is muscle dictates metabolism. When I coached my husband in weight management he lost thirty-three pounds in 2 months. It took me twice as long to lose the same amount of weight. What I like best about coaching males is that they see results fast. What I hate the most about coaching males is that they see results fast. It is so unfair.
The male body naturally has more muscle then the female body. Muscle burns calories. The object of healthy weight loss is to maintain muscle mass while losing fat. Most diets fail at this. The more fat you carry, the fewer calories your body will burn. It is easier to gain or regain weight in the form of body fat.
Understanding body composition will help you reach your weight loss goals. Many women shun away weight training, since muscle weighs more than fat they think they will gain weight. Women should pay attention to the inches they lost first. Eventually the pounds will come off. I recommend using a scale that will measure body fat. Your body fat percentage and waist circumference will dictate how healthy you really are.
Del-Metri Williams, MBA NC CTLC
Weight Management Coach
Low carb or not low carb diet
October 9, 2008
One of my most successful diets was a variation of the “low carb” craze. I tried Atkins and lost 10 pounds in two weeks. I even put my husband on it. He was so cranky, for the sake of our marriage I asked him to stop. When you are not a meat eater, it is a very hard diet to follow. I saw a more sophisticated low carb diet on Oprah (it must be good, since it was on Oprah). I followed it for almost a year. I thought it was my last diet. It was not until I stopped, that I realized I developed some bad habits. In the process I destroyed my metabolism.
The low carbohydrate diet has unnecessary restrictions of fiber rich foods. It is also very high in fat. To be honest, no one has ever got fat eating broccoli, which is off every low carb eating plan. You can’t eat broccoli, but you can have all the bacon you want. It doesn’t even make sense. Like other fad diets, the low carb diet cannot be followed long term. High protein and high fat results in muscle and water loss. You can also forget about going to the bathroom. I admit you can lose weight on this diet. But, you cannot have lifetime healthy results.
Del-Metri Williams, MBA NC CTLC
Weight Management Coach
Should I cut calories on my diet?
October 7, 2008
If it is true that you must burn more calories than what you consume; why aren’t low calorie diets working? Calories in and calories out seem so simple. Cutting calories decreases your metabolism by 10% to 15%. It cannot be followed long term. I think I lasted two weeks on the famous calorie counting diet. Of course now they count points. Becoming a professional calorie counter only made me think about how hungry I was. When I was younger, starving myself was cool. I could live off of diet coke for lunch. As I got older, I realize that I could not make it on 800 calories a day. I was tired and I could not think. Like most people, I just gave up.
You will lose weight when you cut calories. Most of the weight loss is muscle, not fat. After you stop dieting you may be smaller, but you are also fatter. Because you have changed your body fat percent, the weight you gain back is now more fat added to your body. That is why people end up getting fatter after they diet. The problem is that all calories are not created equal. Calories from sugar affect your body systems differently.
Healthy regards,
Del-Metri Williams, MBA NC CTLC
Weight Management Coach
Does the detox diet really make you lose weight?
October 2, 2008
The new dieting fad is detoxing. There are companies that are promoting detoxing as a way to lose weight. Can you lose weight on the detox diet? Of course you can. Everyone I have met who followed a detox diet did lose the weight. To be honest, anyone can poop and lose weight. The problem is that the detox diet cannot be maintained over a lifetime. If you are not careful, you can place yourself into that yo-yo dieting mode.
I have a problem with some detox products. They fill it up with vitamins and minerals so they can charge you more money. I call it stupid science. If you are detoxing the right way, you body will cleanse itself of the vitamins and minerals you just put in.
Detoxing is beneficial, but not as a weight loss plan. Detoxing purges the body of impurities. It also relieves the body’s dependence on surgary foods. It can also help accelerate you weight loss goals, because toxins hold on to fat and fat holds on to toxins.
Healthy detoxification is good for everyone, no matter what your body size. I noticed that it really helped my sugar cravings. I also think more clearly after a cleanse.
Healthy regards,
Del-Metri Williams, MBA NC CTLC
Weight Management Coach
Fat Factor #5 Chronic Stress
October 1, 2008
When I told my husband’s manager that stress makes people hold weight in their stomach he replied “I guess there’s no hope for me”. When your body is on constant alert due to physical or emotional pressures, it goes into a life preserving mode and stores fat.
Stress is good when and has a purpose in our bodies. In the pioneer days if one ran into a bear, the body would work up all the adrenals needed to fight it or out run it. The process of fight or flight help balance our adrenals.
Today, when your boss makes you mad you can’t just sock them. If someone cuts you off in traffic, you can’t jump out your car and beat them up. Now you have got all of your stress hormones going without a way to balance them out. Adrenal fatigue occurs, because our bodies don’t know the difference between a bear coming after you or your boss getting on you nerves.
Our bodies try to preserve our lives by secreting survival hormones. Unfortunately, our bodies were not meant to constantly be on alert. The chronic alert signals cause fat storage. Manage stress and you will do much better managing your weight.
Many people manage stress by eating. I don’t blame them. Chocolate makes me feel good. People don’t realize that the are sabotaging their weight goals by ignoring how they handle stress.
Healthy regards,
Del-Metri Williams, MBA NC CTLC
Weight Management Coach
With so many diets, why are we so fat?
September 24, 2008
Weight management is a billion dollar industry. We spend a lot of money on weight-loss, but now the government is saying we have an obesity epidemic. There is some good information available, unfortunately there is a lot of bad information. I don’t think it is a question of will. Many of us have done some very weird things in order to lose weight. How about the cabbage soup diet? How many of you tried the grapefruit diet? I have a friend who lost 17 pounds on the maple syrup cleanse. She only had a water, vinegar and maple syrup mixture for 21 days. It takes a lot of will power to do that cleanse, but know the weight is back.
To be honest, you did not fail the diet; the diet failed you. The problem is that diets cannot be maintained over a lifetime. I am sure if my friend could drink vinegar and maple syrup for the rest of her life, she would be slim and thin. No one can do that. How many of you had a doctor tear off a 1000 calorie diet sheet that they got from a pharma company that sold diabetes medicine? They have had those sheets for years, but we are still fat.
There are five fat factors. Read my next blog for fat factor number 1.
Healthy regards,
Del-Metri Williams, MBA NC CTLC
Weight Management Coach
Confessions of a recovering “yo-yo” dieter
September 22, 2008
Ever since high school, I have mastered the art of dieting. When I was young my goal was to achieve a certain look. I was very thin, but dieting for girls was cool. As a teenager the starvation diet worked very well for me. The experts said if you want to lose weight, eat less and exercise more. That is what I did.
In college aerobics became the rage. After gaining the freshman 15 I had to do something. Oh yeah, every time I wanted to lose weight I would still starve myself. My senior year consisted of diet coke and yogurt.
After college I started to pay more attention to the “experts”. The answer to my health concerns was OAT BRAN. I bought everything that had the word oat bran on the box. I even forced my neice and nephew to eat oat bran donuts for dessert. They still talk about me for that one. From oat bran I went to shakes, low fat and then low carb. If it was on Oprah, I did it.
I had great success with 90% of the diets I attempted. Although I only lasted two weeks on Weight Watchers and one day on Slimfast, for the most part I was a very good dieter. Then I hit forty and no matter what I did, I could not lose a pound. There is a reason why diets don’t work and there is a smart way to lose weight and keep it off.
Healthy regards,
Del-Metri Williams, MBA NC CTLC
Weight Management Coach
