TIPS

Always eat first thing in the morning – this kick starts your metabolism, which starts to burn the fat.

Drink plenty of water throughout the day – this helps to drain your lymphatic system of any nasty toxins making you feel better.

Eat little and often throughout the day rather than eat three main meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner – this helps burn the calories off the before you start to eat again.

Don’t always eat when you feel hungry – a glass of water can often feed the hunger pains.

Use correct portion sizes – as a general rule, 1 portion should be the size of a clenched fist.

To increase the volume of food you are using try grating it, this gives you more volume so you don’t have to use as much.

Eat a sensible and varied diet, including 5 portions of fresh fruit and vegetables, and meat and fish – this gives you all the vitamins and amino acids needed for your body to function correctly.

Always drink plenty of fluid (not alcohol) when eating as this helps digestion.

When cooking food, try not to add any extra salt or sugar and try to cook foods in a way that you don’t retain the fats such as grilling or steaming.

Aim to have eaten your dinner by 8pm or have a lighter meal after then, this will help unnecessary weight gain and improve your quality of sleep.

If buying ready made meals, try and choose ones that have no more than 5 grams of fat per 100 grams.

Digestion begins in the mouth so eat slowly and chew food thoroughly.  It takes 20 minutes for the brain to register that your full so eat slowly.

Write a shopping list when you do a large shop as this stops you buying things that are impulse buys and are not needed.