Wednesday, 30 November 2016

8 Things You Don't Know About Calories


8 Things You Don't Know About Calories


You know what calories are, and you probably know that if you eat too many, you’ll gain weight. But do you know how many are in your favorite deli sandwich? Or how many calories you should really eat each day? Most Americans don’t. Only 12% can accurately estimate the number of calories they should consume in a day someone their age, height, weight, and physical activity, according to a survey by the International Food Information Council Foundation. So what is it about calories that keeps us baffled?
Here are 8 reasons you’re confused about calories and the simple steps that will help you do the math.
1. Portions sizes are out of control
You’ve all heard about the rapidly expanding serving sizes of restaurant and fast food portions, but just how bad are they? Portions sizes in restaurants may contain double or triple the calories of home-cooked meals, and studies show eating out is associated with a higher BMI. Unfortunately, those portions affect our waistlines. When there’s more food on the plate, people eat more—up to 30% more, according to an analysis of several studies.Stop the confusion: Use this cheat sheet of portion sizes. We know it’s hard to look at your plate as decks of cards, tennis balls, and all the other, so start by measuring out your food servings at home and take a good look at what a half-cup of pasta looks like. Until the serving sizes are engrained in your brain, when dining out, aim to eat half of your meal, saving the leftovers for lunch the next day.
2. Serving sizes are deceiving
“There really aren’t standard serving sizes for packaged foods, which makes them confusing,” explains Elisa Zied, RD, author Nutrition at Your Fingertips. She gives the example of cereal. A standard serving size of breakfast cereal is approximately 50 g, but depending on the cereal, that could mean a cup and a half of flakes or half a cup of heartier granola. Depending on the type of cereal you’re eating, just eyeing how much you put in the bowl, like most people do, can lead to inaccurate calorie counts. Not only that, but larger-than-life snack foods may seem like single servings even though they often contain 2 to 3 servings per packet. Buy a 16-ounce bottled Coca-Cola, and the nutrition label reads 100 calories…for one of the two servings in the bottle. Drink the whole thing, as many people do, and you’re really getting 200 calories. Eat the whole bag of Austin Zoo Animal Crackers, commonly found in office vending machines, and you’re getting 230 calories, nearly two servings, instead of just one.
Stop the confusion: This is as simple as reading nutrition labels before you open the bag. To make it even easier, opt for instant portion control with whole fruit, like apples and bananas, or buy items you typically overeat in single serving packets. Especially for healthy, but higher calorie, foods, portioning out servings prevents pig-outs. For instance, Trader Joe’s carries what they call “Just a Handful” of almonds, which are packets containing just one 200-calorie serving.
3. Not all calories are created equal
“You hear a calorie is a calorie is a calorie, but I’m not convinced that’s the case,” says Leslie Bonci, RD, coauthor of The Active Calorie Diet. Studies show that foods that take more effort to chew—like fruits, veggies, lean meats, and whole grains—can increase your calorie burn. “More calories are required to digest them, and they’ll keep you satisfied longer,” she adds. Not only that, but other ingredients can up the burn: caffeine and other compounds in coffee and tea, and spices such as chiles, cinnamon, and ginger fire up your central nervous system and can boost your metabolism. So is 500 calories worth of celery really different than 500 calories of French fries? A 2011 breakthrough study discovered that the quality of calories might matter more than the overall quantity. Those who ate a greater amount of certain unhealthy foods, like processed meat, French fries, and sugar-sweetened beverages, gained more weight faster over time than people with healthier diets. Unsurprisingly, eating more notoriously healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and low-fat yogurt were associated with less weight gain.
Stop the confusion: Eating plenty of low-calorie fruits and vegetables at every meal ensures you’re keeping your calories in check. “Fruits and veggies do double duty,” says Bonci. “They’re rich in fiber, which works extremely well to keep you satiated, and they take a while to chew.”
4. Gym machine counts are bogus
Seeing you burned 600 calories on the treadmill in the morning may make you think you have a free pass to pig out for the rest of the day. But be wary of exercise machines’ calorie counts. The University of California, San Francisco, used a V02 test to track down calories burned while on machines. The VO2 analyzer calculated how hard the body is working with its height, weight, age, and body fat. The machines’ calorie counts and the VO2 counts didn’t match up—at all. Machines overestimated calorie burn by 19%!
