There are plans available for almost everything these days. It makes things more organised so we can do more throughout the day. Sometimes it sounds a little overdone but it does allow us to get more things done during our life and let’s face it - we organise our HOLIDAYS too - some ppl just use their holidays to vege… to let their lives settle and unstress. We all know that organising things can either put the person’s mind at ease or increase their stress levels (rushing from one thing to the next)… but that’s another topic.

When it comes to dieting, however, it IS a good idea all round to plan what you should be eating. Here are a few steps.

1. Mini meals are great. Some nutritionists say people should be eating something every two hours. Your body needs fuel. Having a couple of big meals a day will give you a downtime - siesta - as your body needs to put all its energy into starting off the digestion. That’s why - if you like to keep your energy up throughout the entire day, it’s best to eat several smaller meals a day - like a sandwich for lunch with a little fruit rather than taking off to a restaurant for a smorgasbord. It can be difficult to eat something every two hours so - I guess an easier time span would be every 4 hours. Don’t JUST eat some fruit - make sure you keep up your vitamins and minerals within most of the every day food we eat. Also, don’t make your mini meal a bucket of fried chicken. This is a great way to avoid hunger and improper snacking throughout the day. Usually when we get hungry, we will eat anything and usually it’s not good for us - like ice cream, cream buns, donuts etc. Pack yourself a selection of snacking foods such as carrots, celery, a small pasta meal, fruit, low fat yoghurt, sandwich (on multi-grain bread) boiled egg etc.. you’ll think of it just look in the pantry.

2. Don’t go over board. You don’t need to write down every single piece of food you’re going to have inside a dish you’re making and pin out the calories on a board. If you’re trying to cut back on food - try to write up maybe a maximum amount of food you’re allowed to eat. Personally, I’m a pretty big eater. I sometimes pop a hunger-suppressant pill every couple of days just so my body doesn’t go “ok here’s the food, where’s the exercise?”. I can eat excessively sometimes. I’m not suggesting you bring the calculator out and count up every amount of fat, sugar, saturated fat, sodium, calories, kilojoules etc you are eating and drinking… but it is a good idea to have a general idea. Don’t eat with your eyes, eat with your mind.

3. Eat good tasting food. It’s ok to occasionally treat yourself and eat something not-so-good for you. Just because you’re cutting back on the calories doesn’t mean you need to cut back on the taste. If your self control isn’t too good and you want to add that butter to the toast or you want to have ‘just another bowl of ice cream’ you should not even START eating something not included in your diet plan. There are plenty of delicious, low fat meals that are VERY tasty! Remember you can add different herbs to your dishes to spice things up a little.

Will Post more steps shortly.