Free The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies by Meri Raffetto Page A

lines of "I don't have time to cook these recipes" or "I don't like thinking of things to cook with my chicken entrees." Instead of taking a Negative Nelly approach, use positive language, such as "I really enjoy some of the new recipes I've tried." Then focus your energy on how to make those new changes work with your busy schedule and find some grains that will f in with chicken as easily as rice does.
    Positive statements also help you move forward. Instead of stating, "I don't love vegetables," you can say, "I know there are five low-glycemic vegetables I really enjoy." When you put it that way, your mind automatically begins thinking of ways to incorporate those vegetables you like.
    Setting Goals You Can Actually Achieve
    You may be fed up with circumstances in your life and want to approach weight loss with gusto, changing everything about your day-to-day at once. Don't. Instead, focus on setting small weekly goals. These goals — which should be realistic, practical, and attainable — become the building blocks of your weight-loss program. You achieve greater success by creating goals you can keep, which is why I show you how to develop achievable goals in the following sections.
    Being realistic

    Set yourself up for success by making sure your goals are realistic. Start small so you can achieve your goals and then build on them. You don't want to set a goal of making a new low-glycemic recipe five nights a week if you currently don't cook at all. This goal may be unattainable and may make you feel like a failure if you don't reach it. Instead, set a goal to try one new recipe a week and find low-glycemic convenience foods to create some other meals.
    Yes, fast results are far more appealing, but research shows that making changes too quickly almost always ends up with the dieter regaining the weight later. It's better to make small changes that you can truly live with long term, master them, and then set new goals. Setting small, realistic goals is the difference between losing 24 pounds in three months only to regain it all and losing 24 pounds in six months to a year and keeping it off for a lifetime.
    With a realistic and safe approach to weight loss, you can expect to see little or no weight loss the first three weeks while you're getting used to adding low-glycemic foods to your diet. After that, you should aim for 1- to 2-pound weight loss per week. This pace indicates you're losing fat, not muscle or mere water weight.
    Making your goals practical
    Your goals must fit into your lifestyle; otherwise you won't be able to accomplish them. For instance, if your day is scheduled around traveling from place to place, setting a goal of eating lunch at home likely isn't practical. Why not make a goal to bring your lunch or have a low-glycemic deli sandwich and salad instead? If you travel for work, setting a goal to go to the gym may not work regularly, so you may want to plan on walking or finding a workout you can do in your hotel room.
    The only way to make changes work long term is to be sure they make sense in your particular lifestyle.
    Choosing "want to" rather than "have to" goals
    If you choose a goal because you "want to," not because you "have to," you're more likely to be successful. For instance, if you enjoy eating ice cream at night and you decide to eliminate it because you "have to," you probably won't stay on course for long. The "have to's" bring up negative emotions and lead to guilt when you do indulge. They also lead to resistance. People resist what they "have to" do and look forward to what they "want to" do. That's just human nature.
    So instead of saying, "I have to give up my nightly dish of ice cream to lose weight," think of a way to convert that statement into a "want to" statement, such as, "I want to decrease my ice cream intake to half of what I typically eat as one way to reduce my glycemic load for the day."
    Strengthening your goals
    Have you ever set a goal that you quickly