5½ Diet Rules

So what kind of diet do I recommend?

One where you can eat all the food you like, but the food feeds you emotions and your body. You will lose weight best with an eating plan, not a diet.

In weight loss land when people use the word 'diet' they mean something you do for a while and then stop. Your eating plan is for life. You may want to change some of the details over the years - as your body and lifestyle change so will your food. But substantially, this eating plan will be yours forever.

Your diet, sorry, eating plan is customised for you. But the following diet rules will guide you towards healthy weight loss:

1. You will NOT skip meals. Many dieters skimp on breakfast and lunch, 'saving' calories for the evening. By this stage, even if you don't consciously feel hungry your body will be crying out for calories. And your brain can no longer judge how much you are eating, so it's easy to overfill.

2. You WILL snack. Good appetite control is related to good blood sugar control and a snack between meals helps with this. You need healthy snacks and they need to be portion controlled. If your lifestyle involves being on the move they must fit in with this and our customised plans are just right for this.

3. You CAN eat 'naughty' foods. You may find that on this plan you don't want to eat them that often. So you will control what you want to eat, the food will no longer control you. The special coaching techniques we use help you see food in a new way.

4. You SHOULD eat fat. Fat is a raw material that your body needs to function properly. We need a group of chemicals called essential fatty acids. The clue is in the name - they are essential! Obviously you need to eat the right amount and the right kind of fat, but we tell you all about that in the eating plan.

5. You DON'T have to count calories, but you do have to gain an awareness of portion size. At the beginning a little bit of weighing and measuring gives you an idea of what your are eating. The computerised diet software at Tranzformations will help you do "what if" scenarios and see the effects of changes in your diet.

5½. And now you can really ENJOY your food. Eating real food with real flavours will be an adventure in taste and a sensory experience for you.

If you would like more weight loss tips you can get my newsletter No More Rabbit Food- weight loss tips for people who love food and hope for emotional eaters everywhere - sign up below. It doesn't cost you anything and you will get the mini ecourse Conquer Emotional Eating Forever as a gift to help you along your path to weight loss.

Best wishes to you from Liz Copeland, the Food & Joy Coach!