The best way to make changes to your diet is to make gradual changes and give yourself time to develop new habits.
For example:
-
Make one small change each week.
-
Add one piece of fruit a day to your eating.
-
Start to drink two more glasses of water a day.
-
Try a new low fat recipe or snack food each week.
-
Choose wholemeal or whole grain bread instead of white.
-
Trim the visible fat from raw meat, and grill meat rather than frying it.
-
Try spreading less butter on your bread, only buttering one piece of bread in a sandwich, or leaving off butter altogether if you are having mayonnaise.
-
If you like hot chips, did you know that the thicker the chip, the less fat it absorbs? So, if you can't resist chips, choose thick chips rather than thin french fries or 'shoe-string' chips.
-
You could choose to eat a smaller portion than you used to, or eat more slowly and give your body a chance to tell you when you are full.
If you decide to make a huge change overnight – eg. "No more chocolate! I swear I'm going to live on nuts, lentils and raw fruit and vegetables"- you're being way too hard on yourself and what's worse, you're setting yourself up for likely failure.
Also remember that starving yourself will make you more likely to binge eat. It is not a good idea to choose to starve yourself for any reason.
