How to eat for health

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If you have been with me since the start of this year (or longer) you will have learned a bit about the different food groups, portion sizes and GI values. But this doesn't necessarily guide you to making healthier food choices.

Weight management is difficult enough - especially as we get older - and putting yourself on a restricted regimen only leads to depression, dissatisfaction and disillusionment. So dump the doomed diet discipline. Eating for health still comes down to having controlled portions of a wide variety of foods from all the different food groups - with the emphasis on vegetables and fruit. Eliminating foods you normally enjoy is not the way to go - a little of what you fancy does you good, and stops you feeling deprived.

To eat for health, we need to focus on nutritious foods in healthy quantities, for ourselves and our family.

Eating habits and food preferences are formed from a very young age. They are influenced by race, religion, culture, ethics, economics, health and climate. They should also be influenced by a little knowledge of what is sound nutritional value and what the body requires.

Body requirements are pretty much covered by portion control. I covered recommended portion sizes and healthy nutrition when I discussed the different food groups. What I didn't cover was the number of portions and portion sizes for children. I’ll go into that on Monday.

For a quick review of the food groups / portion sizes, go here.

Enjoy your weekend.
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Explaining the glycemic index

There must be hundreds, more probably thousands, of books available on the market devoted to the glycemic index. And if you Google ‘glycemic index’, you get over a million returns. So I will keep it simple. I will give you the basics, and you can ask questions afterwards, if you like, by leaving a comment. Everyone knows how to leave a comment, right? You click on the word 'comment' at the end of this post, and a comment box will pop up for you to fill in. Easy? Thank you.

The glycemic index (GI) is a rating of the carbohydrate content of a food, according to what impact the food in question has on blood-glucose levels, in comparison to a preset standard. The preset standard used is usually glucose = 100.

Foods with a GI in the range 70 - 100 are High GI. Anything between 55 - 70 is Intermediate GI. And anything lower than 55 is, of course, considered Low GI. We need to eat at least 50% of our carbohydrates from the Low GI group.

Foods with a high GI are digested and absorbed very quickly, releasing sugars (glucose) into the blood stream. This promotes an immediate and sometimes excessive insulin response. The insulin reduces the glucose levels in the blood stream by diverting the glucose to body tissue (muscles, organs), either for use now or by storing it as fat.

Eating high GI foods, then, produces what's known as a 'spike' - a lot of glucose is rapidly released into the blood stream and the insulin response removes the glucose from the blood stream just as fast. And you're hungry again an hour later, yes? Lots of glucose demands lots of insulin.

On the other hand, foods with a low GI are digested and absorbed more slowly, so that the body's demand for and release of insulin is retarded. You stay satisfied for longer.

Despite what I said about eating at least 50 % of our carbohydrates from the low GI group (and I still hold with that) we shouldn't eat low/no GI foods indiscriminately. Nor should we eat overly large portions of the healthy low/no GI foods - excess intake of any food can lead to weight gain (unless we're talking about broccoli or lettuce).

What we are aiming to achieve is good nutrition and weight management, without inopportune hunger pangs. We want (and need) all-day energy. We need to be able to cope with stress. We need to maintain our emotional equilibrium.

More on GI on Monday. See you then.

Honesty

When I started this blog, I talked about keeping a food diary; but a food diary is only effective if you are totally honest. Studies show that if you are not honest, you can consume up to 43% more calories than you confess to. This is due to ‘sneak eating’ – which usually involves eating or drinking high fat, high sugar foods such as chocolate, salad dressings, alcohol and cold drinks. Even the milk in your tea and coffee throughout the day can mount up to quite a few calories, usually undeclared. So if you are serious about losing weight, and you think a food diary is the way to go, be sure to enter everything.

Before you begin your weight loss program, keep a very detailed food journal for a week. Include such things as your mood, state of health, who you are eating with, time of day etc. This can provide a very valuable guide as to your ‘food triggers’ – the things that make you eat. Few of us eat only because we are hungry. Many of us eat when we are not hungry at all!

