Unusual Diet Tips

1. To work out just how many calories you can eat daily, multiply your ideal body weight in pounds by 14.

2. People who have acupuncture once a week lose an extra 4.5 kg (10 lb) in three months. Applying needles at pressure points is thought to trigger electrical pulses that suppress appetite.

3. Sprinkle cinnamon into a yoghurt each day to burn fat. The spice is a powerful metabolism-raiser. Half a teaspoon a day is enough to burn an extra kilo a month.

4. Take lunch breaks away from your desk. You’ll consume 250 fewer calories in a day than those who eat as they work.

5. Have a laugh. A good strong laugh for 10-15 minutes a day increases weekly energy consumption by up to 280 calories.

6. A glass of carrot juice a day will help you lose 4lb over 12 weeks compared with non-juice drinkers. It’s high in fibre and nutrients that help burn blubber.

7. Take a calcium supplement. You’ll lose 2.6 per cent more fat than those who don’t.

8. To burn more calories, listen to music that builds in tempo during your workout. It’ll help guard against fatigue.

9. Red meat can help you lose weight. It packs a lot of the proteins that help you maintain muscle mass – and muscle burns four times as many calories as fat.

10. Don’t exercise alone. Train with friends and you’ll lose a third more weight than if you go on your own. You’ll maintain motivation by exercising socially, and benefit from mutual encouragement.

11. Eat red peppers. They contain capsaicin, the chemical that gives them their distinctive taste and which boosts your resting metabolic rate by 25 per cent.

12. Stress at work is the biggest cause of over-eating. Controlled breathing for two minutes, focusing on your diaphragm, will dampen hunger pangs.

13. Exercising first thing in the morning helps you to burn fat faster. You’ll shed a kilo quicker than at any other time, as your body will be forced to tap into your fat reserves for energy.

14. Eat three 250-calorie protein-rich snacks a day between meals- for example, a sliced chicken breast, or a 185g tin of tuna in spring water with low-fat mayo on crisp bread. Those who do so are 30 per cent more likely to lose weight.

15. Turn off your TV while you eat, as the distraction postpones the point at which you stop eating. This can cut 3.5 kg (almost 8 lb) of weight gain each year.

16. Drizzle on some soy sauce to shed the pounds. Research shows soy proteins interact with receptors in our brains that tell us we’re full.

17. Slice your food to consume 20 per cent fewer calories. People rate sliced servings as 27 per cent larger than equal amounts of whole veg – and so pile less onto their plates.

18. Hit the treadmill. The running machine is the best tool in the gym to burn the most calories in the shortest time.

19. Eat vitamin-filled melon followed by protein-rich egg for the perfect fat-fighting breakfast. The eggs even break down the melon’s carbs.

20. A daily glass of red wine can stop you putting on fat, especially around your belly. Resveratrol from the grapes inhibits the development of fat cells around your waist.

21. Tune in to classic FM. By listening to relaxing music while you eat, you’ll consume less, as you’ll chew at a more leisurely pace and be more in tune with your body, so you stop eating when you feel full.

22. Chew sugar-free gum for 15 minutes after eating, and again two hours later, to cut snack cravings.

23. Eat pomegranates. Their seed oil reduces the body’s abilities to store fat, and they’re so sweet they’ll curb your desire for sugary snacks.

24. Fire up the BBQ to grill the calories in your meat. Barbecuing meat lets extra fat escape while it cooks.

25.Avoid energy drinks. Their energy is released too quickly and they can make you fat.

26. Sip green tea. It contains a compound that reacts with caffeine to boost fat oxidation and resting metabolism by 20 per cent.

27. Eat chilli con carne once a week. An enzyme in kidney beans tells the body to break down stored fat instead of carbohydrates for energy, while mince boosts your metabolism.

28. Choose spinach ahead of other greens. It packs double the fibre, which helps the body process fats more efficiently.

29. Swap your regular cheese for goat’s cheese. It’s 40 per cent lower in calories than cheese made from cow’s milk.

30. Add lentils to each meal to lose more than 7kg (more than 15lb) in ten weeks. The pulses are packed with the amino acid leucine, which burns fat fast.

31. Eat ‘good’ fats to burn fat. Eggs, walnuts and rapeseed oil are all good for this, and also help cut the risk of heart disease.

32. Drink juice with ‘bits’ in. The extra fibre makes you feel fuller for longer.

33. Eat breakfast. Those who fail to kickstart their metabolism with a meal first thing eat 100 more calories a day

34. Take a daily borage seed oil capsule – pressed from seeds of the starflower – to stay slim. Eighty per cent of people found it helped keep weight down.

35. Eat an apple 15 minutes before a meal. You will consume an average of 187 fewer calories if you do.

36. Drizzle a little olive oil on salads. Its ‘good’ fatty acids trigger a protein that tells your body it’s full, to prevent you from overeating.

37. Putting tomatoes in your sandwiches will keep you feeling fuller for longer and make you less likely to gorge on postlunchtime snacks. The fruit suppresses the hormone ghrelin, which is responsible for hunger pangs.

38. Leave a maximum of three hours between meals. This ensures your metabolic rate doesn’t fluctuate.

39. Eat pineapple. It’s not only a great snack to spark your metabolism, it contains bromolina which helps break down protein.

40. Eat bread with lupin seeds. They’re particularly high in fibre, so will keep you feeling fuller for longer. Go to goodnessdirect.co.uk.

41. Add paprika to meals. Its ground red peppers contain six times the vitamin C of tomatoes, crucial for helping your body to turn fat into energy.

42. Vinegar-based food dressings contain acetic acid, which speeds up the rate at which your body burns fat. Add a few glugs of vinaigrette or vinegar daily to salads and sauces.

43. Sit down at a table to eat. You’ll con- sume a third less than when munching on the move.

44. Eat blue corn tortilla chips. They have half the fat of standard crisps and also release sugar more slowly into the bloodstream, which controls insulin levels and slows weight gain.

45. Eat with others. Research shows people tend to match their food intake to their dining partner. Eating with a lady friend should mean 35 per cent fewer calories.

46. If it didn’t grow, walk or swim, don’t eat it. Processed foods are loaded with unhealthy transfats and artificial sweeteners.

47. Walk around after exercise to keep your fat-fighting enzymes working. Sitting for too long deactivates them.

48. Swap full-fat milk for skimmed in tea and with cereal. Not only does skimmed milk have half the calories, it actually has more calcium and phosophorous, which increase fat breakdown in cells.