15 diet tips to help change your shape

Get active... one step at a time
You don't have to shell out on signing up for an expensive gym membership or a personal trainer just because it's January and New Year's resolutions time.
Try becoming more active one step at a time and slowly increase the amount you do each day and week.

Swap boring workouts for fun fitness regimes
Find an activity that you enjoy. Whether that's walking with friends, going for a bike ride with the kids or discovering a new exercise class. If you're having fun, you'll soon forget you're working up a sweat!

Swap the car for a walk when making short journeys
Whether it's walking the kids to school or parking a little further away from work and walking the difference, finding small, manageable ways to build activity into your everyday life will make it easier to keep up your fitness regime.

Swap watching TV indoors for time outdoors with your friends and family
You could invite them to go swimming, cycling or walking with you as part of your new routine. Slimmers say that it's always much easier to be active if those around you are, too.

Get into a new 'groove'
Successful long-term weight loss isn't only about eating differently, it's about developing healthy new habits that you can keep up for life. Often they become so ingrained that you don't even know you're doing them. Slimming World calls this getting into a new "groove".

Swap thinking about the end goal for smaller targets
Losing weight is a lifestyle change, not a race!
Thinking about your end goal can be daunting, especially if you've got a lot of weight to lose, so break your weight loss down into more manageable targets.
This could be how much you want to lose each week or thinking about your weight loss each stone or even half-stone at a time.
You will soon look back and realise just how far you've come.

Swap impromptu eating for planning meals ahead
When you don't have anything in the fridge, the cupboards are bare and you're starving hungry, it's easy to be tempted by speedy convenience foods.
Planning your meals ahead and even cooking in advance keeps you in control and you don't waste food or money!
Making a list before hitting the supermarket is a great idea, too, so you won't be tempted by those sneaky offers at the end of the aisles.

Swap going it alone for support and encouragement
Research shows that slimmers who get support by joining a group of like-minded slimmers are more likely to be successful than those who go it alone.
Every week Slimming World members share top tips, recipes and ideas for overcoming challenges and developing skills to tackle the emotional and psychological barriers linked to weight loss.

Swap separate diet meals for healthy family food
When we embark on a diet, we often expect to have to eat differently to the rest of our family, and the thought of having to force down a salad while everyone enjoys their favourite meal can be off-putting to say the least.
But by making small changes to the way you cook your food, you can enjoy all your family favourites, from curry to spaghetti bolognese or a roast dinner, and everyone will benefit from your new healthy recipes. Get some ideas with the Mirror's Slimming World recipes .

Swap eating in front of the TV for sitting around the table
When you're distracted while eating, it's easy to eat beyond feeling satisfied because you don't notice the signs that you're feeling full as quickly.
Sitting with your family will also mean everyone looks forward to mealtimes more.

Swap feeling envious of someone else's success for being motivated by them
Envying someone else's success can be excruciating, but wanting what someone else has can also be very motivating.
Keep positive by thinking, "what first step can I take to get what this person has? How can I learn from them?" Maybe even ask for their help and support.
Did you know the year after Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile barrier for the first time, 37 other people did it, too?

Swap self-doubt for self-belief
We can all be our own worst critics and it's easy to focus on our failings.
But by noticing our successes and being kind to ourselves, we can believe in ourselves and achieve more.
So try this - instead of beating yourself up when something doesn't quite work out the way you would have liked, talk to yourself in the way you would a close friend, with care and reassurance.

Food for thought
 Good news! You don't have to live on carrot sticks and lettuce leaves to lose weight and eat healthily. With these small, simple tweaks you can enjoy the food you love and still lose weight.

Swap takeaways for fake-aways
Whether it's Chinese, Indian or fish and chips, slimming down doesn't have to see you go without your favourite takeaways.
Instead of ordering in, cook your own healthy versions of your favourite dishes, they'll be lighter on your waistline and your bank balance.

