When you're dieting, what are your MUST HAVE IN THE HOUSE products?

[IDugUpADiamond]

For me, lemon squash to encourage myself to drink between 2 and 3 litres a day - it works. The other product is Highlights Hot Chocolate, it feels like a bit of a treat in the evenings and it's filling because it is hot. I am not delighted that with both of those products I am consuming a lot of chemicals and artificial sweeteners, but I can't see a cheap and quick alternative.

I also try to have sugarfree chewing gum handy and Oraldine, as my breath is always beyond minging when I diet, which is one of the things that often makes me quit.

I'd love to hear what are your absolutely must have products that help you stick with your diet.

Miso soup. Savoury and tasty and fat free

Again though, full of chemicals
!

Chocolate and ice cream - i only buy it when I decide to 'diet'

Bailey get away from here!!!!!

Ooh actually, you've reminded me of another one, I try to keep plain ice lollies in the freezer, again, something fairly harmless and low calorie that feels like a treat.

no offence op but those products will not help you lose weight.

Sorry . The plain ice lollies is a good idea. I read somewhere about frozen berries too- you can suck on them and they are sweet enough to satisfy a sugar craving whilst not being so calorie and sugar laden that they'll throw off blood sugar.s

Hi Nigella, no offence taken but you care to expand? You're probably right as I've been struggling to lose a stone forever!!!

well for example the lemon squash probably has sweeteners in it? and the hot chocolate, and the chewing gum?
some of those sweeteners kind of 'fool' the body into thinking it has to deal with a sugar rush, so it goes into gear as it were, then does not receive the sugar, but is still in gear. this causes weight gain.
next time you are in the supermarket, look around, you will see the person whose trolley is full of diet drinks is probably overweight.
ok so instead of squash, choose water with a squeeze natural lemon juice, instead of hot chocolate, have a tea. and if you do feel the need for a sweet, have one! just not very often.
in addition aspartame is really not very good for you, does it not make your heart race?

So, is there nothing I can sweeten my coffee with nigella ? :(

well i have heard that honey helps with weight loss !! worth a try isn't it?

Isn't honey just sugar though?! This is always my sticking point, as I drink loads of coffee, with 3 sweeteners in

Thanks Nigella. I had heard about the effect that sweeteners have on the body, akin to sugar, which is the reason we should all strive to a diet that is as natural as possible. I should say that I add no more than 10mls of squash per litre of water, I literally just want to take the edge off. So in a day I'll be taking no more than 30mls of squash. I obviously need to add the artificial sweeteners from the hot chocolate and the odd diet coke. I guess sometimes it can be a rather lot but the rest of my food intake is quite natural and fresh as I never eat processed foods.

honey is more than just sugar as it has various amino acids, vitamins etc afaik, have a google around it, I did google it myself, but all i could find was a DM article which i would rather not link to.

Honey is good for hangovers

Stuff I like to keep in when dieting...

Cottage Cheese, good quality full fat variety. Nice low carb protein snack. Fills you up.

Eggs for breakfast, omelettes etc. Parma ham to go with.

Courgettes, when others want pasta dishes I can cut them up into Tagliatelle or Lasagne shapes and I don't miss out.

Sparkling Water, Red Bush tea and cream for coffee.

Can you tell I'm a low carber?

Oh and a good book or several. Keeps your mind off food...

Stock and veggies for making soups with.

Herbal tea, lots of it. I'm not one for diets but when I'm feeling chubby I put down the pies and walk away slowly. After a week of ditching sweet stuff then you don't crave it so much, you are kinda keeping the cravings going with the options, lemon squash etc.

Have a square of dark chocolate instead.

Rice cakes, love em! :)

Eggs! Kill the appetite lots. Also full fat yoghurt. Oatcakes.

Full fat yoghurt if you can find the stuff. Seriously, I could weep.

Also second eggs, they are a good filling affordable source of protein, plus v. tasty.

Okay so you all reckon I could improve my sugar cravings if I ditched the artificial sugar?

If you ditch the artificial sugar, and don't eat much of the real stuff, you stop craving it completely. Same with chocolate tbh. When I need to lose weight, I make sure there's nothing yummy in the house. If it's not there, I can't eat it!

Nigella writes well about this very subject in 'How to Eat'

She suggests getting in lots of asian spices and flavourings, which up the flavour/interest of dishes when they are missing fat. She also suggests batch cooking low calorie suppers and freezing them in one-person bags so she has something healthy to fall on when hungry/tired.

Personally, I think always having a batch of home-made soup on the go or in the freezer is a good idea.

Don't know why I am offering advice though. I have lost 6kg, then plateaued and can't seem to shed any more (need to lose further 10kg).

bit worried at all this 'when dieting' - which means repeated disordered eating and yo-yoing weight. If your diets worked you'd only do them once.

'I heard' is always nonsense - honey is just another form of sugar. Nothing you put in your mouth helps you lose weight.

chuck all diet foodscanned fizzy drinks and low-fat foods. Eat real food in reasonable portions and move around.

boring, non-money-making, but true.