Diet...urgh! Here are 5 easy tips to staying slim!

Since I heard that Nigella Lawson is the same age as Gillian Mckeith, I vowed that I would never attempt a fully fledged diet plan in my entire life. I'm sorry but if eating chocolate and donuts at 3am keeps your skin looking plump and healthily flushed into your 50's, rather than pale and gaunt, I'm all for it!

I know who Id rather look like!


....having said that, there are obvious limits to indulgence, and I wouldn't want to be seen as a gluten so here are my tips for staying slim but keeping that youthful glow!


1. Green Tea
I live by herbal tea and you can be sure to find me sat at my desk with a tea pot full of peppermint or green tea, day in day out. Green Tea, often referred to as the 'super brew', is full of anti-oxidants and apparently speeds up your metabolism, so get guzzling!


2. Go Brown
Brown Rice, Brown Bread and any grain that looks a bit brown - ie. Quinoa, Peal Barely etc.
Occasionally I do have cravings for a french baguette with loads of butter or a bowl of pasta drenched in olive oil, salt and pepper, but when I get these cravings I often reach from the brown option, and then have a little treat of white once in a while! Trust me you will notice a, waistline and energy level, difference!


3. Eat when your hungry and Listen to your body
This is probably the most important tip. When you are on a planned diet, you have to eat what the diet dictates not what your body tells you you need. The more in tune with your body the easier you will find it to lose or maintain your weight. I, like most people, like to gorge on certain foods once in a while and I'm the first to admit that when I'm hungover I will eat my way through bowls of pasta, thousands of packets of salt and vinegar crisps and a diet coke! However, normally I manage to control my cravings - for example, if I'm feeling tired or run down I'll eat an orange, make a vegetable stew or roast chicken salad to get those vital vitamins that my body needs, if i still need a boost I might have a few squares of dark chocolate or some beetroot. The key is to stop eating when you are full and the easiest way to do this is to eat food that your body needs so that it feels satisfied 95% of the time. The other 5% is reserved for moments of weaknesses and guilty pleasures!

4. Beetroot
The miracle that is! If I'm ever feeling tired or groggy, stressed or confused, for me Beetroot seems to hold some miraculous power that just sorts my head out. Its also the perfect hangover cure.  If your not a big fan of it on its own, try mixing it with Cucumber, Spring Onions and Creme fraiche and popping inside a pitta bread.

5. Wine
I probably shouldn't be promoting drinking wine but I truly believe that without wine I would be fatter. When I say wine, i mean one glass of wine, not the whole bottle. In moderation, women who drink wine generally feel more relaxed and the more relaxed you feel the less likely you are to crave sugar, which can only be a good thing!