Eating carbohydrates strategically is important. This is where awareness comes into play. If you eat meals and snacks that are high in high glycemic carbohydrates early in the day, you will need to reduce your high GI carbohydrate intake dramatically later in the day. Conversely, if you know you are going out to dinner with friends or family in the evening, try to consume less high glycemic carbohydrates during the day so that you can enjoy your dinner without feeling guilty. If you intend to have dessert, be conscious of that when you order your dinner and make sure your dinner is a balanced 40:30:30 meal of lean protein and vegetables. Then, when you get the dessert, have a couple of bites and pass it around for the rest of the table to try.

As I said earlier, it is preferable to eat your high glycemic(starchy) carbohydrates earlier in the day and taper them off throughout the day. In other words, your last meal of the day should come primarily from lean protein sources, vegetables, and fruit. Why is this important? You expend energy(calories) throughout each day just by being in motion. If you eat your starchy carbohydrates before 1 P.M., you allow yourself time to burn those high glycemic carbohydrate calories as fuel. However, if you eat them late in the day, when you are typically less active, you are less likely to burn off those calories and more apt to store them as fat.

Another time you want to eat your high glycemic carbohydrates is immediately following an exercise session. Your body has a window of thirty to forty-five minutes post exercise to maximize glycogen replenishment and utilize those carbohydrates optimally. If you do your exercise sessions in the evenings, my suggestion is to ingest only low to moderate glycemic carbohydrate late in the day after a workout.

Eating carbohydrates strategically is a very important component of this program. All it takes is a little awareness and foresight to salvage any poor eating day or even to rescue it. Remember, it's your state of mind that makes all the difference. Don't give in to the impulse to eat high glycemic carbohydrates when you can consciously make a healthier choice. That is self-defeating behavior, and I don't know if you remember, but we checked that behavior at the door a long time ago. Remember: not succeeding is not an option.