Of course, weight loss is not the only function of a food diary. Healthy eating requires a certain amount of planning and tracking, just to make sure that you are eating the recommended number of portions in each of the food groups.

After two years of following a diet for weight loss/maintenance and improved health, I still weigh and measure everything and write it all down. I know it can be difficult if you eat out a lot, but serving sizes can 'swell' surprisingly fast when you don't keep a close eye. That restaurant steak is way over a 3 serving size (the recommended number of servings a day for protein foods). If weighing and measuring seems like hard work, maybe weigh and measure for the first week of each month, and judge by eye the rest of the time. But continue to write everything down with approximate serving sizes.

Always be aware of the food you are eating. And enjoy it! Slow down and savour it.

Goals

So here we are, the new year has begun, bringing with it new opportunities and challenges. Did you make any resolutions? What are your goals for this year? These notes on goal setting don't only apply to weight loss.

When we set goals, most of us tend to get carried away. We are far too ambitious - and the more ambitious we are at the outset, the less likely we are to succeed.When you think 'I need to lose weight', you will probably stipulate the total amount of weight you want to lose, and a specific (short) time period in which to lose it. This approach will more than likely fail because the goal you have set yourself is unrealistic and unattainable! Better by far to break it down into baby steps, and not to put a time limit on success. Success breeds success, so after completing the first baby step (e.g. losing 2kg) you are going to happily commit to the next (baby) step. And so on. Baby steps will help you win minor victories in the march to a major goal.

So what changes in lifestyle are you going to implement to achieve your mini-goal? Most people will say that to lose weight you have to eat less and exercise more - right AND wrong answer!

To lose weight, we need to implement adequate healthy eating habits and sensible exercise.
Let's get the sensible exercise out of the way first. I am NOT a personal trainer. Personally, I am lazy; a lazy cook, and lazy generally. I have never exercised. Not in the formal go-to-gym/aerobics way. Yes, I played netball, tennis and hockey (most reluctantly!) at school. But I have always maintained that I got enough exercise looking after my husband, children and house. If you are into gym, then good for you; the endorphins produced by exercise are positive and very uplifting. The only exercise I introduced at the midpoint of my weight loss program was walking. Actually, not even walking. More of a brisk stroll; pushing my grandson in his pushchair, up to the local supermarket and back (not even a kilometer round trip), weather and nap times permitting, three times a week. But only if I felt like it. If you are not into gym, don't feel you have to start now, especially if you have a preclusive medical condition.

That brings me to the adequate healthy eating habits. Which is what I have been writing about over the past thirteen months – and what I will continue to write about.

Day 366

My objective is achieved! When I started this blog, my intention was to compile a quick-and-easy-to-prepare collection of healthy recipes, suitable for a family of four. I have posted a different main meal recipe every week day, hoping to encourage you – and myself – to change to (and maintain) healthier eating habits.

My weight has only varied by about 1kg over the past twelve months and what has helped me to maintain my 18kg weight loss is tracking and portion control. I now eat breakfast and lunch every single day – I never used to eat breakfast, and would skip lunch too, more often than not, only eating very small portions at dinner; but I didn’t lose weight, in fact I just kept gaining! So excessively restricted eating is not the way to lose weight. Our bodies need fuel at regular intervals, otherwise our BMR (basal metabolic rate) slows right down and we conserve our energy as fat.

To stop those awful feelings of hunger, deprivation and lethargy, be sure to eat a wide variety of foods from each of the food groups every day. Eat regularly and never, never skip breakfast.

Weight control for self preservation

 

The main focus of most weight-loss advertising is on physical appearance, and though we all want to look good – in and out of our clothes – the main benefits of weight loss are actually to do with health.

 

• Losing 10% of your excess body weight reduces blood pressure, cholesterol and blood triglyceride levels; all of these are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Losing excess weight reduces blood glucose levels and halves the probability of you developing type-2 diabetes.
• Losing weight reduces the strain on weight-bearing joints (hips, knees, lower spine) and reduces the risk of developing osteoarthritis.
• Being overweight is a risk factor for developing cancer of the uterus, breast, gall bladder, colon and prostate.
• Losing excess weight can help to alleviate sleep apnea.
• Carrying excess weight puts strain on all your internal organs, not just your heart.
• Being overweight can cause complications during surgery.
• Being overweight means that you are less likely to take exercise, which in itself is a health risk.
• Reducing and then controlling your body weight increases self-esteem.
• Maintaining a healthy weight improves your quality of life as well as your longevity.