Swap skipping meals for three healthy, balanced meals a day
It's easy to go without breakfast if you're s and rushing to get out of the house in time, or to work through your lunch when it's busy. But research shows that people who eat regular meals and enjoy healthy snacks are more likely to make healthy food choices throughout the day - and much less likely to be reaching for the biscuit tin or heading to the vending machine when their energy dips.

Swap the same old meals for a variety of more exciting dishes
No one wants to eat the same foods over and over again. Mix up your meals and vary how you cook the foods you eat a lot.
For instance, potatoes can be mashed, roasted or baked as wedges or chips, and veg can be steamed, boiled or roasted. Adding a little spicy flavouring makes all the difference, too. After all, variety is the spice of life.

Swap juices and smoothies for whole fruit
Whole fruit helps you feel full, but with a juice, it's easier for the calories to slip down without satisfying your appetite.
Think about how full you would be after five oranges compared with how easy the juice from five oranges is to drink without feeling full.
You can also swap your usual store cupboard staples for lower-fat versions, including...

• Mayonnaise for extra-light mayo.
• Whole milk for skimmed or semi-skimmed milk.
• Sugary cordial or fizzy drinks for sugar-free or diet drinks.
• White bread for wholemeal bread.
• Sugar for artificial sweetener.
• Your usual cuts of meat for extra-lean cuts, trimming all fat from meat and removing all skin from poultry.
• Butter for low-fat spread.
• Regular yoghurt for fat-free natural yoghurts or fromage frais.
• Regular salad dressings for fat-free salad dressings.
• Oil for low-calorie cooking spray.

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Food for a healthy gut

A slice of dark rye bread spread with hummous, a bowl of fragrant dahl cooked with onion, a piece of watermelon ... if the friendly microbes inhabiting your gut could send out for their favourite meals, these foods would be on the list. What they all have in common is that they contain specific types of fibre that act as prebiotics - meaning they provide fodder for the good bacteria that help to keep us healthy. 

Our body's need for fibre is no longer just about beating constipation and reducing the risk of heart disease - research into gut health now suggests that encouraging the right balance of gut bacteria can do a lot to improve our health in other ways. One example is the gut microbes that produces a substance - butyrate - that helps protect the bowel lining from cancer, providing you keep feeding them the right stuff; that alone should be enough reason to dust off your dahl recipe. 

So what are these special fibres and what should we eat to get enough of them? One is resistant starch found in legumes, as well as in barley, firm bananas and cooked and cooled rice  - this is the fibre favoured by those microbes defending your bowel lining, says Dr Jane Muir, Head of Translational Nutrition Science at Monash University's Department of Gastroenterology. Another important group of fibres - called short-chain oligosaccharides - are found in nuts, seeds, onions, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes and watermelon, as well as legumes and grains. 

"These fibres feed other friendly microbes that produce fatty acids that are absorbed into our bloodstream and which may be important for reducing inflammation - meaning the kind of low grade chronic inflammation in the body that contributes to problems like heart disease and diabetes," Muir says.

An easy way of getting more of these fibres is by eating legumes and wholegrains - but these are also foods that some people have struck off the menu, including anyone who's avoiding grains containing gluten or who's following the Paleo Diet which excludes both grains and legumes.   

"We're a bit worried about people on these diets because they may miss out on these important fibres, "Muir says.

"Some people do need to be on diets that restrict these foods.  For example, if you've been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome then limiting them will help control gastrointestinal symptoms associated with IBS. If you've been diagnosed with coeliac disease then you also have to avoid foods containing gluten - but some people restrict gluten for other reasons, thinking it will help with weight loss or improve bloating. But by restricting grains like rye, barley and wheat you miss out on these indigestible carbohydrates that are so important for gut health."

The Paleo diet which aims to mimic a traditional hunter gatherer diet embraces vegetables, nuts, lean meat, poultry and fish but avoids grains and legumes as well as dairy foods. "It's a healthy way of eating in some ways because it's based on whole foods and avoids processed foods but it's a diet that makes it difficult to get enough resistant starch - although you could probably get enough short chain oligosaccharides on a Paleo Diet if you ate enough onions, nuts, seeds and Jerusalem artichokes," Muir says. For the rest of us her advice is to include more legumes in the diet because they're a good source of both resistant starch and short chain oligosaccharides, and suitable for people with coeliac disease because they're gluten free. "They're a powerhouse of these fibres - and they're also filling and cheap." We're also still only scratching the surface of our understanding of gut microbes and how they can affect our health, she adds - it's a question of 'watch this space'.

