Well the practical me will ask “what goodness will that chocolate muffin provide your body” and of course the answer is absolutely none – which can help me to stay focused on my weight loss goals and not eat the muffin.

Sometimes it just doesn’t work and eating is necessary – not any more of course but during my carb addictive days it was like that – and I ate it, forgave myself and promised to be good the next day.

This whole thing is a journey and weight loss temptations wait for me around every corner. I believe there is no need to get it all right from the start – we all slip up and as long as you pick yourself up and get back into healthy eating one chocolate muffin every now and again won’t kill you.

Well recently I walked into a health food shop and found a packet that contains flaxseed, walnuts, almonds and brazil nuts all milled together that I spread on my porridge to give me some form of protein. I have been using a tiny bit of honey too but recently I don’t have to add that sweetness of honey anymore – I love porridge without it.

So this is my weight loss breakfast that I love and eat most mornings, I am trying to vary it though and get more protein going but some days I just need that porridge loveliness. Usually I eat Tesco Finest Porridge (love it!) but I had run out and went to a local shop to get some run of the mill Quaker Oats

Watch your portion size when it comes to eating porridge. Stick to 30-50g of porridge and use semi skimmed milk.

Contains some great weight loss tips as well

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFVem3Dv49g&feature=channel[/youtube]

How do you avoid late night eating? Well make sure you eat enough during the day and to be honest you may not have to worry about it too much if you are sticking to eating healthy foods. As long as you are balancing out your calories for the day you will manage to lose weight.

Do your best to think about what you are eating if you are about to eat something bad late at night – remember only you can control you as I am not there for you but do what you can to help yourself.

The fitter you are the lower your heart rate becomes and the less work your heart has to do to pump blood around your body, the less work it has to do the more efficient it becomes. We all know a constantly fast beating heart isn’t something you want to walk around with every day of your life because it is just not good for you.

So you can increase the efficiency of your heart by simply exercising and improving your resting heart rate.

What is a good resting heart beat to have?

Well that really depends on your age, other things like whether you are taking medication, suffer from anxiety and your gender.  What follows next is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Please visit your doctor to get an accurate idea of how healthy your heart is based on the number of times it beats per minute.

As a rough guide for you to work towards

For Men aged 36-45 a poor resting heart rate is 83+ and an excellent healthy rate is 57-62 – at this stage you are physically fit

Men aged 36-45 should aim for a resting heart rate of between 55-66 bpm

For Women aged 36-45 a poor resting heart rate is 85+ and an excellent healthy rate is 60-64

Woman aged 36-45 should aim for a resting heart rate of between 62-66 bpm

How do I take my resting heart beat?

You can use your own fingers. The best place to take your heart beat is either on your wrist using the forefinger and middle finger only. Or the easiest place to find your pulse is on your neck just under your chin and towards your ear. Gently place them on your neck – you don’t have to push down – just place them there lightly.

Make sure you are completely rested (which is why first thing in the morning is best), place your fingers on your pulse and then have a clock or stop watch nearby which counts the 60 seconds for you.

If you are looking at taking on exercise your resting heart beat – along with your weight and body measurements – are all great ways to get an idea of the progress you are making and it is quick and easy to take in the morning.

It can also act as a great incentive if after exercising regularly for a couple of weeks you find that your heart rate has improved.

Modern day living puts too much strain and stress on our heart in general and one of the best ways I know to keep our heart healthy is through a balanced nutritious diet and exercise – but you probably knew that already. The question is when will you get started with yours?

Here is how he explained raw food to me

“Raw food is food that still retains enzymes in it - and enzymes are killed at temperatures above 47 degrees C. So if food is heated above this temperature at any stage (when it is being processed, or when we are cooking it at home) then the enzymes are destroyed. We never eat food above 47 degrees because it would burn us, so what need do we have to heat it above this level! We can heat it to just under 47 degrees and we have enjoyable, tasty, warm food in which the enzymes are retained.”

So now I know that I can look into it because the thought of actually eating uncooked veg was enough to put me off totally.

Here’s some info on bread that should scare you! BTW I was one of the big fat people eating bread

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l31iQyNrYXk[/youtube]

This is a great testimonial for raw food and Iain said he learnt what he knows from Peter.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lImTiqB8LLo[/youtube]

I also have a book about acidity in the body and PH Balance that I need to read! I bought it a while ago and never really read it but after talking to Iain I definitely will. The great thing is I am on the right path with what I am eating thanks to the Diet Solution who put me on the right path and am going to continue to limit bread until I can get it out of my life completely.