Adapting to a healthy lifestyle is the only way to achieve a healthy body weight.

Keeping (on) track

I know I’ve written about keeping a food journal before, but there’s no harm in mentioning it again – it is helpful; it can help pinpoint poor choices or overconsumption of particular food groups. I stopped tracking for a while and picked up a couple of pounds, so I’m back to keeping track – and measuring my portions!

There’s nothing like tracking to keep you on track… there’s something conscience-pricking about holding yourself accountable for the food choices you make. Research has shown that people who write down everything they eat and drink each day lose more weight… and keep it off. Yes, it takes a bit of time and effort but, in the interests of losing or maintaining weight while eating healthily, isn’t it worth it?

Write down:
What you ate – even if it was a poor choice. At least you can review it and recognize whether it was the best choice you could have made, given the circumstances.
How much you ate – estimates are okay, but be honest! Always over- rather than under-estimate; we usually think we are eating less than we really are. This can provide a guide to the calories / kilojoules you’re consuming.
Why you ate – hungry, bored, unhappy, lonely, meal time, whatever. Hungry is the best reason – your body is giving you information. We tend to eat at ‘mealtimes’ for the convenience of others, rather than ourselves; if hunger coincides with a meal time, so much the better. Any other reason for eating is likely an indication that you are an emotional eater.
What time of day you ate – breakfast should be eaten before 8:00am, dinner no later than 7:00pm (especially if this is your main meal of the day). Fit lunch and snacks in when you feel the need (hunger).
Who you were with – work colleagues, family, friend, alone. When we eat alone, we tend to eat too fast – slow down and enjoy what you’re eating. Other people at the table can be a distraction so that we eat more than we intended to.
What else you were doing – reading, watching TV, working. Didn’t our mothers always tell us that ‘reading at the table is impolite’? Reading, watching TV or working while eating detracts from the pleasure of the meal – and you may eat larger portions, too.

Remember to jot down everything you drink – tea, coffee, cold drinks, alcohol – these provide ‘empty’ calories with no nutritional value; water is the best anytime beverage.

Keep a food journal for at least a week, and then review it… it will make interesting reading.

Lose weight the easy way…

I am continually amazed that  this kind of advertising is still successful: Lose 5 kilos in just a week!: Lose weight the easy way!: etc, etc… in all the years of trying many different diets, all I lost was my faith in diets (and the advertising industry). Take it from me, there is no easy way to lose weight.

Many fad diets do, indeed, work… if you very strictly adhere to the specified foods, pills and potions they call for. But this involves such a major change in eating habits that you won’t stay on such a diet for very long before becoming bored, disillusioned and irritable, or feeling deprived and hungry – often long before you have lost any significant amount of weight. The restricted foods and portion sizes are so radically different from what might be considered ‘normal eating’ that you can’t wait to ‘finish’ the diet! And once off the diet, of course, you quickly return to your old style of eating – which is what made you overweight in the first place.

‘Going on a diet’ always presupposes that, at some stage, you will come ‘off’ the diet. If you are serious about losing weight, and keeping it off for good, don’t go on a diet; rather consider your overall health and make some lifestyle changes. This means changing the way you eat, certainly, but, as I’ve said before, you can make small changes, gradually.

Starting today, make sure you eat regularly, starting with breakfast. If you are really in a rush in the morning, with no time to eat, take a couple of pieces of fruit to work with you; a hardboiled egg, some cheese and crackers or a small tub of yoghurt. Whatever you choose, eat it before 10:00am.

Lunch can be difficult when you’re working away from home. Pack your own healthy lunch at least twice a week, rather than sending out for fatty, salty take-aways. This is not only beneficial to your weight and general health, but it costs far less too.

