Diets A-Z: The iVillage Gi plan: energise me now!

Food choices
Complex carbs The 'fillers' on this plan will be lower Gi foods. For example:

• Brown rice instead of white
• Sweet potatoes instead of regular white potatoes
• Wholegrain bread and breakfast cereal instead of white or refined versions

Fruit and veg The Gi values of fruit and veg vary. This plan uses only low-Gi varieties. For example, you won't see watermelon or parsnips on this plan but you will get cherries, berries, grapes, apples and lots of green vegetables.

Pulses beans and lentils These have very low Gi values and couldn't be easier to use. Yes, you can get dried beans that need to be soaked overnight and boiled for a long time, but the cooked beans in cans are super-handy. Lentils do need to be boiled but not soaked, so they only take half an hour to prepare. You'll find beans and lentils in this plan so give them a go if you haven't before - they're cheap, tasty, easy, healthy and add texture to meals.

Snacks Many snack foods are highly processed and refined, which means they have higher Gi values. When choosing snacks (and meals), use whole, natural foods as much as possible. In practice, that means:

• Ditching the doughnut in favour of a digestive
• Swapping crisps for air-popped popcorn
• Having a wholegrain pitta with hummus instead of a bagel

Meat, fish and poultry As Gi refers to how carbohydrates affect blood sugar, foods without carbs don't have Gi values. In Gi terms, one protein food is much the same as the next, but calories still count and healthy eating guidelines apply. Go for leaner protein sources such as chicken and fish, and limit red meat.

Fats and oils As with protein foods, fats don't have Gi values. However, you should choose poly- and mono-unsaturated fats found in olive oil, sunflower oil, oily fish, nuts, seeds and avocado over red meat or animal fats.

Alcohol The bad news is that alcohol gets a Gi thumbs down. If you're going to drink alcohol, go for red wine as it has some positive health benefits.

Do you get the munchies after a few drinks? That's your blood glucose and insulin levels going haywire as the alcohol hits your system. So if you want to lose weight and make the most of doing this plan, hold back on booze.

If you don't want to cook
Processing tends to raise the Gi of foods, so cooked-from-scratch is a better option than a ready meal. But time, plus our ability and desire to cook, sometimes means that ready meals are in and recipes are out.

If you want to swap any of our meal plans for convenience food, keep the Gi principles in mind:

• Look for wholegrain bread when it comes to sandwiches
• Lentil or beans in soups
• Go for pasta or noodles instead of white rice

If that sounds like a death-knell to curry, think about getting a ready-made curry without the rice and cooking up your own brown rice at home. It'll make such a difference.

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