I was asked to look over a diet plan recently by a friend looking to lose weight. I was shocked at what I found – the diet contained too much fat, not enough carbohydrates and too many calories for my friend. It was obviously an american diet complete with bison burgers and everything measured in cups. Many of the foods were hard to find, expensive and a few of them I’d never even heard of.
The trouble with a diet like this is that it’s only ever going to be a short term plan and therefore weight gain is inevitable when you finish the diet . I know it can be difficult to know what to do to lose weight – there’s so much information available, so many diets to follow and everyone has an opinion. My advice for anyone looking to lose weight is to take it slowly and make small but permanent changes to your diet. Make a couple of small changes one week and then a couple more the next week and eventually all these small changes will add up to a big change in your diet, weight and health.
For example – for the 1st week you can make sure you eat breakfast everyday and get a walk during your lunch hour . Then in addition to these changes, for the 2nd week swap to wholegrain pasta instead of white and try to eat an extra portion of fruit every day. Then in addition to these changes, for the 3rd week swap to brown rice instead of white and try to eat 5 portions of fruit or veg every day.
I’m sure you get the picture – the trick is not to forget the changes of the previous weeks and keep adding to them – gradually. Lots of small changes add up to a big difference. If the changes you make are permanent there will be no need to go an another diet – ever. Now doesn’t that sound nice?