Dinners are easy… use the recipes I post here. They are all low fat, low salt, high fibre, healthy recipes using fairly standard ingredients. They are simple to prepare and most of them don’t take more than half an hour to make. My daily recipe posts are meals that I have prepared myself with the intention of staying healthy and maintaining my weight loss.

It took me a year to lose 18kg – quite a bit slower than I would have liked - but I have not regained any weight in the last twelve monrhs. And the way I eat now has become such a habit that I’m sure the weight I’ve lost is gone forever.

A thought provoking question

Do you sometimes berate yourself? Call yourself fat / ugly / a pig / useless? This serves no useful purpose. It certainly won't boost your self confidence!

A friend of mine sent me an e-mail the other day. It was a list of thought provoking questions. The question that caught my attention was:

“If you had a friend who spoke to you the way you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you stay friends?”

We all of us have our failings and weaknesses, especially when it comes to changing our eating habits and leading a healthier lifestyle. It can be difficult to keep on making those incremental changes and sticking with them, though it’s not impossible. We all have slip-ups and indulge in unwise food choices or overly large portions occasionally; but when we do, we can and should forgive ourselves.

Be kind to yourself. Don’t let mistakes disempower you, learn from them and move on.

You can find more questions at http://thoughtquestions.com/

A reader has pointed out that I have misquoted the original question. It should read:
"If you had a friend who spoke to you the way you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend?"
My apologies for misquoting.  17/09/10 5:55PM

Keeping an eye on portion sizes

Now you know what constitutes a portion in each of the food groups, use the kitchen scales and/or measuring cup to better see what a portion really is. My digital scale sits out on my counter top all the time, ready for weighing recipe ingredients AND my food servings. Portion size control is vital – and your portions can increase very rapidly if you don’t keep a close watch. If you've been visually controlling portion size for a while, get the scale out and measure again, you may well find you have become over generous.

The portions I have suggested in my posts this week provide a daily intake of ±2000kcals/8400kjoules, which is adequate for a moderately active female. Men obviously need more – they have bigger bodies to maintain and generally they metabolize food faster (so unfair!). If you find that you do not lose weight, then reduce your daily portions of oils and grains slightly. If you lose a lot of weight fast, then increase the number of grains and meat portions. Vegetables are low in kilojoules/kcals and a good tummy filler – you can healthily increase the number of portions at any time. Weight loss of more than ½ - 1 kilo per week is unhealthy, over an extended period, unless you are VERY overweight to begin with. Losing more slowly means the weight will stay off.

Don’t weigh yourself more than once a week – same time, same clothes (or lack of!). Your weight fluctuates from day to day, even throughout the day. Do measure yourself: chest, waist, hips, thigh. You’ll be pleasantly surprised after a few weeks.

More PC

On Monday I covered fruits and vegetables. Today I’ll cover the remaining food groups.

Grains are starchy carbohydrates.
The grains group includes all foods made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley etc, such as bread,
pasta, oatmeal, breakfast cereals. At least half of all grains consumed should be WHOLE grains, so
choose whole wheat bread and pasta and brown rice. Generally, 1 slice of bread, 1 cup of ready-to-eat
cereal or ½ cup of cooked cereal, cooked rice or cooked pasta represents 1 portion.
Recommended daily consumption: 6 portions of grains (8 for men)


Meats and beans, nuts and seeds are proteins.
Meat and beans – 30gms lean steak or chicken, 50gms white fish, 1 egg, 1 Tblsp peanut butter,
¼ cup cooked dried beans/lentils or 15gms nuts/seeds equals 1 portion. Limit eggs to 3 per week,
although the cholesterol/egg dispute has more or less been settled in favour of the egg.
Recommended daily consumption: 3 portions of meats and beans (4 – 5 for men)

