Low calorie diet?!

Low calorie diet?

I'm a little concerned about my friend, just wanted to ask some advice? She is about 5'3" and weighs about 11st 11lbs. She doesn't look terribly overweight but she's desperate to lose some. She's told me she's going on a 1200 calorie-a-day diet and is going to start running daily as her exercise, I'm just concerned this may be a little extreme? I'm no expert, I don't know a lot about diet and exercise but I just don't want her losing the weight too quicky and going the opposite way or anything. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks a lot x x

Please please PLEASE don't go on one of these calorie, carb, or points counting diets etc.... I don't know of anyone who has the willpower or time to actually do the counting let alone stick to the diet! Also, diet pills and quick fixes are sooooooooo unhealthy; the diet pills don’t even work!

Just start eating healthier, watch the saturated fat you eat (fat that is solid at room temperature e.g. bacon rind, the fat in cheese, beef dripping...) don't deprive yourself of anything or it will just do your head in, you'll want it all the time! little but not too often is my motto!

Try not to eat ready meals. If you do, check the labels for nutrition content – anything with more than 10% fat or sugar is a no go, and really watch the saturated fat. You need fat in your diet, but not saturated fat!

If you fancy chocolate, have one of those little freddo bars by Cadbury, tiny bars of chocolate that satisfy the craving. Instead of crisps, try seasons by Quaker: don’t be put off by the fact they're crisp breads, its the same as eating anything made out of corn e.g. salt and vinegar chip sticks, wotsits etc! They taste gorgeous (not too fussed on the cheese and onion ones though, a bit bland for me!) and they only have 2.5g of fat, 0.4g of which saturates, fantastic! They do have over 100 calories, but if you're eating plenty of fruit and veg. based meals throughout the day this is fine.

Try this site for healthy recipes (you can even filter the search results for recipes containing the most amount of calories and fat etc you want, or if you have to avoid certain foods you can use the filter to do this too, really good idea) http://www.recipezaar.com. Its brilliant. Ivillage.co.uk is good too. the BBC good food site is also fantastic. Just look for simple ones that don’t take too long or don’t require ingredients you'll use once and throw away.

Look for healthy soup recipes to take to work. They’re so easy to make and last up to 3 days in the fridge so once you've made it you don’t have to worry about what to have for a few days! Just have a brown bread roll with it, I’m not keen but Kingsmill ones are lovely. But always use stock granules or cubes, much healthier and easier, and i actually prefer using them. The knorr chicken one is brill, I haven’t tried the vegetable one yet though. If you can't take hot food to work, try to steer clear of sandwiches, especially white bread. Try wholemeal pitas filled with grilled chicken and salad, Hellmann’s extra light mayo if you don't want it too dry, or use wholemeal bread or rolls. Greg’s bakers do stunning bread - I think it's called GI bread and its got seeds and stuff in it. Now I don't normally like stuff like that but its soooooooo nice! Try to keep fillings as healthy as possible.

It doesn’t have to be salads, fruit and veg. all the time though - home made chilli con carne and bolognaise is really healthy as long as you use extra lean minced steak, and oil and water spray instead of just oil. Serve with medium egg noodles instead of spaghetti.

You can even have a cooked breakfast if you're careful! Baked beans are sooooooo low in fat. Have them with a scrambled egg, wholemeal toast with a THIN scraping of low-fat spread (unless you’re having the beans on top, then you won’t need it!), grilled mushrooms and tomatoes, and 2 slices of bacon, grilled with ALL the fat cut off beforehand. but steer clear of those sausages!

When frying, don't use lard or dripping - use SUNFLOWER oil, mixed with water in a spray bottle. You can even add herbs and spices for more flavour. And invest in a George Foreman grill, they're fab!

Chicken and turkey are the leanest meats, and chicken is sooooooooo versatile there’s so many recipes for it! Even if its just grilling chicken with seasoning, like the Schwartz shotz, little sachets of seasoning like chargrill, bbq, Cajun etc makes it much more exciting and its so easy! Served up with a nice big salad with a bit of fresh lemon or lime juice for more interest, or low fat dressing (you can buy the one you get with a MacDonald’s side salad in Tesco!) and a small jacket potato or some new potatoes. mmmmmmmm!

You also have to watch what you drink. Switch to diet coke ( I hated it but now I’m used to it, I actually prefer it!), watch the sugar in your tea (cut down gradually), and drink lots of water. I know it’s hard at home, but in work its easier – take 2 bottles with you and sip them throughout the day. If you love fizzy drinks, Tesco do a fab range of fruit flavoured fizzy waters (I HATE flavoured waters but these are stunning) and they are unbelievably low in calories and sugar. Keep away from fruit juice though, its full of sugar! Its MUCH better to eat the fruit than drink the juice! Try semi-skimmed milk if you normally have full fat, its so much better for you. Skimmed is even better than that!

I haaaaaaate exercising but it does make a difference and you see the weight start to come off a bit sooner: grab a mate, a dog or a friends dog if you don’t have one and try to have a few walks throughout the week. Don’t laugh at this bit, but buy a skipping rope and skip on the spot in the garden for as long as you can whenever you can, and try using a trampette when watching your favourite programmes instead of sitting there trying to fight the urge to snack! Its easier to stay motivated as its fun! I also find fitness dvds that involve dance great too. If you have the time and budget, try joining a dance class – I’m starting belly dancing on Monday, it really tones your belly apparently! There’s so many classes around now you’re bound to find one you like – tap, line dancing, Latin American, ballet, ballroom, disco…

Hope this helps, if you want a few recipes or a few more tips, just let me know by answering one of my questions and I’ll come back to answer more of yours! Good luck :)