Dieting tips and information

At some point in our lives most of us have probable thought we could do with losing a few pounds but often go about dieting in completely the wrong manner, which is why it is important to find out information about how to diet the safe way.

If you are hoping to go down a dress size or two it is important that you are realistic and set yourself achievable targets. One way in which you could start this is by having a chat to your GP/dietician about how much weight you are hoping to lose, they can then put together a diet plan that most suits your diet needs. Also remember there are no quick fixes when it comes to long term weight loss; you should start to reduce the amount of calories you eat and change what you eat in order to lose weight. You should start with small practical changes and then gradually increase them.

It has been said that currently within the UK over half of women and two thirds of men are either overweight or obese. The number of people who fall into this category is higher than ever and as a more people are now developing health problems as a result of being overweight or obese.

As previously mentioned one of the best ways of maintaining weight loss is through a calorie controlled diet. In order to help you with this form of dieting you should try and keep a food diary; this involves writing down everything that you have ate and drank in a day. By doing this you are giving yourself a clearly idea of the amount of calories that you are consuming everyday, which means you can use this food diary as a way of cutting down the amount of calories you are eating and drinking, an example of this is you could replace snacks such as crisps or chocolate with pieces of fruit.

It is important that when you are choosing your diet that you keep in mind the fact that you should still be eating a varied diet, which enables you to eat a wide range of foods. You should still be eating your five fruit and vegetables a day as well as ensuring that you are getting starchy carbohydrates such as wholemeal bread, brown rice and cereal. Some other tips that you may find useful are as follows:

" Eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables " Use less butter, margarine and vegetable oils " Choose low-fat varieties of dairy products, meat, fish and vegetarian alternatives " Boil, poach, grill, steam and microwave food instead of frying or roasting

As well as monitoring what type of foods you are eating you should also control your portion sizes. What is meant by this is that you eat your three meals a day but just cut down the size of meals.

The main thing to remember when it comes to dieting is to remember that it takes time. You should be aiming to lose about one or two pounds a week. By doing this you are ensuring that the weight stays off and you are getting rid of the unwanted fat without causing yourself any harm.

Helen is the web master of Medicalley, specialists in all your dieting advice and exercise tips.