15 weight loss solutions

Feeling fat and miserable? Here are 15 easy ways to lose those extra kilos gained over the holidays. 

• Choose fruit instead of juice: e.g. a medium orange has half the amount of kilojoules of a cup of orange juice.
• Spray it: spraying your non-stick pan with a cooking spray uses 10 times less kilojoules than a tablespoon of butter or margarine.
• Season up: use herbs to season your vegetables, instead of butter or margarine.
• Choose fish in water: One 180g can of chunk light tuna stored in oil twice the kilojoules of tuna in water.
• Wine Not: drink a glass of wine instead of a can of beer and cut down on kilojoules.
• Back up:  choose back bacon over streaky bacon and save 25% on fat.
• Skinny your dessert: have a frozen yoghurt instead of an ice cream.
• Size down: choose a "kiddies" style milkshake over double thick adult size shakes.
• Bake it: bake your fish and chips instead of frying them.
• Use a smaller plate: studies have shown that we all typically serve enough food for our plate to "look right". By using a smaller plate you will serve yourself less food without realising it and so consume fewer kilojoules overall.
• Eat slowly: it takes around 20 minutes for us to realise that our stomachs are full. So if you wolf your food down, you may then eat more than you need. So, eat slowly and chew your food thoroughly and you’ll be surprised how little food you really need to feel good.
• Throw away the frying pan: how we cook our food is just as important as what food we eat. Cooking meats in high fat oil will definitely increase your kilojoules. It is better to grill, boil or even better, steam your food. If you must fry, use a non stick frying pan, coat it with a non stick spray and use only a teaspoon of oil.
• Max out on veg: green vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage can be very filling but actually contains very few kilojoules in themselves so try to eat as many vegetables. Also, vegetables take longer to chew and this means you will eat less.
• Cut down on the booze:  alcohol contains kilojoules and too much alcohol can therefore pile on the kilos.
• Eat sugar in moderation:  while you may want to swap sugar-sweetened cool drinks with sugar-free drinks, there is no reason to avoid adding a teaspoon of sugar to your cereal or tea. Sugar adds pleasure to our diets and helps makes healthy foods such as cereals and yoghurts taste better.  Sugar is OK ... in moderation. 

- (South African Sugar Association/Health24, updated April 2011)

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Read more:
The secret of weight loss revealed
Food diaries are the way to go
Quiz: How kilojoule savvy are you?