Dreamy cold desserts

Most people adore desserts and you don`t have to give them up just because you are on diet.
Some of the following recipes have serving suggestions, which are included in the calorie
count. If not, and you want to add a little low-fat cream, very low-fat crème fraiche or
yoghurt, add on a further 50 calories per portion to be on the safe side.

Delicious dressing sauces and sundries

Use these to brighten up salads, plain vegetables and desserts. In many cases in this book they are included in the calorie count. If you add them to plain salad vegetables or fruit of your choice, add on an extra 50 calories to include all the vegetables or fruit except potatoes. Add on 100 for an average portion of potatoes or 150 calories if adding or dressing to a large jacked-baked potato. All can be stored in the fridge in a screw-topped jar for 2-3 days if necessary.

Stunning Soups and Starters

You can, of course, enjoy any of these as a light lunch or supper but they are ideal to serve as a first course when you are entertaining to impress your friends or family. If you want to serve bread with them, add on an extra 70 calories per average piece.

Big Breakfasts

Breakfast is perhaps the most important meal of the day. You must give your body fuel to keep it going though the morning whether you’re on a diet or not. If you start off the day hungry, you’ll be far more tempted to have biscuits with your morning coffee or pig out at lunchtime. Try to get up a little earlier so you can enjoy the meals rather than grabbing a piece of toast as you rush out of the door. The serving suggestions are included in the Calories count.

Sneaky Eating Tips

You shouldn’t be hungry at all of you cook, But if you are normally used to very large portions, try any of the following:

• Use a smaller plate for meals.

• Use thin-sliced bread then you can have two slices if you want which makes you feel you’ve had more.

• A glass of naturally sparkling mineral water with your meal will help fill you up (and between meals zip it up with a slice of lemon or lime).

• Use a strong - flavored cheese in cooking then you won’t need so much to give it a good flavor.

• Cut foods into smaller pieces or thinner slices. Have the same number as normal – you’ll think you’ve had the same but you’ll actually have had less.

• Chew slowly and eat small forkfuls. Your meal will last longer.

• Never go shopping on an empty stomach – its too tempting.

• Try to time meals for before you’re ravenously hungry.

• If you feel really puckish, eat some raw carrots – or any salad vegetables, a bunch of grapes or slice of apple – to keep you going and take the edge off your appetite.

• A drink of meat or yeast extract – a teaspoon in a mug of boiling water – is another good way to take the edge off your appetite or fill up between meals.

• Keep a packet of sugar-free chewing gum handy and chew between meals. Alternatively, clean your teeth instead of grabbing a biscuit – it really works.

• Always take the trouble to make tout look appetizing, A sprinkling of parsley or vegetables attractively arranged can help you enjoy what you’re eating rather than just eating for the sake of it.

Good Diet Tips

• Choose low-fat diet yoghurts, cheese, cream etc.

• Drink skimmed milk.

• Eat as many vegetables or salad stuffs as you like – but not laced with gallons of oil o r melted butter!

• Remove all fat or skin from meat and poultry before eating.

• Grill (broil) rather than fry (sauté).

• Have only the minimum of fat for cooking.

• When browning meat for a made-up dish, dry-fry (sauté) rather than adding fat.

• Don’t add sugar to fruits in natural juice only, not syrups, and drink unsweetened pure juices (beware the cartons of fruit juices drinks that contain sugar and other additives).

• Don’t fill up on shop-brought biscuits, cakes or sweets. Choose health or alternatives like fruits, salads or raw vegetables.

• Check labels for reduce-fats cheeses and creams substitutes which often have more calories than the real thing!

• Don’t weigh yourself more often than once a week.

Drinks

Make sure you drink plenty of water – from the tap, filtered or mineral according to your preference. If you’re really not keen on it, flavor it with a low- calories squash.
Pure fruit juices are good for you but should be classed as part of a meal. I’ve included them in the breakfast counts because that’s when I like a glass (and vitamin C in them helps you absorb iron in foods like fortifies breakfast cereals). If you drink a small glass at other times of the day, add on 50 calories a glass.

Tea and coffee area fine in moderation but drinks them preferably after meals or in between as the tannin in these beverages impairs the absorption of some essential nutrients. Use skimmed milk or drink them black (tea with lemon is good). But No sugar. If you have a sweet tooth, you’ll have to use artificial sweeteners, but ideally you should wean yourself off the sweetness as it will help your diet as a whole.

Try to consume at least 300 ml ½ pt/ ½ cups of skimmed milk during the day but that includes what you put on cereal or use in cooking.

Alcohol is not a dieter’s friend since it contains lots of empty calories. However, far be it from me to say you must abstain completely. Have it as a treat with a meal or as an occasional evening tipple to sip and enjoy. But never drink alcohol to quench your thirst. Allow yourself a drink only if you are under the limit of calories for the day, don’t drink in place of good nutritious food and, if you must drink spirits, make sure you have low-calories mixers.

As a guide, count 100 calories per single measure of alcohol, that is a half-print of beer or larger, a wineglass of wine, a small sherry or a single measure of spirits. This is actually an overestimation but it means you’ll be ‘in credit’ rather than the other way round! But beware because if you’ve decided on 1000 calories a day and you treat yourself to two glasses because if you’ve decided of wine or a double G&T, it’s a fifth of your daily calories.

No-effort Calorie Counting

You’ll see all the recipes are calories-counted into groups. Each recipe has been rounded
up to the nearest 50calories so you wont have to spend hours with a calculator and you’ll
know you are always a credit’ because many recipes in the section may be quite a few
calories fewer than the maximum! So set your target of how many calories you want to eat in
a day and choose recipes that will make up to that. But don’t give yourself a headache –
you can mix and match from any of the recipes and you’ll still lose weight, but it will be
a much more gradual process. Once you’ve reached your target, start eating the number of
calories you will automatically use up in a day (approximately 1900 for a woman, 2500 for a
man) and you should maintain the weight loss.

A healthy Balance

Crank dieting is stupid. Your body needs the proper balance of nutrients to keep you fit and healthy. By cutting out a particular food group, you may lose weight, but you’ll also become unfit and probably ill. So every day you must have:

• Proteins for body growth and repair. The best sources are fish, lean meat, poultry, dairy products and eggs. Eat 2-3 small portions a day.

• Carbohydrates for energy. Contrary to popular belief they are not fattening: it’s the fat or sugar you mix with them that piles on the calories. Best sources are bread (all types), pasta, rice, cereals (including breakfast cereals but choose wholegrain varieties not sugar-coated ones) and potatoes. Eat plenty.

• Vitamins and minerals for general well-being. Best sources are fruits and vegetables, preferably fresh but frozen or canned in water or natural juice with no added sugar or salt are fine. Eat at least 5 portions a day.

• Fat (the dieter’s enemy). The fat your body needs occurs naturally in other foods so keep added fat to a minimum and eat very sparingly (see Good Diet Tips right).

• Fiber for healthy body functioning. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, wholegrain cereals, skins on potatoes.