When you’re stuck indoors, it can be all too easy to let food become your focus. After all, it’s one of life’s little pleasures.
But if you’re looking at self-isolation as a chance to reboot and reset, the last thing you want to do is pile on the pounds. Studies show that making small tweaks rather than big ones is the key to keeping the weight off.
Swapping fruit juice for water, eating raw veg instead of crisps and using smaller plates for your meals, for example, will save hundreds of calories a day and allow you to lose weight without having to make any big sacrifices.
Many of us turn to food in stressful situations, or when we’re bored or sad. Rather than mindlessly reaching for a sweet treat or crisps, try to take a minute to work out whether you’re really hungry, or just after comfort.
Find something that will distract you. A jigsaw or something like knitting which will engage fingers and brain.
What you think of as being an afternoon stomach pang or feeling of fatigue may be your body’s way of signalling thirst. How can you tell? When you feel hungry, try drinking a glass of water (or another no-calorie drink) and see how you feel ten minutes later.
Crucially, the fact that you’re not able to pop to the shops can work in your favour — if you don’t have snacks in the house, you can’t be tempted.
Instead, plan meals like these with a good amount of fibre and protein to fill you up. Serve with half a plate of vegetables or salad.
Schedule in healthy snacks, too. Try rice cakes with a little peanut butter; carrot, cucumber or celery sticks with salsa or houmous; a few almonds; or some plain popcorn — all of these are better than sugary, fattening comfort food.
-Adapted from Daily Mail