Milk and milk products are dairy.
The milk group includes all fluid milk products and foods made from milk that retain their calcium
content (yoghurt, cheese). Foods made from milk which do not retain the calcium content – cream,
cream cheese, butter – are NOT part of this group, they are fats. Most choices from this group should be low-fat or (preferably) fat-free. In general, 1 cup of milk or yoghurt, 45gms hard cheese (natural, uncoloured), or 60gms processed cheese (not reccomended) is considered to be 1 portion.
Recommended daily consumption: 3 portions (4 for men)

All fats and oils count as fats.
Oils include fats from many different plants and some fish, these oils are liquid at room temperature,
e.g. canola, olive, sunflower. Some foods are naturally high in oils, like nuts and avocados. Foods that are mainly oils include mayonnaise, some salad dressings and soft margarine. Avoid trans-fats, and try to limit saturated fats (solid at room temperature, of animal source). Mono- and poly- unsaturated fats are the good ones – monounsaturates, in particular, are supposed to help get rid of belly fat.
Recommended daily consumption: Maximum 6 teaspoons (men and women)

I’ve labeled the different food groups as either carbohydrates, proteins, dairy or fats, but obviously there is a bit more to it than that. Carbohydrates can contain some fats and proteins, they definitely contain fibre. Proteins contain fats and, in the case of beans, nuts and seeds, fibre too. Dairy products contain fats. Only fats and oils are purely fats and don’t overlap with any other food group. All food groups contain vitamins and minerals.

That covers the six food groups. Come back Friday for tips on portion control. (434)

The new PC – portion control

At the risk of boring people who have been following my blog since the beginning, this week I’m covering portion sizes again. Portion control really is key to losing and/or maintaining your weight and staying healthy, so herewith healthy eating, weight loss guidelines.

Please think of this as an eating guide, rather than a diet. “Diet” implies something you will stop once
you reach your goal weight. For successful weight loss (i.e. to lose and keep weight off, once and for all) this is a style of eating you need to follow forever.

ALWAYS eat breakfast – fasting all night raises cortisol levels: high levels of cortisol encourage
fat storage. To control cortisol levels you need to raise insulin levels (insulin suppresses cortisol). To raise insulin levels, you need to eat.

To control blood sugar levels, try to keep to low GI foods. You can use cinnamon sprinkled on fruits and cereals. Cinnamon helps maintain blood sugar levels.

Try to eat dinner before 7.00pm – this may be difficult if you eat out.

There are basically six food groups: Fruits, vegetables, grains, meat and beans, milk and oils. I’ll cover fruits and vegetables today.

Fruits are carbohydrates.
The fruit group includes all fresh, frozen, canned and dried fruits and fruit juices. In general,
1 cup of fruit, or ½ cup of pure fruit juice (unsweetened) or ½ cup of dried fruit is considered to be 1 portion. I suggest you limit bananas to 2 per week, and dried fruit to 1 cup per week – purely because of the high sugar content. If you wish to set fruit salad in a sugar free jelly, slightly reduce the water used to make the jelly. Do NOT put pineapple in, it affects the set.
Recommended daily consumption: 2 – 3 portions of fruit (3 – 4 for men)

Vegetables are carbohydrates.
The vegetable group includes all fresh, frozen, canned and dried veg and veg juices. In general,
1 cup of raw or cooked veg or veg juice, or 2 cups of raw leafy greens (eg lettuce) equals
1 portion. Potatoes and sweet potatoes are NOT included in this group - these come under the grains group.
Recommended daily consumption: 3 - 5 portions of vegetables (5 – 8 for men)

On Wednesday, I’ll talk about the other four food groups.

Time for a change...

There are thousands of diet plans, books, pills, shakes and regimens available, but most of these are detrimental to health (and finances!) in the long-term. Yes, you may lose weight, but once the pills are all gone or your 14 day detox plan is over, you will more than likely revert to old eating habits – and these are what got you overweight and unhealthy in the first place! Do you actually need to lose weight? Do you know what your healthy weight-range is, based on gender, age and activity levels?

Weight loss is difficult to achieve, and even more difficult to maintain, if it is not undertaken as an adaptation to a healthier lifestyle – and even then it can be difficult. But not impossible – it just takes attention and application.

