Blog: Diet Starts Tomorrow! (Always does...) No but for real this time

Ok so I think it's time I mapped out my plan.  This diet is less of a 'fad diet' and more of an 'awareness exercise.'
I'm not planning to stick to the strictest portion of it for more than 7 days.

Goal: Recognize how much 'sugar added' I eat every day
Caveats: Will still use Gu  replenish and recovery  powder for during and post workouts

Week 1: Absolutely NO added Sugar foods. Everything from ketchup to cereal to sausages will be out, unless of course they don't contain any of the following:

• Agave nectar, Brown sugar, Cane crystals, Cane sugar, Corn sweetener, Corn syrup, Crystalline fructose,  Dextrose, Evaporated cane juice, Fructose, Fruit juice concentrates, Glucose, High-fructose corn syrup, Honey, Invert sugar. Lactose. Maltose, Malt syrup, Molasses, Raw sugar, Sucrose, Sugar, Syrup 

 From: 

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/added-sugar-on-food-labels/

I'm not going to worry about sugar that naturally occur in foods quite yet. I've done a little reading on GI indexes and I haven't done enough research to make create an informed eating plan based upon the indexes.  

The Glycemic Index rates how much a food affects your blood sugar from 1 to 100. You can get a feel for what foods are high on the GI here:  

http://www.high-fiber-health.com/glycemicindex.html

Anything lower than 55 is in the good zone, meaning it won't disrupt blood glucose levels too much.

Things that make a food have a lower GI rating:

Whole Wheat, Whole Bran, less ground, closer to the way nature created it

More fat and/or protein present will slow digestion

More acidity present will limit glucose absorption into the blood

But the more I read, the more I find out that GI is not the whole story. The Glycemic Load is just as important. The following article, quickly explains the difference, but here was one good quote from it: 

 "However, the average serving size of a baked potato is about 150 grams (5.3 oz) and contains 17 grams of carbohydrate. Conversely, a Mars® candy bar serving size is only 60 grams (2.1 oz) but contains 40 grams of carbohydrate. The boiled potato has a glycemic load of 17, while the Mars bar is 26. Thus, even though the potato has a higher glycemic index, the Mars® candy bar has a greater effect on blood glucose than the potato even though the size of the Mars® candy bar is less than half that of the potato. Dr. Jeukendrup, a respected sports nutrition researcher, reports that foods with a glycemic load of > 20 are high, 11-19 are medium, and < 10 are low (8). The following table lists some common foods with their corresponding glycemic index and glycemic loads. http://www.nsca-lift.org/HotTopic/download/Glycemic%20Load.pdf

So it looks like Glycemic Load is pretty important as well. But alas, I have digressed.

Ok, so NO SUGAR ADDED diet starts tomorrow. Just got back from Sams, loaded up on a lot of fresh and wholesome food. Here's my shopping list:

Bag of Pre-cut, pre-washed Romaine