Dieting made easy

One useful tip is to drink plenty of water. From time to time at some stage in a hectic morning, you guess that you want a snack but in fact you might just need a refreshing glass of water or orange squash. The feelings of needing food and needing a drink are quite similar, but one of the two can lead to a broken diet and the other is ok.

Some reduced carb diet pointers:
* You can create really great smoothies using low carb yogurt. I know, it is not really cooking, but if you must have smoothies you can make them with low carbohydrate yogurt and fruit. Obviously, you should make sure you use only fruit that is low in carbohydrates and the whole fruit as the fiber is beneficial.

* Understand the food labels Watch out for advertizing that proclaims 'low carb' - check the actual nutritional information on the back of the package. A good number of are only a little reduced and in some cases still higher than a competitors normal brand. Also, beware of 'low sugar' and 'low fat' labels - 'low sugar' doesn't always mean 'low carb' - usually the carbs are identical.

Foods containing carotenes
(includes paprika, collard greens and tomato puree)
These orange and green natural foods are rich in carotenes believed by nutritionalists play a key role in minimizing the risk of cancer, particularly cancers of the stomach and lesophagus. A good number also have a low calorie count, so should be included in every weight loss program.