The G.I. Diet Express for Busy People: With 50 Speedy Recipes

This book was my introduction to the GI diet. It gave me a quick and sufficient overview for how the diet works, and got me off and running. But it's not really intended for beginners unless you buy another more complete book along with it, which I eventually did. Now that I understand the diet better, this book serves as a quick way to refresh my memory about certain foods. I especially like the fast food section. There really is low-gi fast food out there!

I have heard for years that the Low G.I. way of eating is the healthiest to prevent heart disease and diabetes as well as control weight. This particular book is easy to follow and makes this style of eating much easier for me to follow than previous books I've seen.

One thing I hate about diet and exercise books is how they are filled to the brim with page after page of filler content. Filler content being long boring pseudo-scientific pontificating, or 50 pages of testimonials. The mantra of the GI diet express book is K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple stupid!). The book dives directly in and gives you the step by step instructions without having to wade through the drivel. I read the entire content portion of this book in one short sitting and I feel I solidly understand the system so thoroughly that there is literally no need to reference anything except the sample meal plans and recipes. What a relief to have a short book that just says, here is how you do it and now get it done. My only beef, if I had one, with this book is how it down plays exercise. It shows you a chart of the amount of aerobic exercise (not even mentioning anaerobic exercise). As if the only time you burn calories as a result of exercise is while your doing it. Not true as raising the metabolism, repairing broken muscle tissue, etc all work towards burning calories all day (and even while you sleep). The good news is this is only 2 pages of the book and really doesn't even need a place at all in this book.

This diet has really worked for me and I want to add some of my observations. There are some pretty comprehensive reviews on here already so I will not summarize anything from the book to minimize repetition. Stats on me: I started in May of 05 and lost 5 pounds a week for the first four weeks. I only lost so much because I was well over 200lb (as a 5'5'' female). After that it was more gradual with plateaus and minor ups and downs. I have gone periods were I was only following it 50% faithfully and did not gain the weight back. I am moderately active: gym two to three times a week (usually for an hour water aerobics class) and I do not have a car so I walk everywhere. Diet Pro's: - Its Healthy. No doctor would be concerned if his/her patient ate veggies and balanced whole grains and lean proteins. Worst-case scenario: you try it and don't loose weight, but you will not have hurt your metabolism or raised your cholesterol in doing so. - Its Not a Gimmick. This is not based on "eat all the bacon and cheese you want" or some other counter-intuitive nonsense. Its principals are in line with what is known and widely accepted in medical science. - Cuts Cravings and is designed to keep your belly full. With three meals and three snacks a day of slowly digested food I am not hungry. Additionally, keeping my blood sugar stable stopped the need to binge eat. - Not dogmatic. Ever read a diet book where you feel like the author is practically trying to convert you to a religion? Gallop certainly believes in this diet and he makes no mention that it might not work for every person (see con below), however he spends most of his time laying out simple science and practical guidelines. He even says your goal should be to follow it 90% of the time. If you have a cookie, big deal, the worst thing that can happen is it will take slightly longer to lose some weight. Diet Con's: - Unfortunately, as with all diets, this will work great for some people and not for others. Its more likely to work for you if you: o Tend to carry your fat in the belly. i.e. "apple," "barrel," or "cone" shaped for women, or a guy with a "beer belly" o Have major cravings for carbs - perhaps even binge eat on things like pastries, candy, pasta and bread. o Have been diagnosed with insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, or even type II diabetes -The recipes can be bland - more from the author not being a chef, not the principals of the diet, so if you are a practiced cook you can make alterations for flavor and texture that stay true to the diet. The book encourages you to go the author's website where there are recipes submitted by readers available for free and they are quite good. -You will have to cook. I have been on this diet for nearly two years and like to cook, so its been great for me. ***UPDATE June 2008*** Make that 90+ pounds lost in three years. I still cook most of my food from the recipes found in Gallop's books. They have passed the picky boyfriend tes