Stop the confusion: If you really want to get an accurate number of calories burned, invest in a heart rate monitor, which will help you learn how intense your workouts are. If you don’t feel like splurging and you’re a treadmill lover, multiplying your weight times 0.75 will give you a solid estimate of the calories burned per mile of running. Multiply your weight by 0.53 to get an estimate of the calories burned per mile of walking. For ellipticals, stair climbers, and stationary bikes, assume the calorie count is off and aim to work out for a certain length of time, not a certain amount of calories burned.
5. Exercise makes you hungry
Though studies are mixed when it comes to whether exercise actually stimulates or suppresses appetite, many people think of working out as a way to eat whatever they like. “There’s definitely a mentality of ‘I have sweated therefore I deserve,’” says Bonci. However, with most people burning about 100 calories per mile, a short workout won’t give you a free pass to eat junk food. “If you walk two miles, eating a handful of chips post-workout can undo the calories you burned,” says Bonci. As mentioned above, gym machines don’t accurately measure calories burned, either.
Stop the confusion: To stop an after-workout binge, fuel up pre-gym, Zied suggests. “Have something before—something with carbs and a little protein, like whole wheat toast and peanut butter or a banana and milk.” Depending on the intensity of your workout, you may need something afterward as well. After a workout longer than 45 minutes, you should aim to eat about 200 calories.
6. Liquid calories are ignored
“People are spending hundreds of calories on beverages each day,” says Zied. Unfortunately, a lot of those calories are from sugar-sweetened drinks and alcohol, not milk and 100% fruit juice. According to a 2007 study, beverage intake accounted for roughly 12% of total calories in 1965 and steadily increased to 21% in 2002—that’s 222 extra calories a day from drinks alone! Because bottled drinks often contain multiple servings, it’s best to either pour a serving in a glass or look for mini soda cans and juice boxes.
Stop the confusion: The best way to minimize the calories you drink is to stick to calorie-free water and unsweetened coffee and tea. However, if you’re craving some flavor, consider making your own low-cal flavored water (Or try out tasty Flat Belly Sassy Water!). Even though whole fruit is preferred over fruit juice, Bonci advises doing a glass check before pouring yourself some OJ. “Very few people have 6-ounce glasses, the recommended serving of juice. Most glasses are 10 to 12 ounces, which means you’re getting more than you need.” If you don’t want to buy new glasses, Bonci recommends mixing juice with seltzer water for a bubbly treat
7. Snack time is more like mealtime
Between 1977 and 2006, Americans nibbled and noshed approximately 580 calories each day from snacks, according to information presented at the 2011 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting and Food Expo. Though researchers debate as to whether this uptick in snacking is causing obesity or not, they can agree that the foods people choose as snacks aren’t always healthy choices. “Snack foods are tremendously popular, and Americans are eating tons of nutrient-poor, calorie-dense foods like energy drinks, candies, cookies, and cakes,” says Zied. These items often come in oversized packaging, and not the recommended 200-calorie snack portion, leading to extra calories consumed throughout the day.
Stop the confusion: Instead of buying a huge jar of almonds and noshing all day, pre-portion your snacks ahead of time. Even healthy foods can cause you to gain weight if you eat more calories than you burn off, so portion control is key. Try filling up on lower-calorie foods as snacks—baby carrots, grapes, etc.—or saving half of your lunch sandwich to eat in the afternoon.
8. “Health” foods contain hidden ingredients
“The so-called health halos are everywhere,” says Bonci. “But just because a cookie is trans-fat free doesn’t mean it’s calorie free.” She adds that buzzwords such as “natural” and “few ingredients” trigger people to think foods are healthier and lower in calories than they actually are. “Natural” foods still contain sugar, sodium, and other health-harming nutrients. Reduced fat and reduced calorie versions of your favorite foods should be eyed with caution too. “Usually when something gets taken away, something is added,” says Zied. “Reduced in fat usually means the product has added sugar.”
Stop the confusion: Chances are “natural” gummy bears are still going to be almost as unhealthy for you as plain gummy bears, but if you see the word “natural” on a loaf of bread, read the item’s nutrition label and ingredient list. Look for unhealthy ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, large amounts of sodium, or small amounts of important nutrients.
Source Mara Betsch


