Active weight watchers consistently ask what foods can I eat and what foods should I avoid. This is a genuine thing because if you have set a goal to lose weight you want to be sure that you are eating the right things. The good news is that there are very few foods that you should avoid such as:

- Any type of fast food. (Pizzas, burgers etc.)

- All soft drinks that fizz.

- Never drink beer when you eat, or eat when you drink beer. Beer will stop your body from breaking down fats.

What is more important is how much you eat. The excess weight that you put on is the difference between calories digested and calories burnt off through exercise. Therefore if you lead an active life you are able to consume more calories and your activity will burn them off. If your lifestyle lacks physical activity you must consume less calories and search for ways to become more active. Therefore the size of the serving depends upon your lifestyle. The wife of a physical worker needs to serve him larger portions because he needs it to create the energy required to get through a physically exhausting day. The risk that she takes is that by serving large meals to him she tends to serves similarly large meals to herself; often using the excuse that she is only eating two-thirds the amount he consumes. If her activity level is only half of his then two-thirds could be over-eating.

In the developed world adults consume on average 3,500 calories each day. Adults actually require 2,000 calories to function properly. Now imagine lowering your calorie intake to 3,000 per day. The 500 calories less consumed each day equates to 3,500 calories per week less or six days food every seven days. It just happens that 3,500 calories equals one pound in weight and if you can lose one pound (450 grams) each week you are at the optimum weight loss level. As a general rule diets that reduce weight by greater than one pound per week are short term and 99% of people put that weight back on. One-pound weight loss per week is the most sustainable amount.

How can you achieve this reduction in calories consumed? Easy, at the start of each day decide what you are not going to consume that day. Say Monday becomes no bread day. That means that you do not eat any bread on Monday. More importantly you dont eat more of something else to compensate. Tuesday may be no potato day. Wednesday no cakes or cookies etc. etc. At the same time as you do this you increase your exercise level. Park the car at the furthest point from the supermarket door. Use the stairs rather than an escalator. Take a walk after dinner. Just do things that youve been avoiding and see how quickly you lose weight and keep it off.

This article is copyright David McCarthy 2006 and may only be re-produced without alteration or addition.