Your top tips for losing weight

[snickersnack]

I really really really don't get on with "diets" and I have to either eat at work or with the children so not it's practical to go down the kedgeree for breakfast and a piece of poached salmon at lunchtime kind of route, really needs to be normal, easy to come by food.

I don't need to lose huge amounts, but a few kilos would be great. I was after your top tips, really - the things that really helped you, whether they are motivational or food-related.Also, I struggle to find time to get to the gym - am trying to walk more and will start cycling to work when I get a new bike, but anything for fitting more activity into a busy lifestyle would also be very useful.

Perseverence is more important than perfection!

And get a pedometer - try and increase your number of steps each day.

Don't finish the kids left-overs.

I get Dh to dish out my food if I'm feeling porky, stops me piling too much on the plate.

Don't load up your fork until you've swallowed what's in your mouth - makes you eat more slowly and you're less likely to overeat.

I've never dieted but those tips and making sure I get out walking as much as possible usually do the trick if I need to lose a bit of weight. HTH

Oh, and put your vegetables on the plate first. Leaves less room for piling on the higher calorie stuff.

Don't eat too much bread.

Don't eat between meals

Drink more!

Start a new job.
Have a sad love affair.

Get a good nights sleep.(good night, btw!)

Drink more water

If you are hungry, have a glass of water, wait twenty minutes, if you are still hungry then go ahead and have something to eat

If it's good enough to eat, it's good enough to sit down with a plate. Don't eat on the run - you'll shove it in without paying attention and get no pleasure from it.

This is all great! More, please...I can feel the pounds dropping off already.

Microwaved mushrooms are a life saver. Just put them on a plate and micro for a min or two. They are perfect. Even my dh prefers them now. Lunch of toast, microwaved or dry fried egg and microwaved mushrooms is delicious, filling, low calorie and incredibly speedy.

Laughing cow low fat triangles are also really useful. I use them as butter substitutes, on bread, in mash and to make scrambled eggs.

Also, get a non stick frying pan. I dry fry pretty much everything.

If you have a sweet tooth, allow yourself what you love in moderation. I adore chocolate and MUST have some every day. I eat a Crunchie as I find they are longer lasting and more satisfying to eat than other chocolate bars. Also the honeycomb is lower in points (sorry weight watchers speak!) than chocolate so a Crunchie is a relatively low option bar.

i alway have a sugar free mint in my mouth when cooking stops me eating what cooking

I lost 40lbs last year and these are my top tips:

Portion control - only have half of your usual amount of pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, meat. Fill up your plate with extra veg and salad instead.

Do snack between meals if you need to. I can't possibly get through the day without eating something every 2 or 3 hours. Just make it fruit, or a ryvita or somethng like that.

Drink as much water as you can stomach.

Exercise, obviously.

Eat your evening meal as early as possible. I used to eat at 7.30ish, and now eat at 5.00ish with the children, and then have a little snack in the evening if necessary. This really helped me - stopped me getting the munchies in the afternoon and binging - followed by a big evening meal.

Eat a filling breakfast - porridge etc.

Use Frylight to fry and roast stuff.

Well done Celery. Have you kept it off?
Your tips sound sensible to me.

get someone to take a photo of you in your smalls then stick it to the fridge thats bound to stop you pigging out

Snickersnack - I made a veg curry last night and found that after it I did not want to snack. Also good for huge clear out of the bowels (sorry if TMI). I have heard that chilli does have the effect of curbing the appetite. The curry should have some sort of legume (peas/beans/lentils) as well as root, onion type and any other veg. It takes a while to prepare but you can always make a big quantity and freeze some.

Make some soup and keep it in the fridge. I like butternut and carrot cos its quite sweet so stops me from raiding the biscuit tin.

Soups, and keep your bread in the freezer so you have to defrost it slice by slice.

I find with meals - I choose a protein meal or a starch meal, and then use the other as a condiment. So pasta with a sprinkle of bacon, or steak with a tiny blob of potato salad.

If you have both, you'll eat all of both, and twice the calories.

try to eat low fat.

Chew your food thoroughly. It means you eat more slowly and allows time for the message that your stomach is full to reach your brain. If you eat quickly, you're far more likely to have too much.

The best thing I did was cutting out all refined carbs - flour, sugar, white rice, pasta and couscous. Lots of salads, veggies, meat, eggs, fish, nuts, seed, berries and cheese instead. For breakfast I have gluten-free museli with nuts and dried fruit.

High fat, high protein, low carb works well for me. I've lost well over a stone in three months and now I'm maintaining my weight without any real effort (and am drinking a glass of red wine as I type...)