Tuesday, 29 November 2016

How to Lose Weight Fast: 3 Simple Steps, Based on Science

How to Lose Weight Fast: 3 Simple Steps, Based on Science

Fit Woman Holding a Scale And an AppleThere are many ways to lose a lot of weight fast.
However, most of them will make you hungry and unsatisfied.
If you don’t have iron willpower, then hunger will cause you to give up on these plans quickly.
The plan outlined here will:
  • Reduce your appetite significantly.
  • Make you lose weight quickly, without hunger.
  • Improve your metabolic health at the same time.
Here is a simple 3-step plan to lose weight fast.

1. Cut Back on Sugars and Starches

The most important part is to cut back on sugars and starches (carbs).
These are the foods that stimulate secretion of insulin the most. If you didn’t know already, insulin is the main fat storage hormone in the body.
When insulin goes down, fat has an easier time getting out of the fat stores and the body starts burning fats instead of carbs.
Another benefit of lowering insulin is that your kidneys shed excess sodium and water out of your body, which reduces bloat and unnecessary water weight (12).
It is not uncommon to lose up to 10 pounds (sometimes more) in the first week of eating this way, both body fat and water weight.
This is a graph from a study comparing low-carb and low-fat diets in overweight/obese women (3).
Weight Loss Graph, Low Carb vs Low Fat
The low-carb group is eating until fullness, while the low-fat group is calorie restricted and hungry.
Cut the carbs, lower your insulin and you will start to eat less calories automatically and without hunger (4).
Put simply, lowering your insulin puts fat loss on “autopilot.
Bottom Line: Removing sugars and starches (carbs) from your diet will lower your insulin levels, kill your appetite and make you lose weight without hunger.2. Eat Protein, Fat and Vegetables

Each one of your meals should include a protein source, a fat source and low-carb vegetables. Constructing your meals in this way will automatically bring your carb intake into the recommended range of 20-50 grams per day.
Girl Eating Kebab
Protein Sources:
  • Meat – Beef, chicken, pork, lamb, bacon, etc.
  • Fish and Seafood – Salmon, trout, shrimps, lobsters, etc.
  • Eggs – Omega-3 enriched or pastured eggs are best.
The importance of eating plenty of protein can not be overstated.
This has been shown to boost metabolism by 80 to 100 calories per day (567).
High protein diets can also reduce obsessive thoughts about food by 60%, reduce desire for late-night snacking by half, and make you so full that you automatically eat 441 fewer calories per day… just by adding protein to your diet (89).
When it comes to losing weight, protein is the king of nutrients. Period.
Low-Carb Vegetables:
Vegetables
  • Broccoli
  • Cauliflower
  • Spinach
  • Kale
  • Brussels Sprouts
  • Cabbage
  • Swiss Chard
  • Lettuce
  • Cucumber
  • Celery
  • Full list here.
Don’t be afraid to load your plate with these low-carb vegetables. You can eat massive amounts of them without going over 20-50 net carbs per day.
A diet based on meat and vegetables contains all the fiber, vitamins and minerals you need to be healthy. There is no physiological need for grains in the diet.
Butter Curls
Fat Sources:
  • Olive oil
  • Coconut oil
  • Avocado oil
  • Butter
  • Tallow
Eat 2-3 meals per day. If you find yourself hungry in the afternoon, add a 4th meal.
Don’t be afraid of eating fat, trying to do both low-carb AND low-fat at the same time is a recipe for failure. It will make you feel miserable and abandon the plan.
The best cooking fat to use is coconut oil. It is rich in fats called Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs). These fats are more fulfilling than others and can boost metabolism slightly (1011).
There is no reason to fear these natural fats, new studies show that saturated fatdoesn’t raise your heart disease risk at all (1213).
To see how you can assemble your meals, check out this low carb meal plan and this list of low carb recipes.
Bottom Line: Assemble each meal out of a protein source, a fat source and a low-carb vegetable. This will put you into the 20-50 gram carb range and drastically lower your insulin levels.

3. Lift Weights 3 Times Per Week

Dumbbells
You don’t need to exercise to lose weight on this plan, but it is recommended.
The best option is to go to the gym 3-4 times a week. Do a warm up, lift weights, then stretch.
If you’re new to the gym, ask a trainer for some advice.
By lifting weights, you will burn a few calories and prevent your metabolism from slowing down, which is a common side effect of losing weight (1415).
Studies on low-carb diets show that you can even gain a bit of muscle while losing significant amounts of body fat (16).
If lifting weights is not an option for you, then doing some easier cardio workouts like running, jogging, swimming or walking will suffice.
Bottom Line: It is best to do some sort of resistance training like weight lifting. If that is not an option, cardio workouts work too.

