What really works for weight loss?

It’s that time of year when many of us are making resolutions. Weight loss or dieting is often at the top of the list. But what changes are worth making to your diet to have the biggest impact? I’ve spent years researching what works best for both weight loss and improved health. Here’s my ‘Holy Grail’ of the five things you should do to succeed this year:

  1. A low GL Diet is the best way to eat both for weight loss and overall health. By following a low GL diet you balance your blood sugar, preventing insulin spikes, which both make you hungry and store carbs away as fat for a rainy day that rarely comes!
  2. Alternate day dieting. To burn fat fast I recommend that you apply my low GL diet to alternate day ‘fasting’ by having a diet with 35 GLs on ‘fast’ days and 50 GLs on the ‘feast’ days. I explain exactly how to do this here.
  3. The fibre factor. One of the main factors that determines whether a carbohydrate food is high or low GL is the amount and kind of fibre it contains. Soluble fibres absorb water and as a consequence make you feel fuller. The king of soluble fibres is glucomannan fibre, found in the Japanese konjac plant and has consistently been shown to help with weight loss.
  4. Exercise. For both all-round health and fitness and also for weight burning, you need a balance between muscle-building exercise, called ‘resistance’ or strength training and ‘aerobic’ or endurance exercise. That might mean a ‘strength’ session of alternate days and a 30 minute endurance exercise, such as a jog, brisk walk, cycle or swim. There are also clear advantages in short burst high intensity exercise called ‘interval’ training which can either be built into your ‘strength’ training routine or endurance session. I’ve built this into my Burn Fat Fast programme.
  5. Supplementary benefit. There are a number of dietary supplements that assist weight loss and help to keep insulin levels down. One of my favourites is chromium, which in a study showed those who took it ate less, felt less hungry, craved fat less and also lost more weight than those taking the placebos. Other supplements that have been shown to support normal blood sugar and insulin regulation and to assist weight loss are HCA (an extract from tamarind) and 5-HTP (a form of tryptophan).

If you’re committed to losing weight and transforming your health this year and want to find out more, read my book Burn Fat Fast . I’d also recommend you join my 100% Health Club which gives you the tools, advice and facts you need to get 100% healthy.