The evenings are the worse for bread/carb cravings and I need to find something to fill those evening cravings. Any ideas?

It was a simple case of swapping what is unhealthy for what is good for you to eat. My first week saw me lose around 11 pounds of unwanted fat with these lose weight fast diet tips.

Plan your meals and snacks ahead of time. Plan your shopping too – make a list of what you need and stick to it. If you just grab something when you are feeling hungry, you will probably choose high calorie food.

Have at least two servings of fruit every day. This can be for dessert or snacks. Choose fruit that is in season.

Drink water instead of sodas, juices, milky drinks or alcohol. Avoid diet soda – the sweet taste only encourages you to crave sugar. Hot water with a slice of lemon can be very refreshing in the morning.

Include at least two servings of vegetables at lunch and dinner. If you are getting hungry, have more.

Keep a note of everything that you eat and drink. You do not need to estimate calories. Just write down what it was that you had and the approximate quantity. You will find that being more aware of what you are eating helps you to plan healthy meals and snacks.

Eat slowly. The body is slow to register when you are full and it is easy to eat too much if you are racing through your meals.

Choose food that you can chew. Again this will increase your fiber intake, and the act of chewing will make you feel more satisfied too. This means eating fruit instead of drinking juice. If you have soup, make sure it is chunky.  Use whole grains wherever possible. The fiber will give you a fuller feeling and also help your digestion.

Those seven weight loss tips definitely worked for me. Do you have any others that you recommend?

It helps if I chop the banana up and eat it slowly while I am working rather than just eating the whole banana in one go. I have to do all these little tricks to help me get through the hours before I eat again

Apple, banana, coconut and pears are the best fruits for my metabolic type (I took a more comprehensive test using the metabolic typing online website)

Click here for more weight loss food ideas – and if you want to find out more about how the Diet Solution can help you lose weight visit

http://www.onlydietsolution.com

1. Effort
2. Energy
3. Exercise
4. Excitement

The only E word NOT good for you is EXCUSES and over the past few weeks I have been full of them trust me!

All I can do is dust myself off and keep going. The crazy thing is the whole time I was exercising and eating right I looked at myself and couldn’t see my weight loss – now I haven’t been regularly exercising for a few weeks I look as if I have a great shape coming. My body just makes no sense to me at all.

I found out that for £23 a month I can swim at my local pool as often as I like but my back injury stops me from doing the breast stroke (excuses again!) so I need to learn front crawl and/or back stroke to really benefit from the pool. I could actually just walk along and keep my arms outstretched – I read some place that this is a great exercise for a non swimming because the resistance in the water helps.

My goal to be 2 stone lighter (down to 15 stone 10lbs – 99.79 kgs – 220 lbs) is still on for end May 2011 and I have been out walking despite the snow, for 2011 portion control will be my biggest fight!

So, if you need to eat E numbers that are good for you remember the only time E numbers can help in your weight loss efforts is when they include the words exercise, excitement and energy!

It all focuses on the number of calories that come in that is balanced out by the number of calories you burn. David says you only need to do a number of small changes to really make a difference and I love his approach to fat loss.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDkHA06nFHg&feature[/youtube]

More information about the importance of making sure you are eating the right food to help you burn fat and ultimately lose weight.

The sardines I like to buy I usually have to go to the ‘West Indian’ section of Tesco to find it. It is called Brunswick Canadian style Sardines and I buy it because it has hot peppers included which gives it a bit of a quick compared to normal sardines.

This is one of the favourite lunches because it is fairly quick and it leaves me feeling great after eating it. Sometimes a little hungry but a hot drink of water and lemon soon gets rid of that feeling.

If I do eat a yoghurt and piece of fruit (all carbs) I will wait a couple of hours after eating this. I find if I eat everything at once and have to wait four or five hours for my next meal it is too much, but eating them a few hours apart just lets my mind know it won’t be long before I am eating again so it leaves me in peace!

The Diet Solution program provides a bunch of different lunch ideas to help you plan out your meals and on this blog I share my own – they are not part of the program but they keep to the ethos of eating healthy protein rich foods with vegetables and a little carbs. I am a protein type so need to increase my protein because I have a very carb heavy diet.

For more tips and hints abotu lunches for weight loss you can get hold of the diet solution program from http://www.onlydietsolution.com