ZAR's TOP TIPS!!

We get advice from all quarters for losing weight, maintaining weight loss and keeping fit. All I can do is give you my tips from my experience. Amazingly, I also read some of these and poo-pooed them!
In no particular order

- You must eat breakfast. Even if you're not hungry or you're "not a breakfast person", your body will learn and love it. It is so important to get your metabolism moving first thing.

- Eat most of your carbs in the first half of the day. You then have the rest of the day to burn them off.

- Eat as much unprocessed food as you can. Cook from raw.

- Plan your meals for the day and the week. Carry healthy snacks with you. If you're hungry and you have something on you, you'll be less likely to have that high carb chocolate bar which will give you a sugar high and leave you feeling like crap 30 mins later.

- Drink lots of water, at least 2 litres. Try and drink lots in the morning and then you can ease off in the afternoon.

- Portion control - even when you're eating healthy, it's easy to eat too much. Example, the average serve of breakfast cereal is 30g (just over 1 oz) Have you ever weighed that? And compared it to what you usually eat?

- Keep a food diary. This is a real commitment and hard work but really does keep you on track in terms of what you put in your mouth. G blogged a couple of weeks ago about online tools and programs which enable you to keep track. There are plenty of websites which give you nutritional information on all foods.

- Keep busy. Boredom invariably means you put something in your mouth. Know your weak times, for most people evening times and have a method of dealing with cravings. I have a cup of peppermint tea after dinner which takes away the cravings for something sweet. Go to bed and read, or do something with your hands, get jiggy with it - whatever!! (I heard Will Smith on the radio yesterday!)

- Aim to exercise everyday. This sounds like alot but it really is all about getting into a routine. Even a 30 min powerwalk. Also find an exercise plan that fits in with your life. If it's too hard then you'll be less likely to do it.

- Don't reward yourself with food ever again. We've all done it. I used to be particularly bad. Find another way to reward yourself - flowers, manicure, going to a football match etc. In due course the reward will be feeling so great and being in control - there is nothing like that!