Improving your diet - without suffering : eBay Guides

1) Do you really want it? Do something else for 15 minutes, if you still crave it, eat and enjoy it.

2) Offer yourself a piece of fruit first. If you don't want it, you're not hungry; if you do eat the fruit, you probably won't want the chocolate bar anymore.

3) Swap it for a lower-calorie version with a similar taste, such as chocolate chip cereal bar ( not a flapjack - some commercial ones are massively
    high in fat) or an individual chocolate mousse.

4) Find other solutions to the bored/lonely/deserving quandry. Have an aromatherapy bath, ring a friend, give yourself that pat on the back.

5) Don't buy it in the first place. Just don't!

6) It's not a choice between now or never. If you open a packet of biscuits, take a couple and put the rest back, secure in the knowledge
    they'll still be there tomorrow.

7) Really, really taste what you eat. If you shut your eyes and focus on the flavours of chocolate inside your mouth, you may discover the
    intense sweetness and claggy texture isn't as delicious as you assumed.

8) Brush your teeth, chew gum or drink peppermint tea. That clean, minty flavour stays in the mouth and can make chocolate seem less appealing.

9) Think carbohydrates first. Pasta, Rice, Cereals, Pulses, Noodles, Cous cous or bread should make the basis of your meal. Augment with
    good helpings of vegetables, then add protein, such as meat, fish or tofu last of all.

10) Steam vegetables. Put them in a pan with just a quarter inch of water, put a lid on and cook on a medium heat for a few minutes.
      The vegetables keep their flavour, nutrients and bright colours. Even better, buy a trivet, a type of collapsible colander which keeps
      the vegetables above the water, preserving maximum goodness.

11) Watch your portions. Give yourself two thirds of your normal helping. Once you've finished, sit back and relax for a minute.
      If you are really not full, have some leftovers, or put them in the fridge in case you suddenly feel starving. If you don't, throw them away
      and cook less next time.

12) Aim for five portions of different fruit and veg a day. This can include one juice, one helping of dried fruit, frozen and canned versions, but
      not potatoes (they're too starchy and count as carbohydrates), nuts or seeds.

13) Use little or no fat during cooking. Frill fatty foods like sausages and bacon on a rack ( a sheet of foil over the baking tray saves cleaning later ).
      Meat, fish and vegetables can be oven baked with maybe a light brushing of olive oil, or wrapped plain in tin foil to be kept moist.

14) Use mature cheddar - the stronger flavour means you need less. Grate it and it goes even further.

15) Drink skimmed milk. If you currently drink whole milk, change to semi-skimmed until you're ready for the final leap.

16) Eat multi-purpose foods. Choose cereals with fibre and extra vitamins, bread with seeds and grains, puddings with fruit in them and you'll
     do better than just fill a whole.

17) Avoid adding fat for presentation, such as butter on vegetables or high fat salad dressing. Use fromage frais or yogurt on a baked potato,
      and low calorie versions of dressings.

18) Watch the olive oil. Although it's famously better for you than most fats an oils, it's still a fat, so don't go wild.