Dieting and slimming - These are just 2 words, but these 2 words can cause so
much anguish.
How to find the best slimming diet for you.
Once you've done the groundwork, it's time to devise a diet plan that will
work for you. While ‘miracle' slimming diets that claim they'll help you lose
weight fast might sound tempting, many will...
* Severely restrict your food intake
* Have you scouring the supermarket shelves for weird and wonderful ingredients
* Require you to make time-consuming meals
* Ban certain groups of foods such as carbs or dairy products as well as all
your favourites.
The result: meals will be boring and leave you feeling miserable or take too
long to prepare so that you quickly give up. These diets may also leave you
short on many nutrients if groups of foods are off limits, putting you at risk
of a whole host of health problems ranging from anaemia and osteoporosis to
constipation and lowered immunity.
Instead, it's best to avoid faddy diets and devise your own reduced-calorie
slimming diet based on what you currently eat, including some of your favourite
foods.
The good thing about this is, that it allows you to adapt your diet to your
lifestyle – rather than trying to change your lifestyle to fit around mealtimes.
This means you can still create incredible meals if you love cooking or can
simply heat up a ready meal if you don't like, or have time, to spend hours in
the kitchen.
Better still, cutting your calorie intake for slimming purposes isn't usually
as hard as it sounds. Often it is as simple as reducing your portion sizes
slightly and/or making simple calorie swaps every day. For example, swapping a
daily Danish pastry for a wholemeal scone will save a staggering 275 calories,
while having a small 150ml glass of wine instead of a large 230ml glass will
save almost 70 calories. Slimming really is that easy.
Simple calorie swaps to lose weight
Saving calories is easier than you think! Just follow some of the little
changes on our slimming menu plan below and discover how they can make big differences
to your waistline.
Simple calorie swaps to lose weight - Breakfasts
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2 slices of toast and butter (325 calories)
2 slices of toast with low-fat spread (220 calories)
105 calories
6tbsp muesli (330 calories)
6tbsp branflakes (155 calories)
175 calories
1 blueberry muffin (550 calories)
1 bagel with honey (215 calories)
335 calories
1 croissant (215 calories)
1 wholemeal fruit scone (155 calories)
60 calories
Full-fat milk on cereal (65 calories)
Skimmed milk on cereal (35 calories)
30 calories
1tbsp peanut butter (85 calories)
Scrape off Marmite (0 calories)
85 calories
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Simple calorie swaps to lose weight - Lunches
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1 small can tuna in oil with salad (285 calories)
1 small can tuna in water with salad (150 calories)
135 calories
1 small can of tomato soup (160 calories)
1 small can of carrot soup (65 calories)
95 calories
1 jacket potato with cheese (445 calories)
1 jacket potato with cottage cheese (335 calories)
110 calories
1 regular sandwich (600 calories)
1 low-fat sandwich (350 calories)
250 calories
1tbsp mayonnaise on salad (105 calories)
1tbsp fat-free dressing (10 calories)
95 calories
4 inch piece of French bread (220 calories)
1 small wholemeal roll (115 calories)
105 calories
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Simple calorie swaps to lose weight - Dinners
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Battered sweet and sour chicken and egg fried rice (1,105 calories)
Chicken with cashew nuts and boiled rice (750 calories)
355 calories
Tagliatelle with a creamy carbonara sauce (1,020 calories)
Tagliatelle with a tomato sauce (400 calories)
620 calories
Steak and kidney pie (570 calories)
Cottage pie (350 calories)
220 calories
Large pepperoni pizza (1,120 calories)
Large veggie pizza (835 calories)
285 calories
Beef lasagne (665 calories)
Vegetable lasagne (470 calories)
195 calories
1tbsp oil in cooking (100 calories)
10 sprays of a spray oil (10 calories)
90 calories
Cheese and onion quiche and salad (595 calories)
Cheese and onion omelette and salad (345 calories)
250 calories
2 grilled sausages (270 calories)
1 grilled large skinless chicken breast (175 calories)
95 calories
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Simple calorie swaps to lose weight - Snacks
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1 small pot of low-fat fruit yoghurt (135 calories)
