How To Eat To Lose Weight: The 9 Rules

These are the proven methods for shedding the kilos healthily.

- Peta Bee

1 CUT OUT ALCOHOL FOR TWO WEEKS TO KICK-START WEIGHT LOSS

Giving up alcohol completely is a hard sell after the time we’ve had, but if you can commit to at least two weeks without a drink it will enhance weight loss dramatically. ‘I find that when clients drink alcohol they lose weight more slowly, so it is initially off limits when they want to shed kilos,’ says Dominique Ludwig, a nutritionist whose clients include Hollywood actresses and elite athletes. ‘Alcohol calories can add up quickly and one glass can so easily become two.’ After two weeks, allow yourself a maximum of two to three units on two to three days while you are trying to lose weight, aiming for at least four days free of alcohol each week and never consuming more than the recommended 14 units per week.

2 CUT OUT SOFT DRINKS THAT CONTAIN HIDDEN CALORIES

Celebrity trainer Harry Jameson recommends cutting all liquid calories on at least five days a week for the next four weeks. ‘One of my big tips for clients is to get them to cut out all calorie-containing drinks, so that means milky coffee, soft drinks, juices, smoothies and even gut-friendly health drinks such as kombucha and kefir. For many of them, that means they easily slice 500 calories a day from their daily energy intake,’ he says. ‘That deficit will really help to accelerate weight loss.’ Stick to green or herbal tea, black coffee or water instead.