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reveals two-week rapid weight-loss diet - Lose 9 pounds in 14 days

Dr. Oz's diet helped his audience members lose over 1,000 pounds combined, or about nine pounds per person. "It's easier than you think," he said.
.
Foods You Should Avoid
Dr. Oz's two-week rapid weight-loss diet suggests eliminating the following:
1. Eliminate wheat. One woman who eliminated wheat from her diet said she lost 16 pounds by making that one small change. In a previous episode, Dr. Oz detailed how eliminating grains causes rapid weight loss and prevents Alzheimer's.
2. Avoid artificial sweeteners. Dr. Oz said artificial sweeteners ruin your metabolism and fuel weight gain. New studies show that people who use artificial sweeteners experience a 70% increase in waist circumference compared to non-users.
3. Avoid alcohol and sugar. Sugar increases your appetite and wreaks havoc on your metabolism and hormones, making weight loss difficult. Dr. Oz said alcohol provides empty liquid calories, makes you eat more, and causes bloating.
4. Eliminate coffee. While coffee has been touted as a rich source of antioxidants, Dr. Oz said the stimulant effects of coffee can lead to unhealthy cravings. He said black coffee is OK, but adding sugar and cream makes it unhealthy.
5. Avoid dairy. Dairy is a major source of inflammation, which promotes weight gain, heart disease and diabetes.
Foods You Should Eat
Now that you know which foods to eliminate, Dr. Oz detailed the foods you should include on your rapid weight-loss diet:
1. Start each morning with a cup of hot water with ½ a lemon. This kick-starts your metabolism and digestive system and is a natural diuretic.
2. For breakfast, Dr. Oz suggests having a high-protein smoothie to stoke your metabolism while ridding your body of toxins. His smoothie recipe includes the following ingredients:

• 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk.
• ½ banana.
• ½ cup frozen berries.
• 2 tablespoons of ground flax seeds.
• 2 tablespoons rice protein powder.

3. Your meals and snacks should consist of the following foods:

• Six-ounce portions of chicken, turkey or fish.
• Healthy fats like avocado and olive oil.
• Greek yogurt (this probiotic-rich food is the only dairy allowed).
• Fiber-rich brown rice.
• Organic green tea to replace coffee.

4. Dr. Oz identified the following low-glycemic vegetables as foods you can eat unlimited quantities of:

• Artichokes
• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbages
• Cauliflower
• Mushrooms
• Peppers
• Snap peas
• Squash

5. To accelerate weight loss, Dr. Oz suggests taking a probiotic every morning. Probiotics, which Dr. Oz called the best weight-loss trend of 2013, aid digestion and promote weight loss.
Dr. Oz said if you follow this diet for two weeks, you can expect to lose about nine pounds, which is a great way to kick off the new year.

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Weight-Loss Companies Charged With Fraud

WASHINGTON — “Get a gym body without going to the gym” by sprinkling a powder on your food. “Significantly slim your thighs and buttocks” using an almond-scented cream. Lose up to one pound a day with just two drops under the tongue.

Such claims were too good to be true, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

On Tuesday, the commission charged four companies with deceptively marketing weight-loss products, asserting they made “unfounded promises” that consumers could shed pounds simply by using their food additives, skin creams and other dietary supplements.

The four companies — Sensa Products, L’Occitane, HCG Diet Direct and LeanSpa — will collectively pay $34 million to refund consumers. They neither admitted nor denied fault in the case.

The case is part of a broader crackdown on companies that the government says “peddle fad weight-loss products.” Linda Goldstein, the chairwoman of the advertising and marketing division at the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, said the settlements made clear that the commission would accept only double-blind, placebo-controlled studies to document the medical effectiveness of diet regimes.

