How and Why the No Flour, No Sugar Diet Works

To see how eliminating flour and sugar from your diet can dramatically reduce the number of calories you consume, let’s compare the caloric content of two breakfasts -- one with flour and sugar and one without. If you normally start your day with a bagel (about 250 calories) spread with a pat of butter (50 calories) and a tablespoon of strawberry jam (50 calories), and coffee with two teaspoons of sugar (30 calories), you’re eating about 380 calories. Simply switching to old-fashioned oatmeal (100 calories) with one cup of skim milk (90 calories), a medium apple (80 calories), and coffee with artificial sweetener (0 calories), will save you 110 calories. You will also have reduced your fat intake from 7.5 grams to 2 grams, increased your fiber from 1 gram to 7 grams, and added 400 milligrams of calcium. And that’s just breakfast.

As the above comparison clearly shows, eliminating flour and sugar from your diet is a simple way to rid your meals of many unnecessary calories. As an added bonus, you may find you’ll automatically reduce the amount of fat you eat. Without bread and jelly, for instance, what fun is high-fat peanut butter? No flour means no cheesy pizza, no pasta in cream sauce, and no buttery cookies. Eliminating sugar means no more fat-laden ice cream or cake with buttercream frosting.

One pound of fat is equivalent to 3,500 calories. In order to lose one pound in a week, you need to consume 500 fewer calories a day or burn 500 more a day -- or in a perfect world, a little of each. If you could make dietary changes such as those mentioned in the breakfast example above, cutting 110 calories from every meal you eat, you’d easily be more than half way there.

Avoid products containing any kind of flour, including wheat, rice, and corn flours, or refined or concentrated sugars (cane sugar, beet sugar, glucose, sucrose, high fructose corn syrup, maple syrup, honey, molasses, etc.). Whole grains and starchy vegetables, such as wheat berries, barley, brown rice, corn, and potatoes can add bulk to your meals. Satisfy your sweet tooth with fruit and products sweetened with fruit -- as long as they don’t contain added sugar. You can also enjoy sugar-free soda, chewing gum, and even many of the light ice creams now available that are sweetened with Splenda or other artificial sweeteners. Snack on raw vegetables and fresh fruit -- excellent low-calorie sources of important nutrients and fiber.

Cutting the unnecessary, or “empty,” calories of flour-based, sugary foods from your diet is a simple and relatively painless way to move toward your goal. Add an extra half hour of physical activity a day -- a brisk walk, a game of tennis, or a spin on the treadmill -- and you can expect easily to lose a pound a week until you reach your desired weight.

Source : articlesbase