Sugarfree New Orleans: A Cookbook Based On The Glycemic Index

Sugarfree New Orleans: A Cookbook Based on the Glycemic Index

From the AuthorI don't want to be fat! No matter how many jokes I make about "passing up slim and going for voluptuous" or how many times I say, "big is beautiful," I don't want to be fat!During my many years of agonizing over my size, I think I have tried every diet that has come along. They all worked - I lost ten pounds each time! But then I gained back that ten plus five or ten more as soon as I quit.The books and programs all say, "This shouldn't be a diet, this should be a new way of life!" If you are at all like me, trying to tell yourself that a stalk of raw celery is a satisfying "new way of life" just doesn't work. Trying to tell yourself that a carrot stick is just as good as a bowl of ice cream is a delusion impossible to conjure. Weighing every bite that goes into your mouth can't be fun...but then neither is checking out the bulges in the mirror.I've tried both over the counter and prescription diet pills. Redux did nothing and the phen/fen made me climb the walls. Again, I lost the weight and then gained back more. A regular diet yo-yo! To make matters worse, I live in New Orleans, one of the world's gastronomic capitals!One day, a friend of mine suggested trying "Sugar Busters!" (tm) What's one diet more or less going to hurt, I thought. And so, I bought the book. And I read it like most people do, skipping over the scientific parts, thinking that the Glycemic Index was not of great concern to me. But, I thought, this sounds like my kind of diet - steak, cheese, nuts and ice cream.I have lost more than twenty-six pounds since then and I still have more to lose. When I finish "Sugar Busters!" (tm) will I gain it back? This time I really don't think so because I don't think I will ever "finish" "Sugar Busters!" (tm) It may not be a whole new way of life, but it is a whole new way of eating and I think I will continue to eat this way forever. Why not? With a few simple modifications, I'm eating most of the foods I love and I'm on my way to being slim. I'm not hungry, I have more energy, and I feel great.I had been on the diet for about a month and a half when something a great deal more important than my own new on-the-way-to-slim-and-trim figure happened. My husband, Mark, who is a non-diet compliant diabetic heart patient, was hospitalized. His blood sugar was 500+, his cholesterol was 400+, and his triglycerides were over 700. His doctors talked to him, the nutritionists talked to him, our children talked to him, and, as usual, he gave lip service to trying to go back to his low fat, low sugar diet. I knew that once again he would try for a week or two until his cravings for a good juicy steak, milk, and eggs got the better of him.He was in the hospital for ten days and, sitting at his bedside, I had lots of time to re-read my "Sugar Busters!" (tm) book. Suddenly, I realized that this book was written for him. If you take care of the sugar, it said, your body can handle the fat. Cut out the sugar, it said and your cholesterol and tryglycerides will drop. It's worth a try, I said, so let's make a deal. I told him that if he could give up his sugary sodas and other sweets, he could keep his steak, milk, and eggs. He was skeptical but agreed to try. Four weeks later he went back to the hospital, but this time just for blood work. His blood sugar was 98; his cholesterol, 144; his tryglycerides, 72. It worked!And so I've become a rabid convert... but still struggled to find sugar-free recipes of Mark and I's favorite New Orleans foods. And that is what has driven me to become an author. I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as we have, and wish you the best of luck with your sugar-free diet. Deanie Comeaux Bahan - Author, Sugarfree New Orleans: A Cookbook Based On The Glycemic Index.A cookbook that follows the guidelines of the best selling "Sugar Busters " (tm) diet. It also follows the Glycemic Index and includes a copy and description of how the index works. This is a wonderful