Susie’s tips for successful weight loss

Focus on vegetables

For optimal health, we should eat 1-2 cups of vegetables or salad at lunch and 2-3 cups at dinner. Not only are vegetables an important source of key nutrients but they are low in calories, which means we can eat them to our heart’s content without gaining weight.

They will also keep you full, which helps to fend off snack attacks throughout the day. Increase your veggie intake by adding mushrooms, tomato or spinach to your breakfast, drinking vegetable juices and eating a salad or soup with lunch.

Watch the coffee

There’s nothing wrong with a cup or two of small, heart-starting coffees a day. But it’s important to keep liquid calories in check by avoiding too many large lattes or cappuccinos. Piccolo serves are a good option or make the switch to black tea and coffee.

Always carry a protein-rich snack

Make sure you have a nutritious snack on hand when your tummy is rumbling between meals to avoid reaching for a high-calorie muffin or cake.

Try a protein or nut bar, pre-packaged cheese and crackers, roasted chickpeas or broad beans.

Be strict with your eating times

In the battle of the bulge, it’s often not what we are eating but when we are eating that’s the problem. With our busy lifestyles, breakfast can get pushed past 9am, lunch to 2 or 3pm and we are lucky if dinner is on the table by 9pm. But the human body is programmed according to a 24 clock called a circadian rhythm, meaning our hormones work to burn food during the day and store it at night.

By aligning our meal times with our body clocks, we can boost weight loss and reduce the amount being stored. Always aim to eat your breakfast by 8am, lunch by 1pm and dinner by 8pm.

Enjoy a cheat meal

Eating out with friends at your favourite restaurant is one of life’s greatest pleasures. But try to limit dining out to once or twice a week. The average meal consumed away from the home contains at least 200-300 more calories.

To download our eight-week meal plan, click here

Photo from Gesina Kunkel at Unsplash