Maybe it’s not weight loss you’re after, rather a healthier way of eating. A healthy lifestyle will promote weight loss where necessary, and eventually maintain weight at your optimal level. You’ll not only look better, but feel better too. And have more energy. But you have to be realistic. Understand and appreciate that changes need to be made, and it will be easier to accommodate such changes if you make them one at a time. Once one change has become automatic, then it’s time to make another, and so on. Who are you doing this for and what is your rationale? You need to want to do this for you, no-one else. It takes a lot of persistence to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back on track when you slip up (we all slip up occasionally). But the effort is very rewarding.

Here are some changes you can implement right now, from today – without disrupting your life too much:

• Switch to buying low-fat or fat-free dairy products.
• Eat breakfast. (Scroll down to see Monday’s post)
• Eat smaller portions – especially red meats, starches and full fat dairy products.
• Eat more vegetables and fruit.
• Eat your vegetables first – they will fill you up so that you don’t want so much starch and protein.
• Eat more slowly - chew your food well.
• Eat only when you are hungry – sometimes we mistake thirst for hunger, try a glass of water first.

Those will keep you busy for a while.

Is your child overweight?

Although it is fairly easy to calculate the number of kilojoules an adult requires per day - based on age, gender, health and activity levels – the same cannot be said for children. Children have different energy requirements to an adult, and a higher need for nutrient dense food; that’s nutrient dense, not kilojoule dense. If a child is overweight, rather look at the kind of food he or she is consuming and the amount of exercise he or she is getting.

A formalized diet doesn’t work for children any more than it does for an adult; children need to be shown, by example, how to make healthy food choices. This means choosing fruit and vegetables over sweets and fatty foods. Fish fingers, chicken nuggets and fruit juices are frequent menu items for most children – these are high in kilojoules for the nutrition they supply. Far rather offer plain fish or chicken, and always dilute fruit juice half-and-half with water. Just one teaspoon of fat equals about 792kjoules, as opposed to a teaspoon of protein or carbohydrate which equates to about 374kjoules.

Children are by nature energetic – they like to run about and explore, and they are continually testing and learning about their environment and the people and things in it. In contrast, when mum and dad get home from work, they are often mentally exhausted and just want to sit and relax. Generally, children want to spend time with their parents, and will choose a sedentary activity just so they can be in the same room. Sedentary activities such as playing computer games or watching television burn up far fewer kilojoules than taking the dog for a walk, doing some gardening or riding a bicycle. All of which can be fun for the family. If the climate you live in doesn't encourage outdoor activities, a Wii is a great indoor alternative..

As a parent, you are a role model for your children. Don’t apply rigorous dietary strictures to an overweight child – singling out one child and treating him or her differently from the rest of the family will only cause conflict, unhappiness and, possibly, future food related issues. If your child is overweight, then the only way forward is for everyone in the family to take steps towards healthy eating in the home.

Rules can break your commitment

I’ve just seen on Face Book that my niece is starting a ’major health kick 28 day plan’. She says she is giving up smoking and alcohol (both excellent commitments to make!), and that she intends to cut out sugars and fats altogether.

Alarm bells are already sounding in my head! Very few people can set these kinds of limitations, all at once, and succeed.

The greater the number of stringent rules you make for yourself when committing to a diet or health regimen, the less likely you are to keep them up. The only rules – not even rules, but guidelines - you need to implement to lose weight and lead a healthier lifestyle are:
1. Make healthy food choices
2. Master portion control
3. Consume sufficient kilocalories/kilojoules
4. Introduce gentle exercise
5. Don’t set a time limit

Making healthy food choices means eating more fresh fruit and vegetables, and choosing whole grain products over their refined equivalents – whole grain bread and pasta, brown rice etc.

Mastering portion control is a little more difficult and takes a bit of time. Use the Google search tool above, type in ‘food groups’ and it will list all the posts I have written in the past about how much of what equals a portion, and how many portions of each food group your body needs in a day.

Eating enough is tied in to portion control. If you eat the number of portions from each food group, each day, you will be getting sufficient energy from a healthy variety of foods. When you radically limit the quantity and quality of the foods you ‘allow’ yourself, you will be hungry, tired and quickly get depressed and down on yourself. All foods are 'allowed' - just watch your portion sizes.

