6 Things To Learn About Carbs Before You Finish Your Pre-Packaged Diet

If you stick to your eating plan, there will come a time when you are ready to go off your Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, or Deliciously Yours diet. You will be ready for a steady diet of grocery store foods. You can even eat out if you are prepared for the occasion. However, before you get to that point, you will be wise to learn some things about how to use carbs in your everyday diet.

1. You can eat carbs and still lose weight. This is important primarily because many people would give up dieting altogether if they thought they could not eat any carbs at all. If this is how you feel, pay attention to your pre-packaged meals. Notice that they have plenty of carbs in them to satisfy you.

2. Some carbs are considered bad carbs. These carbs are high on the glycemic index. Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, and Deliciously Yours foods avoid them. Of all of these, Nutrisystem is the most famous for talking about eliminating bad carbs.

Yet the other diet plans also stay away from bad carbs as much as possible. The simple way to talk about the glycemic index is to say that it measures the speed at which the body metabolizes that food.

If a food has a high glycemic index, the food will be used up quickly and be gone just as rapidly. It will cause a spike, followed by a drop, in your blood sugar. This is unhealthy and not conducive to good weight loss.

3. Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, and Deliciously Yours gear their food to good carbs. The carbs in these diets are low on the glycemic index. The body uses them slowly so that you have an even flow of blood sugar in your system. These foods are slow-acting carbohydrates rather than simple sugars.

4. The kind of carbs you eat will affect your energy. With the different blood sugar reactions, the good and bad carbs do not produce the same kinds of energy results for you. Most pre-packaged diets work in such a way that you feel fuller and more energetic because the good carbs will hang on and work until you get your next meal or snack.

Bad carbs would run you out of energy and make you want to eat again too soon. However, it would not work because the excess food would tend to make you sleepy rather than energized.

5. Portion size matters. By eating the pre-packaged foods supplied to you by Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, or Deliciously Yours, you will get a feel for how much you should eat. Deliciously Yours meals are possibly the most consistent with the portion sizes you will eat later on. Carry the knowledge of your particular diet over into your post-weight loss diet plan.

If the diet allows you to have a certain amount of spaghetti, try to serve yourself the same size of portion when you eat on your own. If someone else is serving, do not be afraid to leave some on your plate.

6. Watch for carbs in the most unlikely places. With your pre-packaged diet, you have been sheltered from many of the sources of the bad or high glycemic index carbs. Every time you eat a food from the diet foods, look at the labels to see if sweetener has been added. If so, expect to find sugar in similar foods when you are eating grocery store foods. One example is salad dressings, and another is instant hot cereals.

Your Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, or Deliciously Yours diet can teach you a lot about carbs and how to use them in your maintenance diet. After you have lost to your goal weight, you need this information to keep from gaining weight again.

About the Author

Ron Subs works with Beauty Brief as a public relations consultant, more information about diets can be found at www.beautybrief.com

SparkCast Episode 207 - Good Carbs vs. Bad Carbs

What do you think is a better "cheat" on a low carb diet -- grapefruit or popcorn?

I'm doing the Atkins diet, and I have been for about 3 years. I only had 15 pounds to lose to begin with, but to keep it off, I have to say at around 30 carbs per day. WELL, lately I've been craving 2 things, and I don't know why: grapefruits and popcorn! It's either 1 WHOLE pink grapefruit or about 2 cups (measured) of popped pop corn with olive oil and butter on it. Which do you think is less bad of a cheat? Which has a lower glycemic index? Thanks so much for any immediate help! I'm soooooooo hungry and I'm craving these!!! THANK YOU!
Thanks for all the replies so far! Please keep them coming!!!

I'd eat the popcorn.
Im on atkins too and the cravings are crazy sometimes!
I dont know about the nutritional values, i just think the popcorn would be more filling

Tags: Glycemic Index Info

The Glycemic Index: Good Carb, Bad Carb is a post from: Diets-4-You-Info-Store

Tags: nutrition

is a post from: Diets-4-You-Info-Store