A quick guide to weight loss

01.Tips for sustainable weight loss

Coming to grips with your own body and making the best of what you’ve got is a safer bet than yet another failed diet. But if you do choose to diet, give the pills and potions a miss and follow our diet tips.

• Aim to lose weight slowly — lose more than a kilo a week and you’re probably losing water and muscle, not fat.
• Set achievable goals — if you’ve got a lot to lose set smaller goals along the way, such as seeing a reduction in your blood pressure, or buying just one new item of clothing when you’re partway to your goal weight.
• Opt for a healthier lifestyle — eating lots of fruit and vegetables and taking regular exercise, rather than punishing yourself with a strict diet.
• Don’t aim for unachievable body-shape goals. Pear-shaped people who lose weight usually become smaller pears. A supermodel’s body lurks inside very, very, very few people, no matter how much weight they lose.
• Focus on where you can cut the fat in your diet — do you spread too much on your bread; eat lots of fried snacks; not cut the fat off your meat? Small changes are easier to stick to.
• Fill up on fruit, veges, cereals and bread — just don’t add fatty toppings or spreads.
• Try to listen to your body — are you really hungry or just bored or sad? Maybe you can do something enjoyable other than eat — or just get active round the house or garden to take your mind off it.
• Don’t talk yourself into a ‘healthy food tastes boring’ frame of mind. Experiment with healthy choices to find out what you like.
• Exercise is the most important thing you can do — find time for yourself each day to be more active.
• Become acquainted with food labels — hidden fats and sugars may be lurking in your favourite foods.
• Don’t be taken in by fast-talking sales pitches, secret ingredients or wonder foods. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Find out more about healthy eating.