ROSIE - The daily 'DIET'

Diet. Yuck, don’t you hate that word? It brings to mind starvation, dizziness, “bad, boring” food and general doom and gloom. The kind of thing you have to suffer because you’ve over-indulged at Christmas or have tried on your bikini and those love handles have increased in quantity since last year.

Well, I’ve got good news for you… yes, food is NOT your enemy! In fact, it’s your friend. Since qualifying in nutrition I have found so many people UNDEREAT and this, in fact, is the reason they struggle to lose weight. The key – you should not eat under 1500 calories per day. The fad diets – you know, those ones you see in magazines – the calorie count is ridiculously low. That’s the reason most people fall off the wagon and can’t stick to them – starting an unhealthy pattern of yo-yo dieting.

The reason? When you under-eat, your body clings onto all available sources of energy as it recognises the signs of starvation – yes, really! So it thinks, “okay, I’d better save some of this energy in case I really need it in the future”. So if you’re feeling very virtuous sticking to your three meals per day and your 1000-1200 calorie per day diet… think again.

Aim for at least 1500 calories – more if you’re exercising. The other key? Eat regularly – every 2-3 hours. It sounds ridiculous and to start with you will feel like you’re eating way too much for your body. However, your body will get used to it and start to utilise the energy as it should, by burning it off. So, smaller meals, more snacks and you’re onto a winner.

It’s also important to keep active, this will ensure your body does actually use the energy you consume – your metabolism will be super boosted. The two best bits – you should rarely be hungry and will have way more energy!

One thing to keep an eye on – those portion sizes. If you eat too much at each sitting then – of course – you will gain weight. It’s also really important that you don’t have a “main meal” anymore. Try and take that idea out of your mind as, whilst your three meals will be bigger than your snacks, most people eat their biggest meal way too big and way too late in the evening – your body has to work hard to metabolise the calories overnight. Still eat what you would usually eat but halve the portion and have it earlier than normal.

Below is an example day of how I eat to give you an idea of how regularly you should be consuming calories:

6 am: Breakfast – Fortified Muesli, orange juice, cup of tea.
9 am: Snack – Cereal bar or banana
12 noon: Lunch – Wholemeal pita with cheese, ham & salad & a yoghurt/piece of fruit.
3 pm: Snack – Fruit (say an apple) and handful of nuts & raisins.
7 pm: Supper – Tuna, avocado, feta salad/soup/chicken & veggies/omelette.
10 pm: Snack – A couple of biscuits (my treat!) or yoghurt or something light.

Give it a go – good luck!

PS I'm not ALWAYS this virtuous. I don't want you thinking I'm too much of a boring health freak. If you're good 90% of the time then 10% of the time you really deserve to enjoy yourself with food!