Optional – Do a “Carb Re-feed” Once Per Week

Overweight Man Eating Cake
You can take one day “off” per week where you eat more carbs. Many people prefer Saturday.
It is important to try to stick to healthier carb sources like oats, rice, quinoa, potatoes, sweet potatoes, fruits, etc.
But only this one higher carb day, if you start doing it more often than once per week then you’re not going to see much success on this plan.
If you must have a cheat meal and eat something unhealthy, then do it on this day.
Be aware that cheat meals or carb refeeds are NOT necessary, but they can up-regulate some fat burning hormones like leptin and thyroid hormones (1718).
You will gain some weight during your re-feed day, but most of it will be water weightand you will lose it again in the next 1-2 days.
Bottom Line: Having one day of the week where you eat more carbs is perfectly acceptable, although not necessary.

What About Calories and Portion Control?

Apple And Calculator
It is NOT necessary to count calories as long as you keep the carbs very low and stick to protein, fat and low-carb vegetables.
However, if you really want to, then use this calculator.
Enter your details, then pick the number from either the “Lose Weight” or the “Lose Weight Fast” section – depending on how fast you want to lose.
There are many great tools you can use to track the amount of calories you are eating. Here is a list of 5 calorie counters that are free and easy to use.
The main goal is to keep carbs under 20-50 grams per day and get the rest of your calories from protein and fat.
Bottom Line: It is not necessary to count calories to lose weight on this plan. It is most important to strictly keep your carbs in the 20-50 gram range.

10 Weight Loss Tips to Make Things Easier (and Faster)

Here are 10 more tips to lose weight even faster:
  1. Eat a high-protein breakfast. Eating a high-protein breakfast has been shown to reduce cravings and calorie intake throughout the day (192021).
  2. Avoid sugary drinks and fruit juice. These are the most fattening things you can put into your body, and avoiding them can help you lose weight (2223).
  3. Drink water a half hour before meals. One study showed that drinking water a half hour before meals increased weight loss by 44% over 3 months (24).
  4. Choose weight loss-friendly foods (see list). Certain foods are very useful for losing fat. Here is a list of the 20 most weight loss-friendly foods on earth.
  5. Eat soluble fiber. Studies show that soluble fibers may reduce fat, especially in the belly area. Fiber supplements like glucomannan can also help (252627).
  6. Drink coffee or tea. If you’re a coffee or a tea drinker, then drink as much as you want as the caffeine in them can boost your metabolism by 3-11% (282930).
  7. Eat mostly whole, unprocessed foods. Base most of your diet on whole foods. They are healthier, more filling and much less likely to cause overeating.
  8. Eat your food slowly. Fast eaters gain more weight over time. Eating slowlymakes you feel more full and boosts weight-reducing hormones (313233).
  9. Use smaller plates. Studies show that people automatically eat less when they use smaller plates. Strange, but it works (34).
  10. Get a good night’s sleep, every night. Poor sleep is one of the strongest risk factors for weight gain, so taking care of your sleep is important (3536).
Bottom Line: It is most important to stick to the three rules, but there are a few other things you can do to speed things up.

How Fast You Will Lose (and Other Benefits)

Obese vs Thin Woman
You can expect to lose 5-10 pounds of weight (sometimes more) in the first week, then consistent weight loss after that.
I can personally lose 3-4 lbs per week for a few weeks when I do this strictly.
If you’re new to dieting, then things will probably happen quickly. The more weight you have to lose, the faster you will lose it.
For the first few days, you might feel a bit strange. Your body has been burning carbs for all these years, it can take time for it to get used to burning fat instead.
It is called the “low carb flu” and is usually over within a few days. For me it takes 3. Adding some sodium to your diet can help with this, such as dissolving a bouillon cube in a cup of hot water and drinking it.
After that, most people report feeling very good, positive and energetic. At this point you will officially have become a “fat burning beast.”
Despite the decades of anti-fat hysteria, the low-carb diet also improves your health in many other ways:
  • Blood Sugar tends to go way down on low-carb diets (3738).
  • Triglycerides tend to go down (3940).
  • Small, dense LDL (the bad) Cholesterol goes down (4142).
  • HDL (the good) cholesterol goes up (43).
  • Blood pressure improves significantly (4445).
  • To top it all off, low-carb diets appear to be easier to follow than low-fat diets.
Bottom Line: You can expect to lose a lot of weight, but it depends on the person how quickly it will happen. Low-carb diets also improve your health in many other ways.

