This is my second blog about taking charge of your diet. As I was watching the U.S Open last night, I was again accosted by Marie Osmond, Valerie Bertinelli, and Jillian Barbieri telling me how they had lost 40, 45 and 50 pounds on the fantastic nutri system diet. The glycemic index, “good carbs” “baaaaad carbs” fantastic meals delivered in a box right to your door. The food is fantastic, and I can eat cake and pizza too.

First of all: How freakin good can food in a box that arrives at your door be. Palatable maybe, fantastic, not so much. Secondly good carbs, bad carbs, cake and pizza. Am I the only one that sees this huge contradiction. Cake and pizza are not good carbs!! Could they possibly mean you can eat good and bad carbs? That’s my kind of diet, it promotes all kinds of carbs.

Look folks I’m no different than most American males of my generation. I had a crush on Marie and Valerie too. And yes they both look great today. Jillian Barbieri, forget about it! But it ain’t the good carbs, baaaaaad carbs workin all that magic. Sure they have cut down on their caloric intake, that’s a pretty good start to weight management. But again it helps to have a personal trainer working with you 8 hours a day. Hell, I’m a personal trainer and I can’t afford that. I also can’t afford $400 a month or just $11 a day to feed me alone.

So is there truth in good carbs, baaaaaad carbs. Yes! Is there truth in the glycemic index. Yes and no. Look the glycemic index was designed to measure the amount of insulin your body releases when digesting certain foods. Some carbs cause a huge spike in insulin when you eat them and then drops off. This gives you quick energy, that drops off as the insulin levels decline rapidly, and these foods get stored in a not so attractive place. “Baaaaaad carbs.” Other foods cause a slower and steadier release of insulin into the system that takes longer to burn, therefore sustaining your energy levels and not going into those baaaad places. Good carbs!

Just Google, glycemic index and get a list of foods and their good carb, baaaaad carb rating. Thankfully we don’t just eat carbohydrates, because some foods like carrots have a high glycemic rating, or baaaaad carb. But if you eat them with a good clean protein you get the magic nutrition word. BALANCE! So, I’m going to give you a helpful tip, don’t eat; white rice, white pasta, white sugars, keep your dairy intake low and search for dark green leafy vegetables for calcium. Eat clean proteins, range fed cattle, chicken, cold water, not farm raised fish. Lots of fruit and veggies for your good carbs. And exercise.

I’m attaching my meal plan from yesterday. I use dailyburn.com (http://dailyburn.com/nutrition) to track my nutrition. It is the best!! You will see a pretty well balanced meal although some of personal numbers were off yesterday. And I think it cost me a total of $7.00 and my protein ain’t cheap. The moral of the story is: It’s easy to shop and cook for yourself, eat clean fresh foods that taste great and won’t break your bank.

Be Healthy, Train Smart, Have Fun

Jeff