The Miss Plunkett Guide To Weight Loss

A Low Fat, Low Carbohydrate Diet

I lost a stone (6kg) in six weeks! I like this diet because I get to eat three healthy meals a day and still loose weight. You also get one day off the diet each week to eat what you like. Eat less carbohydrates generally, choose mostly brown rice and definitely no carbs after 6pm.

Just forget about bread and pasta altogether. Eat your main meal during the day, when there is plenty of time to burn it off. No sugar and very low fat everything. I find if I can get past all the goodies in the shops then I won’t be tempted from the cupboards at home. Find ways of releasing hidden emotions and thus you will release the appetite and then you’ll find it easier to maintain a healthier weight.

Shedding Weight

I quit all those midnight feasts and I got my head around stir boils instead of stir fries, so no oil while you are shedding the weight. No nuts or dried fruit either, for a while.

Read the labels on the products before you buy, to see how much fat and calories they contain. If it’s under 1g of fat per 100g, I deem it as OK but remember 0% fat, processed food might not actually be real food at all (I think it’s better to eat the real thing, just less of it). Things like a normal hard cheese is 37g of fat per 100g, so I just quit dairy completely for a while. Your palette will change, so train it to like blander food. Leave food on your plate, serve smaller portions.

The first week requires the most self discipline to eat healthily. Fat is addictive but also a necessary part of our diet, NB. Our bodies do need a small amount fat to absorb certain vitamins and minerals. We tend to eat too much of it though, to suppress unwanted emotions, so a balance is to be achieved. As the fat leaves the body, a craving to replace it kicks in, so use your will power to get through this phase. The second week is easy.

Food

Choose one day off per week, to eat whatever you like. It’s better to give yourself what you want regularly, than to deny yourself and then break your diet totally. Almonds, avocado, olive oil and coconut milk must always been seen as the healthy option for fats but they are still fats, so use less of them.

Food to totally avoid the rest of the week:

Chips, chocolate, mayonnaise, roast dinners, take-a-ways, fried food, pork, lamb, beef, duck, oily fish, sausages, bacon, salami, crisps, pies, sweets, desserts, bread, butter, pasta, sugar, cream, cheese, beer, fizzy drinks.

Things to eat on your diet days are:

One egg a day, boiled or poached. Lots of home made humus, tons of all sorts of beans, lots of different types of colourful raw veg. Try balsamic vinegar for a salad dressing. Use herbs for flavouring. Lots of fruit like nectarines, apples, oranges, pears and water melon. Porridge with honey for breakfast. Skinless chicken, turkey and lots of non oily fish. Change to turkey hams instead of pork. Lots of cottage cheese and Ryvita if you can handle the dairy that is, it makes me spotty, so I stick to goats cheese.

Maintaining Your Weight

This is not a diet, it’s more of a life style change, which means it’s forever but not to worry because when you are happy with your weight you can begin to introduce certain foods back into you diet again. Do it slowly, so you can monitor the change in your weight, week by week and see the effects of say, beer or having honey in your tea. When your weight is down you can happily add a thumb size portion of cheese to a meal each day and say some nuts and dried fruit to your porridge, turning it into an exciting morning muesli.

I make sure I eat before I get really hungry, that way I am less likely to cram something unconsciously into my cake hole. Healthy food takes time to prepare. Chop veg often and in different styles and eat it to satisfy your hunger rather than opening a packet. Only eat when you are hungry. Stop eating when the first feelings of fullness begin. Think about how to deal with your waste food, rather than eating it yourself. You are free from being a human dustbin. Instead of throwing food away, I use Tupperware in the fridge or the dog gets it in our house.

Emotions

I think acknowledging and expressing any unresolved emotions is the key to weight loss, especially those feelings associated with the time, when the weight first piled on. Be honest with yourself and say how you really feel about your past experiences.

Positive affirmations are good too, try saying something like this to yourself, when you feel yourself becoming weak, “I am slim, happy and sexy!” Professional counseling, for uncovering those hidden emotions, is always a good investment in yourself. I also found EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) very effective.

Weight

Weigh yourself at the same time, just once each week. Keep a record.

Exercise

Walking up steep hills with the dogs for an hour three times a week, hula hooping and yoga are my preferred forms of strenuous or rigorous activity, which we are supposed to do for at least 3 hours per week.  The exercise gets much easier the lighter you get. Find an activity that you find fun, no point torturing yourself.

Disclaimer

Please share my diet with any other fatty’s you know. It may not be perfect, it’s just a mish mash of things I read on the internet and heard from friends but it has worked out for me and I have managed to keep the weight off, whilst still enjoying my food.

James Taylor Adds

Protein keeps you full and helps avoid snacking. From what I read there is no difference in the science about our bodies burning off calories at any time of day, however breakfast kick starts the metabolism and interesting recent research suggested that regular meal times and regular diet were more effective at weight loss than irregular meals and a low fat diet. Regular meals and a low fat diet came out best. So if you have your regular meals and low fat diet it should be great.

I hope you found this helpful.