You Don’t Need to Starve Yourself to Lose Weight

If you have a medical condition then talk to your doctor before making changes because this plan can reduce your need for medication.
By reducing carbs and lowering insulin levels, you change the hormonal environment and make your body and brain “want” to lose weight.
This leads to drastically reduced appetite and hunger, eliminating the main reason that most people fail with conventional weight loss methods.
This is proven to make you lose about 2-3 times as much weight as a typical low-fat, calorie restricted diet (464748).
Another great benefit for the impatient folks is that the initial drop in water weight can lead to a big difference on the scale as early as the next morning.
Here are a few examples of low-carb meals that are simple, delicious and can be prepared in under 10 minutes: 7 Healthy Low-Carb Meals in 10 Minutes or Less.
On this plan, you can eat good food until fullness and still lose a ton of fat. Welcome to paradise.

7 Minute Workout to lose weight fast, burn fat and tone your body

Great workout!

Monday, 28 November 2016

7 Foods that Help You Lose Weight at Christmas

Some great ideas, Christmas is full of tempting treats.

7 Foods that Help You Lose Weight at Christmas: Give your diet a gift with these fat releasing foods to help you lose weight during Christmas time.

Friday, 25 November 2016

Control what you put in your body



Source: Pinterest 

Christmas Challenge Weight Loss Tips

Christmas Weight Loss Tips

Source - Dietitian Juliette Kellow kicks off with a series of top hints and tips to get you healthier and slimmer for the Christmas party season.
1. Don't be scared of hunger
After months or years of constantly overindulging and never really feeling hungry, it's easy to forget what that gnawing, empty sensation in our stomach feels like. It's no wonder then that when we initially change our eating habits, hunger pangs make us feel uneasy and uncomfortable - and leave us reaching for the biscuit tin! While many diets claim you'll never feel hungry, this is often an unrealistic promise.
Experiencing hunger, especially when you first start a new way of eating, is quite normal.
The key is to learn to recognise the sensation, not be scared by it, and then deal with it appropriately. Firstly, rather than looking at hunger in a negative way, think positively. Doesn't it actually feel nice to be hungry and to really look forward to a meal or snack? Secondly, before eating, you may find it helpful to identify how hungry you really are: rank your hunger on a scale of one to 10, where one is fully satisfied and 10 is starving. Only reach for a snack when your hunger ranks at seven or above.

2. Breakfast like a King (and don't skip meals)

Okay, you've heard it a hundred times before, but skipping breakfast (or any other meal) will give you hunger pangs that quickly leave you reaching for chocolate, crisps and fizzy drinks to boost flagging energy levels!
Studies at the University of Leeds found that eating earlier in the day helps to prevent people from getting hungry, losing control and overeating in the evening. But what if you never feel hungry in the morning? Chances are, if you can last until mid morning or lunchtime before eating, you're having too much to eat in the evening - I guarantee if you have a smaller dinner, earlier in the evening, you'll wake up with a ravenous appetite! Bottom line: by spreading meals evenly throughout the day - and always eating breakfast - you'll feel satisfied for longer and be less likely to give in to snack attacks.

3. Fill up on fibre

When it comes to kicking hunger, swap all things white for all things brown. This means ditching bagels, white spaghetti, cornflakes and white rice and instead opting for wholemeal bread, wholewheat pasta, wholegrain cereals and brown rice.
There are several reasons why high-fibre foods help to combat hunger. Firstly, foods containing a lot of fibre generally take longer to chew. As well as helping you to feel more satisfied, this automatically slows down the speed at which you eat, giving your brain time to register feelings of fullness so that you're less like to overeat.
Secondly, fibre acts like a sponge and absorbs and holds on to water. This means fibre-rich foods swell up in your stomach, helping to fill you up. But best of all, because fibre is harder to digest, it stays in your stomach for longer keeping you feeling fuller for longer, so you're less likely to want to snack between meals.

The following foods are all good sources of fibre:

  • Wholemeal, granary and softgrain varieties of bread
  • Wholegrain breakfast cereals, eg. Weetabix, branflakes, unsweetened muesli, Shreddies and porridge oats
  • Wholemeal pasta and brown rice
  • Beans, lentils and peas
  • Fresh and dried fruits - particularly if the skins are eaten
  • Vegetables - particularly if the skins are eaten
  • Nuts and seeds

4. Go for low GI foods

Foods with a low Glycaemic Index (GI) slowly release sugar into the blood, providing you with a steady supply of energy. This leaves you feeling satisfied for longer so that you're less likely to snack. In contrast, foods with a high GI cause a rapid - but short-lived - rise in blood sugar, leaving you lacking in energy and feeling hungry within a short time, so that you end up reaching for a snack. Bottom line: eating foods with a low GI prevents swings in blood sugar, helping you to have better control over your appetite because you feel fuller for longer.
Good low GI choices include most fruit and veg, wholewheat pasta, porridge, wholegrain cereals, lentils, beans, nuts, brown and basmati rice and wholemeal bread.