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The F.T.C. imposed a $46.5 million judgment on Sensa Products, but it will be able to pay only about half that sum. Federal Trade Commission

The commission is also proposing new guidance for media outlets to help them catch potentially fraudulent claims. The F.T.C. said it would urge media companies not to accept advertisements that make dubious weight-loss claims.

“Resolutions to lose weight are easy to make but hard to keep,” Jessica Rich, the director of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “And the chances of being successful just by sprinkling something on your food, rubbing cream on your thighs or using a supplement are slim to none. The science just isn’t there.”

The weight-loss industry has exploded in recent years. Consumers are expected to spend about $66 billion this year on diet soft drinks, health club memberships, dietary supplements and other products aimed at weight loss, according to Marketdata Enterprises.

But that growth comes with potential pitfalls. Weight-loss products accounted for 13 percent of the fraud claims submitted to the F.T.C. in 2011, the most recent data available. That is more than twice the number in any other category.

The F.T.C.’s latest initiative, called “Operation Failed Resolution,” follows a series of enforcement efforts in recent years against unfounded weight-loss schemes.

In 2004, the commission announced “Operation Big Fat Lie,” charging six companies with false marketing. Among the fraudulent products that year was Himalayan Diet Breakthrough, a diet pill containing Nepalese mineral pitch, a pastelike material that “oozes out of the cliff face cracks in the summer season” in the Himalayas. The seller, AVS Marketing, claimed that users could lose as much as 37 pounds in eight weeks while still consuming unlimited amounts of food.

In 1997, “Operation Waistline” targeted seven companies that marketed the weight-loss properties of products like “Fat Burners” diet supplements, “Svelte-Patch” skin patches, and “Slimming Soles” shoe insoles. Separately, the F.T.C. has also pursued dozens of cases against companies operating fake news sites that promote the weight-loss characteristics of acai berries.

Over the last decade, the F.T.C. has also lobbied the media industry to stop accepting ads for weight-loss products whose claims are too good to be believed. That year, the commissioned announced its Red Flag education campaign for media companies to help them spot dubious weight-loss claims.

In that time, the commission has seen “a significant reduction in the number of ads appearing” in major media outlets that screen advertising content before use, said Richard Cleland, an F.T.C. lawyer.

As part of the recent spate of cases, the commission noted that one marketer piggybacked on the reputation of well-known media outlets as cover for their claims.

For example, one television commercial for Sensa noted that Dr. Alan Hirsch, the creator of the product and a part-owner of the company, had “appeared on ‘Oprah,’ ‘Good Morning America,’ ‘Dateline,’ ‘Extra,’ the CBS ‘Early Show,’ CNN” and in hundreds of magazines and newspapers around the country.

Sensa charged $59, plus shipping and handling, for a one-month supply of the powder. The powder was supposed to be sprinkled on food to make users feel full faster, so they ate less.

But the company failed to disclose that some consumers were paid for their endorsements, the commission said. The F.T.C. also took aim at Adam Goldenberg, the chief executive of Sensa, and Dr. Hirsch, who conducted studies on the product but whose findings “were not supported by scientific evidence.”

The commission imposed a $46.5 million judgment on the company, which sold $364 million of Sensa in the United States from 2008 to 2012. But the company will remit little more than half the settlement amount “due to their inability to pay,” officials said. Sensa officials did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

Dubious weight-loss claims are not limited to fledgling companies that advertise on late-night television.

The commission also charged L’Occitane, a retailer with more than 2,000 boutiques worldwide, with deceptive marketing on two skin creams, Almond Beautiful Shape and Almond Shaping Delight. L’Occitane trumpeted that the creams, which cost $44 to $48 for about seven ounces, could trim inches from a user’s body in four weeks, resulting in a “noticeably slimmer, trimmer you.”

The company “takes enormous care in developing our entire line of products and we want our customers to make well-informed decisions,” L’Occitane said in a statement. “As a result of the F.T.C. inquiry, L’Occitane has implemented a set of even more rigorous policies and procedures that will guide future clinical testing and ensure that our marketing and advertising comply with F.T.C. regulations and guidelines.”

