Tips to lose weight – "Like a bird honestly" – The second part

Here are some ideas on how to fix your eating problems:

Try to keep a food diary for 3 days, including a weekend day. Everything you eat and drink EVERYTHING – goes on that list, along with the amount and time of day. Also write how you felt: were you really hungry? Or maybe just boring and a little fed up? Did you eat that piece of cake just because it was there? Be honest – the Food Police won’t crash into your kitchen window just because you’ve gotten out a bit!

After 3 days, take a look at your list. Can you see any patterns emerging? Do you skip breakfast every morning because you’re too busy and then have a latte and a Danish at 10am? Do you eat half a sandwich at your desk at 1.30 and then succumb to the lure of that KitKat at 3 because you’re feeling giddy with hunger? Then when you get home, you are hungry enough to eat a horse and chase the rider halfway to Paris. And you are tired and probably stressed. You can’t face the kitchen, so you order takeout, succumb to a few glasses of wine, and before you know it, you’re sitting on the couch chewing on a family-size bag of Maltesers. Sounds familiar? Well believe me, you are not alone!

It is habits like these that you are trying to identify. Sugary snacks and cakes add calories without nourishing you, and most takeout meals are fat-laden processed junk. You wake up the next morning feeling absolutely dirty, and it all starts all over again!

Your body is a machine. Cleverly designed and perfectly engineered. And you only get one! This wonderful machine deserves five-star fuel, right? You wouldn’t run your precious new car on poor quality gasoline, would you? So why do that to your infinitely more precious body?

Here are some ideas to change your eating habits and make them healthier. No, that doesn’t mean you should live on bean sprouts and tofu. Believe me, I love food. Unlike many Personal Trainers, who eat to live, I live to eat!

• If you can’t resist snacks like chips and chocolate, just don’t keep them at home. The same applies to alcohol. When you find yourself walking a mile to stores in a thunderstorm just to get some booze and a bag of Cheesy Wotsits, you’re beyond any help I can give you!
• If you keep them for the kids (do you really want them to eat that junk?), Keep them in one closet. Buy a very small quantity once a week and when it runs out, it will run out. I find that I am reasonably safe as long as I stay away from that particular closet. When my daughter opens it to get her “ration”, I can smell the chocolate from 3 rooms away! (You think I’m kidding?) As for the small amount you allow yourself, enjoy every bite.
• Never allow yourself to be very hungry. Eat 3 or more SMALL meals a day and between them chop a piece of fruit or a handful of dates or something similar. You should not go more than 3 to 4 hours without eating at most.
• ALWAYS eat breakfast. Your mother was right! It doesn’t have to be complicated. Porridge with semi-skimmed milk, or whole-grain toast, or just plain yogurt with fruit if you can’t handle anything else. I have friends who take whole grains, milk, bowl, a lot to work with.
• Plan your meals in advance and buy what you need. So you always have something easy to prepare for a tasty and healthy meal. Things like chicken breasts, pork steaks, salmon steaks. Have a selection of vegetables in your freezer; potatoes, rice (whole wheat or basmati), whole wheat pasta and couscous in your pantry and you have the base of several easy and healthy meals. Use spices and herbs for flavor instead of salt.

Remember: if you eat the way you should 80% of the time, you can eat the way you want the rest. The problem is that most of us do it the other way around.

Happy chewing.