Most weight loss plans are difficult because they involve dieting — and depending on the psychological issues that may be at the root of your weight gain, this can be an especially challenging thing to do. Even if you’re mentally committed to the idea of losing weight, you may still find yourself rebelling. You may also find that the feeling of deprivation leads you to other self-destructive behaviors, such as smoking or drinking. If this describes you, you may benefit from counseling to deal with your weight issues and other issues underlying your weight problems.
Meanwhile, eating plans that promise to help you lose weight by adding rather than taking away food may appeal to you and may actually work much better. This may seem counterintuitive, as losing weight always requires eating less. Although there are some exceptions. Among them is a time-honored method that involves eating semolina—a cooked grain, similar to cream of wheat—three times a day. The logic is that if you eat 300 grams of cooked semolina three times a day, it will fill you up and prevent you from consuming other foods. Your intake of other food will decrease, and you will lose weight.
This approach is a bit controversial, and may work best as a temporary, transitional method. For one thing, advocates of low-carb, high-protein eating would be horrified at this plan. Dr. Atkins will roll over in his own grave! Semolina is a high-carb, high-glycemic index food—it’s pure starch. Plus, consuming so much of it makes you less hungry for all other foods, including protein. Proponents of Atkins and other high-protein plans will say this is the worst possible thing you can do for your body. Of course, we must remember that the high protein approach is also controversial. From a nutritionist’s perspective, neither the high protein nor semolina plan would be ideal. However, most nutritionists’ food guides place grains at the top of the charts, so the Suji plan follows a standard food guide more closely, as long as you try to eat enough fruits, vegetables and protein to stay in balance. Are.
And if you do that, it will almost automatically eliminate junk food and empty calories. Few of us will be able to eat 300 grams of semolina three times a day and enough fruits, vegetables and protein, and still be able to eat foods that are excessively high in calories or fat. In a sense, semolina replaces other ’empty’ calories that many of us (if we have weight problems to begin with) eat as a regular part of our diet. Consuming semolina certainly may not represent optimal nutrition – but it is preferable to eating foods rich in fat and additives, such as potato chips, chocolate or candy. Of course, the semolina diet doesn’t forbid any of these junk foods – it only specifies that you have to eat a certain amount of semolina in a day, and make sure you’re getting enough vitamins and proteins in your diet. Most people will automatically eliminate tons of junk food because we just don’t have room for it.
On its own, semolina isn’t really that bad as a stable food, unless you subscribe to the ‘low carb’ philosophy (in which case, you’d probably never choose this diet to begin with!). It is low in fat, it is a natural food, and like other grains, it is rich in vitamins and minerals. If carbohydrates are your forte – and many of us tend to gain weight by eating excessive amounts of pasta or bread – then semolina will satisfy you. You are likely to have less cravings for other carbohydrate-rich foods. Also, consider the fact that the plan for semolina is actually very similar to the way many traditional cultures ate it. In traditional Asian cuisine, for example, rice was a staple, eaten at most meals. In some European cultures, porridge (oats) would have had the same function. Although these diets may not seem balanced to us today, they have kept people alive – and within a healthy weight range – for millennia!
