Do you want this season’s weight loss programme to be a smooth glide through calm waters or a turbulent ride through choppy seas? Before you dive full tilt into your slimming schedule, check up on the areas that might catch you out.

Faddy Diets

Sometimes a quirky diet plan is what’s needed to keep you interested, but if it’s too faddy then you’ll find it hard to stick to as the weeks wear on – if you’re only allowed to eat red foods on Fridays or foods from China at weekends, or even if you’re just trying to stick to organic foods, what do you eat when you’re out with friends or at a business lunch?

• Pick a plan that interests and inspires you.
• Be aware that you may not be able to stick to it 100% of the time.
• Allow yourself some leeway so that you don’t give up the plan the first time you can’t manage to keep to the letter of the law – it’s better to do most of it most of the time than none of it none of the time…
• Beware of fads that are very restrictive or involve buying extremely expensive speciality foods.

Hunger Pangs

Feeling hungry and deprived is the best route back into a chocolate-fuelled feeding frenzy… The idea is to keep your blood sugar stable so that you don’t crave an instant sugar fix.

• Don’t go for long periods of time without eating.
• If you experience dizziness, palpitations or light-headedness after a few hours of abstinence, you need to eat more often. It doesn’t have to be a gourmet meal: some fruit or a handful of nuts or seeds eaten in time will prevent you devouring a whole packet of biscuits because you’re starving!
• Take Helix Slim tincture or tablets, made from fresh Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), to help metabolise your food more effectively, so that you can wait for your next meal without feeling hungry.

Cravings
These are linked to the hunger pangs because the body demands caffeine, nicotine, alcohol or sugar in order to push the blood sugar back up if it’s dropped too low.

• Don’t go for long periods of time without eating (are you noticing a theme here?)
• Make sure that what you eat isn’t full of refined carbohydrates (white flour and sugar, or heavily processed foods) as these will cause your blood sugar levels to drop again quickly.
• Take a Chromium supplement to help to keep your blood sugar stable.
• Take Craving Essence from the Jan de Vries flower essence range as it will help to reduce emotional dependence on substances such as sugar!

Follow these simple guidelines and watch the scales respond positively.