How can I lose weight before Christmas?

Whether you have a little weight to lose or a lot, or a lot it's best not to reduce your calorie intake to less than 1200 calories a day. This level of intake will help you shed around a couple of pounds a week (a bit more at first) so you should be around half a stone trimmer by Christmas.

Importantly it won't hamper your weight loss effort by sending your body into starvation mode.

The food choices you then make to obtain these 1,200 calories is the crucial factor in how hungry or otherwise you will feel. To beat hunger pangs completely, try these fail-safe tips:

1 Make two thirds of your diet plant-based. Pasta, rice, beans, bread and fruits and vegetables give maximum fill for minimal calories, and making them the main rather than secondary part of your meal means you'll always have plenty to eat.

2 Choose high fibre options wherever possible. Fibre doesn't contain any calories, so it fills without being fattening. It also slows down stomach emptying so that you feel full for longer. And because you have to chew high fibre foods so well it forces you to eat them more slowly.

3 Eat high water foods. Water is the ultimate low calorie, high volume food, so liquid meals such as soups and stews can be particularly satisfying, and kinder to your waistline. Another trick is to drink a glass of water before a meal to trick the stomach's stretch receptors into sending 'I'm full' messages to the brain.

4 Don't skimp on low fat sources of protein, such as fish, grilled chicken and lean meat. Lean protein has an effective blunting effect on your appetite, and can make you feel full for longer.

5 Cut the fat. Apart from the obvious reason - that it has more than twice the calories than the same weight of protein or starch - fat is also the least filling food component of all.

If you follow these rules, you'll be able to eat really well (for example cereal and fruit for breakfast, soup, bread and yoghurt for lunch and a large veggie curry and rice followed by fruit fool for evening meal) and still not go over 1200 calories. 

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