5. Pick at some protein

Eating small amounts of lean meat, chicken, fish, dairy products and eggs may help to keep you feeling fuller for longer.
Research shows that protein-rich foods help to improve satiety - the feeling of fullness you get at end of a meal - and the more satiated you feel after eating, the less likely you'll be to feel hungry between meals. More research is needed to prove this conclusively. Nevertheless, chances are you'll feel fuller for longer if you swap a couple of biscuits mid afternoon for a skinless chicken breast, tuna (canned in water) or lean ham with salad.

6. Go to work on an egg

According to recent research from the Rochester Centre for Obesity in America, eating eggs for breakfast can help to prevent hunger sufficiently so that calorie intakes are reduced by more than 400 calories throughout the rest of the day!
In the study, 30 overweight or obese women ate either an egg-based breakfast or a bagel-based breakfast, containing the same amount of calories and almost identical levels of protein. The researchers recorded the women's eating habits and found that just before lunch, the women who had eaten eggs for breakfast felt less hungry and ate a smaller lunch as a result. Better still, over the next 36 hours the group eating the egg-containing breakfast consumed, on average, 417 calories less than the bagel-eating group.
It seems that eating eggs for breakfast makes you feel fuller for longer so that you eat less at your next few meals. Combine them with wholemeal toast and a glass of vitamin-C rich unsweetened orange juice, which will help the body make the best use of the iron in the eggs.

7. Eat slowly

The brain requires around 20 minutes to receive the signal you are full, so no matter how much you eat during this time, your satiety signal won't come any sooner. That's why it's a good idea to eat slowly.
Having a low-fat starter is a great idea if you're trying to lose weight as it takes time to eat and will reduce your appetite for the main course. It also explains why it's a good idea to wait a while before deciding whether you really want a dessert or a second helping.

Try these tips to slow down the speed at which you eat:

  • use chop sticks instead of a knife and fork - you can't get as much food onto chopsticks as you can a fork so your meal will take longer to eat.
  • serve food in a bowl so that it stays hotter for longer - chances are the food in the bottom will still be so hot you won't be able to gulp down the last few mouthfuls.
  • don't watch TV or read while you're eating - if you're distracted at mealtimes, chances are you'll shove food into your mouth without paying any attention to it.
  • chew each mouthful slowly - if you find this difficult, set yourself a target of 10 bites per mouthful before swallowing.
  • put your knife and fork down between mouthfuls - it's the oldest trick in the book, but it works!

8. Quench your thirst

Before grabbing something to eat, check whether you're really thirsty rather than hungry. It's easy to confuse thirst and hunger with the result that many people grab a snack or fill their plate for a second time when what they really need is a glass of water. Better still, water is needed for every chemical reaction in the body, including burning fat. And not only will it help to fill you up, it'll work wonders for your skin and hair. For maximum 'filling power' opt for sparkling water - the bubbles will help to fight those hunger pangs.

9. Cut down on caffeine

If you're in the habit of drinking loads of caffeinated drinks because you think they'll rev up your metabolism, think again. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that too much caffeine in the form of diet cola, tea and coffee might have the opposite effect and leave you feeling more hungry. In some studies high caffeine intakes have also been found to prepare the body for storing fat whenever food is eaten. So to prevent hunger, you might be better off swapping cola for a glass of sparkling water and tea and coffee for a cup of herbal or fruit tea.

10. Stock up on low-calorie fillers

Keep your fridge and cupboards stocked with a selection of low-calorie foods that can easily be turned into hunger-busting snacks or tasty starters.

Try the following when hunger hits:

  • bowl of salad with fat-free dressing or balsamic vinegar
  • vegetable sticks with salsa or tzatziki (or make your own yogurt dip by mixing 1 small pot low-fat plain yogurt with 1 clove of crushed garlic, 1tsp mint sauce and 1 tsp lemon juice.)
  • bowl of ratatouille (made without oil)
  • bowl of low-fat soup or a low-cal cup-a-soup
  • slice of melon
  • prawn cocktail with a fat-free seafood dressing
  • Florida cocktail made from orange and grapefruit segments
  • corn-on-the-cob without butter
  • 1/2 grapefruit with artificial sweetener
  • bowl of fresh fruit salad or piece of fresh fruit