Introducing gentle exercise is as easy as parking on the far side of the lot, before walking briskly into the mall or shopping centre, where you will use the stairs in preference to the lift or escalator.

Don’t set a time limit. You will more than likely set an unrealistic goal, not be able to meet it, and get despondent. You will lose faith in yourself, be de-motivated and give up on the whole idea! Slow and steady attains the goal – it’s not a race. Changing too much all at once means you have too much to think about and consider every time you want to eat.

Have a great weekend.

Potatoes

Wikipedia tells me that potatoes are the world’s fourth largest food crop, after rice, wheat and maize; and that nearly a third of the world’s potatoes are harvested in China and India! The average global citizen, over the last decade, will have consumed 33kg of potatoes per year.

I remember, with delight, that as a child I went to firework displays and stood round the bonfire burning my fingers and mouth on baked potatoes, but I have never baked a potato in foil, in the oven, in all my (many) years of cooking. I usually do them in the microwave in a little water, but they are just not the same cooked like that. From the oven they come out fluffy and the skin goes a bit crispy. What is the secret? Maybe it’s best that I never find out, otherwise I would be cooking them every day!

A few years ago the potatoes in this country were packaged and labeled as ‘suitable for’, so I could buy potatoes specifically for baking or mashing or chips or boiling. That labeling seems to have fallen away and our supermarkets now stock potatoes graded only by size. I like to buy the ‘medium’ size (about the size of a tennis ball), they usually weigh about 120gms each which is a handy portion for one person. If you mash them, of course, they shrink before your eyes and it looks like you should’ve cooked two per person instead of one.

I’ve recently been experimenting with mashed potatoes and found that they bulk up very nicely and look and taste more interesting if you combine them with something else. By adding white beans you can retain the texture and colour while adding to the flavour. Peas and mint, broad beans or soya beans change the texture and colour, and keep the kilocalories/kilojoules down. Spinach is very good too, but then you should ‘crush’ rather than mash. Try leaving the skins on, too (anything to save peeling!)

If you want creaminess in your mash, reach for natural fat free yoghurt or smooth cottage cheese, or a little bit of low fat mayo. Add some spices – nutmeg is very good and wholegrain mustard makes an interesting addition. And a teaspoon of baking powder in your mash is supposed to make it light and fluffy.

You know how left over mash picks up a funny taste in the fridge? Mash in some sweet potato and that taste won’t appear.

5 tips to make weight management easier

Whether you are overweight or just trying to manage your weight, you can benefit from today's five tips.

1. Eat more fibre - with every meal. I know I'm always on about fibre but it really is important. Firstly, it keeps you regular, and secondly it keeps you fuller for longer so you won't feel deprived or 'starving' until the next scheduled meal. Fibre comes from fruit, vegetables, and wholegrains. Try to get 3 servings of whole grains, 3 servings of fruit and 5 servings of vegetables every day. Minimum.
2. Watch your portion sizes. When you start a weight management program - or if you are trying tro eat more healthily - it really helps to monitor your portion sizes. Get into the habit of consistently measuring your food when eating at home. This gives you a much better idea of how much you need to eat when you are out to dinner.
3. No second helpings. Oh, okay, if you are really still hungry, have some more vegetables, a salad or a piece of fruit. But did you give yourself time to realise you've had enough? Eat slowly and chew your food well.
4. Eating out? Eat only half of what you are served in the protein and starch food groups. Consider ordering from the starters menu only, or stick with a salad (dressing on the side) for your main course. And leave those hot white rolls alone! If others at your table are ordering starters as well as entrees, and you intended to order only a main course, have a plain salad (dressing on the side) or broth-based soup to keep you occupied while you wait.
5. Eat regularly - breakfast, lunch and dinner, or five to six smaller meals, spread throughout the day. Don't skip a meal, you'll just get extra hungry and eat too much (or the wrong thing!) as soon as the opportunity arises. Always, always eat breakfast.