Hints & Tips
Diet Busters
Drinking Wine
Pub measures of wine have increased in the last few years – and if you regularly order a large (250ml) glass of white you'll be racking up around 200 calories per glass. That's the equivalent to a chocolate bar – so it makes sense to alternate with soft drinks or opt for spritzers if you're watching your weight.
Large Portions
Just because food is healthy, that doesn't mean you can eat as much as you want. Keep an eye on portion sizes, and be extra careful with carbs like pasta, rice and potatoes, as it's easy to over eat. As a guide, aim to fill half your plate with salad or veg, one quarter with starchy foods and one quarter with protein.
Lose Weight Without Trying
Eat More Not Less
Eliminate the word 'diet' from your vocabulary. The very word suggests deprivation. Instead, focus on eating healthily and ADDING foods. Fill up on fruit and veg and you'll have more energy and won't crave (or have room for) fattening foods. Research shows that slimmers who eat a bowl of vegetable soup before dinner consume fewer calories and lose more weight than those who do not.
Don’t Exercise
While you're at it, ban the word exercise from your vocabulary too. Instead, find an activity you enjoy – and do more of it. If you love walking join a rambling club or sign up for a charity walk. Give new things a try – maybe you'll love learning to tango, ice-skating, belly dancing, playing netball or fencing? There are endless ways to be active without doing 'exercise.'
Don’t change too much
To lose weight and keep it off you need to change your lifestyle. The best way is to introduce alterations gradually. Give yourself time to get used to one change and make it a new habit before making the next. That could mean introducing a new food swap each week or doing more activity. Do too much too soon and you set yourself up to fail.
Flat Tummy Tips
Spin It
Grab your hula hoop and wiggle your way to a washboard belly. Start by standing with one foot in front of the other, then position the hoop above your waist. Hold it with both your hands and rotate to whichever side you prefer. Keep it spinning by shifting your weight back and forth between each leg.
Avocado or Chocolate..?
Scientists have discovered that foods rich in monounsaturated fats such as dark chocolate, avocados and nuts not only protect against heart disease, diabetes, breast and lung cancer but also shift toxic belly fat, reduce bloating and actively flatten tums.
No more Fizz
Beat the bloat by ditching fizzy drinks. The bubbles that make your pop so effervescent end up blowing up your belly so deflate by switching the soda for tummy taming herbal tea or water.
Tips From Around The World
Always start with soup
The Japanese traditionally start their meals with soup, particularly the vegetable broth kind, and it's a proven stay-slim technique. The theory goes that you're already slightly full when your main meal arrives you'll eat less of the fattening stuff.
Eat big at lunchtime
Too many of us reserve our biggest meal for the evening. But take a tip from India's 5,000-year-old Ayurveda approach to wellness and eat you main meal of the day at midday (if possible). Ayurveda advises that our digestive 'fire', known as Agni is at its strongest between 10am and 2pm, which means we digest more efficiently.
Make it colourful
The Japanese say 'not dressing up the meal with colour is like going out without clothes'. If you've got colour on your plate – greens, yellows, reds and so on – the chances are you're getting all kinds of low-calorie, vegetable goodness.