Beat those diet excuses

It's easy to let excuses get in the way of your weight loss. Here are some of the most common and how to kick them into touch.

I'm too busy to eat healthily

Solution: Go for healthy chea ts Ready meals (preferably with less than 400 calories and 20g fat), are fine if you bump up the nutritional content by adding a large bowl of bagged salad and handful of cherry tomatos. And you're never going to be too busy to grill some fish, microwave a jacket potato and boil some frozen veg.

Low fat is dull

Solution: Swap to good fat

It's okay to eat more fat as long as you make sure most of it comes from unsaturated sources such as nuts, seeds, vegetable oils and fish, not saturated sources such as butter, sausages, cakes and biscuits. You still need to keep your calories down but your diet will be more palatable.

I love the taste of chocolate too much

Solution: Eat a little bit every day!

Banning desired foods from your diet will make you crave them more. So for many dieters it helps to eat a little chocolate every day and just factor it into their calorie allowance. If calories are short try a slimline chocolate treat like reduced calorie hot chocolate, topped with a little aerosol whipped cream. At 70 calories it contains less than half the calories of the smallest (30g) chocolate bar.

Healthy eating is too expensive

Solution: If you go back to basics with really wholesome food that you cook yourself, it's possible to eat very well for very little. Try buying fruit and veg from markets rather than always relying on supermarkets, and search out the foods that are both healthy and cheap, such as lentils, tinned sardines, dried pasta and baked beans.

I don't like vegetables

Solution: You can still eat a healthy diet and lose weight even if you aren't too fond of vegetables. Ways to make them easier to swallow include eating them in soup, popping them in a stir fry with chicken or prawns or grating carrots into Bolognese sauce.

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