Weight loss tips
Here are a few tips to help you to lose weight and prevent any regain:
Monitor portion sizes: it is very easy to consume more food than you realise so serve smaller portions or use smaller plates than normal.
Visit our Food Portions section to learn more about this.
Eat a wide variety of foods: healthy doesn’t have to be boring! There are a wide range of tasty, healthy foods out there so take your pick! Choosing foods from all of the 5 food groups will ensure that you get the vitamins, minerals and fibre that you need.
To learn more visit our Food Portions section.
Eat breakfast: this is the most important meal of the day yet many people do without. The problem with that is that you are then tempted to reach for a high fat, sugar laden snack half way through the morning.
Don’t miss meals: it can be tempting to skip a meal here and there but this can lead to a drop in blood sugar levels as well as hunger pangs. And being too hungry can mean reaching for that forbidden doughnut or biscuit! Try to eat little and often.
Take exercise: 30 minutes exercise a day or three, 10 minute sessions can help to keep you fit and healthy. The answer is to find something you enjoy doing and stick at it.
Reduce alcohol consumption: alcohol contains more calories than you think and it can soon add up. For example, a glass of wine contains around 120 calories which is as much as a piece of cake!
Nibbling or ‘grazing’: it is very easy to nibble a couple of biscuits or a handful of crisps without giving it too much thought but those calories do add up over time.
Eating little and often is a good idea but keep to healthy snacks such as piece of fruit or a low fat yoghurt rather than sugary carbohydrates.
Eat spicy food: there is evidence to show that spicy foods can help to speed up your metabolism which aids with calorie burning. This is known as ‘thermogenesis’. Choose from a range of thermogenic foods such as cayenne pepper, broccoli, tomatoes, salsa and green tea.
Don’t visit the supermarket when you are hungry: if you go food shopping when you are hungry then you are likely to impulse buy or buy more than you need.
Keeping a food diary can help. This enables you to monitor what you eat in a day and where those extra calories might be are coming from.
There is more information about this and weight management issues in general in our Healthy Weight section.
There are other types of diets which are equally popular but are not seen as a ‘fad diet’. These diets are seen as more of a way of life rather than a short term fix and include the following:
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Weight Watchers
- Mediterranean
- Low GI
- Macrobiotic