Hints to Help Healthy Weight Loss

• Make a shopping list and stick to it. The temptation to buy items on impulse is reduced and you won’t overstock the refrigerator or cupboards. Shop after meals, not when you’re hungry. That way, you’re more likely to buy only what you need.

• Instead of choosing packaged foods, check to see if the fresh equivalents are available. The benefits? More nourishment, fewer additives – so fewer toxins – and, probably, less expense!

• Drink plenty of water between meals and another glass ten minutes before each meal. If you’re flagging and aren’t able to eat, a glass of water can help to stave off hunger pangs.

• If you suffer from ‘water weight’ or bloating, drinking more can actually help to reduce fluid retention. Try also to cut down on salt. It has a nasty habit of hanging on to water and may aggravate weight problems even if the diet is otherwise perfect. Give food more flavour and extra nourishment by using culinary herbs, balsamic vinegar, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and ginger.

• Be sensible about fat intake but don’t cut it out altogether. Fat isn’t all bad. As well as providing vitamins and essential fatty acids, it satiates hunger and reduces the temptation to snack on junk. However, feel free to snack on healthier items. Any kind of fresh

fruit is good. Or how about a bowl of home-made vegetable soup, a green salad, half an avocado with oil and vinegar dressing, sticks of raw veg with curd cheese or soda bread with a little butter and real honey? Research shows that eating little and often not only improves digestion but helps to keep kilos and cholesterol in check!

• Promise yourself that you’ll eat plenty of fresh fruit as between-meal snacks. This improves vitamin and minerai intake and, at the same time, cancels cravings. Keeping blood glucose well balanced in this way is great for preventing mid-morning binges and midafternoon slumps in energy.

• Don’t deep-fry anything, and avoid take-aways and pre-packaged foods that are high in fat. Say no to yellow spreads (and any other foods) that are made with hydrogenated vegetable oils. Foods that provide natural polyunsaturates – from seeds, nuts, vegetables and cold-pressed oils – are particularly important. Use extra-virgin olive oil for cooking and a little butter or non-hydrogenated margarine for spreading.

• If cheese, cream, mayonnaise, ice-cream or yoghurt are on your regular shopping list and you usually choose low-fat varieties, go instead for the full-fat versions and eat half the quantity that you would normally. Low-fat equivalents are often loaded with artificial additives (yet more toxins) which, some experts believe, can cause weight increase by encouraging liver toxicity.

• Go for heaps of wholegrains, fresh vegetables and salads, fresh and canned fish, organic poultry (minus

the skin), free-range eggs, soya beans, beancurd, lentils, seeds, chickpeas, organic jacket potatoes, fresh and dried fruit, real cheeses and live yoghurt made from sheep’s or goat’s milk. Swap white rice for brown. Up your intake of pasta: if you want to increase variety, health stores have a huge range of tasty non-wheat alternatives to ordinary spaghetti, made from rice, buckwheat and rye – quick to cook and well worth trying.

• Avoid ordinary sandwich bread – the spongy stuff that lasts for days. It is made from mass-produced bread wheat and usually laced heavily with extra yeast and extra gluten (both common allergens) and dosed with a number of additives. Sensitivity to wheat-based foods can be the sole cause of some weight problems! Good alternatives are yeast-free soda bread (check the label, some soda bread isn’t yeast-free), rye bread or pumpernickel (black rye). Brown pitta bread does contain yeast but less of it and may still be a better option than a standard loaf that’s loaded with additives. It’s worth remembering that the denser the texture the better the bread, and these are the foods that help most to satiate your appetite, provide improved levels of nourishment and reduce the risk of binges and cravings.

• Start the day with a decent meal and don’t be tempted to miss meals during the day. It won’t help weight problems in the long term.

• If you have a tendency to overeat, try dishing meals up on smaller plates. Quantities still look generous but you’ll avoid bingeing.

• Get up and go! Introduce two teaspoons of organic linseeds or a teaspoon of Linoforce granules into your daily routine. These gentle forms of fibre encourage a sluggish bowel into life and can help to get rid of clogged wastes.

• I know I’ve said it before but it really does make a difference to weight and energy levels if you sit down to meals. Take a few moments to calm yourself before tucking in. Breathe more deeply. Chew everything thoroughly and rest for ten minutes after the last mouthful. These are simple but effective ways of improving the chances of food being utilized properly.

• Don’t allow mealtimes to be disrupted by the demands of other people. If someone wants something while you are eating, suggest calmly that they wait until you have finished. You’re not a slave. You owe it to yourself to enjoy your own food and to nourish yourself.

• Avoid colours such as red, orange and yellow in plates, tableware, napkins or cutlery. The reason so many fastfood outlets make use of these colours is because they know it encourages you to eat more! Instead, go for green, turquoise or light blue. If necessary, change the paint in your dining area and kitchen, and avoid wearing reds and oranges too.

• Take more exercise. Apart from helping to strengthen bones, tone muscles and reduce the risk of heart disease, exercise also stimulates the body to shed toxins. A 20-30-minute brisk walk each day (40 to 60 minutes three times a week) encourages a balanced appetite. If your lifestyle really doesn’t allow time to exercise

outside, consider the possibility of having exercise equipment at home. Could you find space in the spare room, garage or shed for a treadmill, rowing machine, stationary bike or rebounder (mini-trampoline)? Rebounding is a great way to improve lymph drainage and provides good exercise without jarring the spine or joints.

• Remember, where weight problems have not responded to any other type of diet, an increasing number of practitioners now recommend a programme of food combining. Try it initially for 30 days and then for, say, four or five days a week to maintain a sensible balance. Do keep in mind that food combining does not involve calorie-counting or portionweighing.

• If nothing you do makes any difference, I would very strongly recommend a consultation with a qualified nutrition practitioner. Intractable weight problems can be caused by conditions such as candidiasis and hypoglycaemia, both of which respond well to nutritional treatment. The Directory on page 139 will tell you how to find help.