L’Occitane agreed to pay $450,000 to refund customers. An F.T.C. official said that amount would provide for a refund of “substantial portions” of consumer spending on the products.

The commission also settled claims against HCG Diet Direct, which sold HCG Diet Direct Drops. The product contains a form of a hormone naturally produced by human placenta that has been “falsely promoted for decades as a weight-loss supplement,” the commission said.

LeanSpa settled charges that the company and its principal executive used fake news websites to promote acai berry and colon cleanse weight-loss products. Consumers were charged recurring monthly payments after signing up for a supposedly free trial, the commission said.

WASHINGTON — “Get a gym body without going to the gym” by sprinkling a powder on your food. “Significantly slim your thighs and buttocks” using an almond-scented cream. Lose up to one pound a day with just two drops under the tongue. Such claims were too good to be true, according to the Federal Trade Commission. On Tuesday, the commission charged four companies with deceptively marketing weight-loss products, asserting they made “unfounded promises” that consumers could shed pounds simply by using their food additives, skin creams and other dietary supplements. The four companies — Sensa Products, L’Occitane, HCG Diet Direct and LeanSpa — will collectively pay $34 million to refund consumers. They neither admitted nor denied fault in the case. The case is part of a broader crackdown on companies that the government says “peddle fad weight-loss products.” Linda Goldstein, the chairwoman of the advertising and marketing division at the law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, said the settlements made clear that the commission would accept only double-blind, placebo-controlled studies to document the medical effectiveness of diet regimes. Launch media viewer The F.T.C. imposed a $46.5 million judgment on Sensa Products, but it will be able to pay only about half that sum. Federal Trade Commission The commission is also proposing new guidance for media outlets to help them catch potentially fraudulent claims. The F.T.C. said it would urge media companies not to accept advertisements that make dubious weight-loss claims. “Resolutions to lose weight are easy to make but hard to keep,” Jessica Rich, the director of the commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “And the chances of being successful just by sprinkling something on your food, rubbing cream on your thighs or using a supplement are slim to none. The science just isn’t there.” The weight-loss industry has exploded in recent years. Consumers are expected to spend about $66 billion this year on diet soft drinks, health club memberships, dietary supplements and other products aimed at weight loss, according to Marketdata Enterprises. But that growth comes with potential pitfalls. Weight-loss products accounted for 13 percent of the fraud claims submitted to the F.T.C. in 2011, the most recent data available. That is more than twice the number in any other category. The F.T.C.’s latest initiative, called “Operation Failed Resolution,” follows a series of enforcement efforts in recent years against unfounded weight-loss schemes.

In 2004, the commission announced “Operation Big Fat Lie,” charging six companies with false marketing. Among the fraudulent products that year was Himalayan Diet Breakthrough, a diet pill containing Nepalese mineral pitch, a pastelike material that “oozes out of the cliff face cracks in the summer season” in the Himalayas. The seller, AVS Marketing, claimed that users could lose as much as 37 pounds in eight weeks while still consuming unlimited amounts of food. In 1997, “Operation Waistline” targeted seven companies that marketed the weight-loss properties of products like “Fat Burners” diet supplements, “Svelte-Patch” skin patches, and “Slimming Soles” shoe insoles. Separately, the F.T.C. has also pursued dozens of cases against companies operating fake news sites that promote the weight-loss characteristics of acai berries. Over the last decade, the F.T.C. has also lobbied the media industry to stop accepting ads for weight-loss products whose claims are too good to be believed. That year, the commissioned announced its Red Flag education campaign for media companies to help them spot dubious weight-loss claims. In that time, the commission has seen “a significant reduction in the number of ads appearing” in major media outlets that screen advertising content before use, said Richard Cleland, an F.T.C. lawyer. As part of the recent spate of cases, the commission noted that one marketer piggybacked on the reputation of well-known media outlets as cover for their claims.

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