Slimming Effect : Low GI Curbs Cravings, 3 easy ways to save 100 calories

Need foolproof slimming strategies to help you look and feel lighter?

Low GI Curbs Cravings

Starting the day with a breakfast that includes foods with a low glycemic index (which produce a gradual rise I blood sugar and insulin) could be all it takes to avoid the 3pm munchies. US researchers found that when people added almonds to their breakfast, they reported feeling fuller for longer and also avoided the pitfalls of soaring blood sugar levels that are followed by a crashing low. In addition to almonds, here are some breakfast foods you can work into your diet that fall on the low side of the glycemic index.

• Yogurt and milk
• Most fruits: grapefruit, apples, oranges, berries and bananas
• Dried apricots
• Oat-based cereals: oat flakes, Oatibix, porridge, muesli
• All-Bran cereal

Strawberry

3 easy ways to save 100 calories

Swap

·         1 slice Starbucks carrot cake

·         560 calories

For

·         1 Starbucks banana nut loaf cake

·         431 calories

·         Nutritional saving = 129 calories

Swap

·         45g bag peanut M&M’s

·         228 calories

For

·         80g grapes and 100g apple slices

·         95 calories

·         Nutritional saving = 133 calories

Swap

·         100ml tub Haagan-Dazs strawberry cheesecake ice cream

·         235 calories

For

·         100ml Yog pomegranate frozen yogurt

·         85 calories

·         Nutritional saving = 150 calories

Walk it off

Stride out and fight the flab

No need to spend hours in the gym each week – a brisk walk every day can halve your risk of obesity. After studying more than 10,000 people over two years, scientists found the secret to staving off the flab is a daily one-hour walk. The Department of Health recommends a minimum of 2¹/­­­­_2­ hours of moderate activity, such as brisk walking or gardening, a week.

Go brown, slim down

Who’d have thought bread could help shift pounds?

Replacing white products with wholegrain versions could help you lose those last few pounds, say Danish scientists. Overweight women on a 1,250-calories of refined grain foods or the same amount of wholegrain foods. After 12 weeks, those on the wholegrain diet had lost 7lb 9oz (3.6kg) – around 2lb (1kg) more weight – and significantly more body fat.

·         Swap white bread for whole-wheat, oatmeal, rye or spelt

·         Use whole grains such as barley in vegetable soup or stews, and bulgur wheat in casseroles and other one-pot dishes

·         Substitute whole meal flour or oatmeal for up to half the flour in cakes, muffins, etc.