Do’s

No delay, start today
My main advice would be to start now - like right now, immediately. The place to start, especially if you’ve had trouble losing weight before, is to write down what your daily life would look like if you were already living at a healthy weight:
• What sort of groceries would you buy?
• What sort of lifestyle would you have - how active would you be, how much television would you watch?
• What kind of meals would you cook?
• What kind of takeaways would you select?
• How would you treat yourself?
Then start to do some of the things on this list immediately.

Keep track
You do need to weigh yourself regularly – weigh and measure yourself – otherwise you have no idea where you are in terms of your body weight and how you’re going.

Count those Calories
In this day and age, like it or not, you have to be Calorie or Kilojoule-wise. You can do this by getting a Calorie counter or access this information online. You’ve got to know where your Calories come from, both from food and drink, and you especially have to know your “exception” foods or your ‘sometimes’ foods.

These are your foods that you go to when you’re stressed or when you’re celebrating and have a couple of drinks. You need to know the exercise cost of the Calories in those foods to help you work out whether it’s worth continuing to eat and drink in the same way you are or whether you can cut down or substitute some of these foods.

Portion power
You do need to wise up about portions. Even too much of healthy food can mean your total Calorie intake is too high. Keeping a food diary and investing in a little set of kitchen scales, measuring cups and spoons initially, will help you figure out exactly how much of these healthy foods you are eating now and where you may need to reign your portion sizes in.

This also shows you where you’re going wrong and more importantly, will show you where you’re already going right. You might already have two pieces of fruit for your morning tea, but you might discover that it’s when you get home from work until the next morning that your Calories consumption and portions are out of control.

Keep going
Make a start anyway you can, whether that’s a diet of your own doing or joining a club or buying a book. Then, when the going gets tough, go and see an Accredited Practising Dietician. You’ll be armed with your experiences so far and this will ensure you get the most out of the consultation. Keep going until you find the lifestyle changes that work and that you can live with.

Don’t’s

Be a part-timer
Don’t start a diet every Monday and by that I mean don’t be just a Monday to Friday dieter. People actually consume more Calories on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, so if you really have to be a part-time dieter, you’re better off being a weekend dieter than a week day dieter!

Fall for fads
Don’t invest in every fad that opens and shuts. If you have a cupboard full of fad products, protein powders and detox diets, you’re better off investing in a fruit and veg home delivery service and getting a box of fruit and veg delivered every Monday.

Don’t make excuses
Too tired, too busy, too hard, too expensive, no support, not the right time…I’ve heard them all! Take care and be wary because one day you may hear the words “too late”.

Don’t ignore your health
A good place to start is seeing your GP for a check up. For some people this will provide more motivation – they may have sky-high cholesterol or borderline elevated blood sugar, and that’s enough to put them on a mission to remedy the situation, especially for men.

Discount emotions
Lastly, don’t ignore your emotions because your emotions are the glue that keeps you on track or will tip you off track if ignored. Look at the reasons why food may make you come unstuck and work on that. For this, you may benefit from talking to a clinical psychologist or discussing it with your GP.

Ask Dr Clare Collins a question