No Flour, No Sugar Diet, Worthed It?

Eliminating flour and sugar effectively reduces the amount of "empty" calories from your diet. Many of these foods (based on refined carbohydrates) are also high in fat (pizza, donuts, etc).

The premise is a good one. Despite all the contrary dietary advice of recent years - there does seem to be a growing consensus about refined carbohydrates: We eat too much of them and they provide us with little nutritive value - not to mention the issue of glycemic response.

The No Flour, No Sugar Diet suggests you can lose weight without a dedicated exercise plan. However, it does make some recommendations to increase those results. Exercise shouldn't be a punishment, so find something that you'll look forward to doing and give that 30-60 minutes each day.

It seems that the No Flour, No Sugar Diet would be most ideal for individuals with food allergies who are looking for support to eat healthy. However, if you're looking for a low-carb plan, this one definitely takes it to the extreme. Some testimonials say it's hard to stick to because you're refusing yourself some of the foods you really enjoy, like sandwiches, pizza or pastries. The diet requires a lot of effort on the user's part, as there is daily journaling, measuring portions, detailed reading of food labels (searching for those hidden sugars) and a daily commitment to exercise.

Sample Meal Plans

* Breakfast: Omelet muffin, sliced fresh strawberries
* Morning Snack: Diced cantaloupe
* Lunch: Greek salad
* Afternoon: No-sugar-added yogurt
* Dinner: Chicken breasts in Rosemary-Dijon sauce, spinach salad with tomato vinaigrette, steamed brown rice

* Breakfast: Whole-grain cereal (with no flour or added sugar), nonfat milk, fresh peach
* Morning Snack: Diced pineapple
* Lunch: Green salad with water-packed tuna, sliced tomato, shredded carrot, and no-sugar-added vinaigrette
* Afternoon: Spiced Edamame (Soy beans in the pod)
* Dinner: Meatballs in tomoto sauce and baked polenta with fresh corn

* Breakfast: Basic Crepe filled with sliced lean ham and reduced-fat cheese; sliced apple
* Morning Snack: 1 stalk celery fille with reduced-fat, no-sugar-added peanut butter
* Lunch: Taco salad with spiced prawns
* Afternoon: Spiced Edamame
* Dinner: Curry yogurt chicken, steamed or sauteed zucchini, steamed brown rice