The Dawn French Diet

MORNINGS Health and Fitness expert, Amelia Burton tells us how we can copy the success of British actress Dawn French, who recently dropped a whopping 50 plus kilograms.

Don't - Skip breakfast: This is by far one of the most overlooked habit when it comes to weight management. Everything we do diet wise is about stoking our metabolism so it's firing fast. Breakfast is one of the best ways to do that.

Don't - Diet: The worst thing you can do is go 'on' and 'off diets. This can have dire effects on your metabolism training your body to store more energy from the same foods.

Don't - High GI foods: Avoid high GI foods such as white rice, bread, pasta, sugary products, processed foods. They put a strain on your hormones; they are easy for your body to digest, which means we absorb more calories for less metabolic cost.

Do - Eat more in first ½ day: You want to eat more than half your daily calories in the first half of the day, not the other way around. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.

Do - Correct portion sizes: For most of us it's not just about what we eat, but how much of it we eat. Learn to understand what 1200 calories per day looks like. What does a 300cal meal look like. It takes about a month to learn this, then it stays with you for life.

Do - Low GI/resistant starch foods: These will keep you fuller for longer, preventing the afternoon nibbles. Your body has to work hard to digest them which means your metabolism stays raised for longer. Foods include: Wholemeal pasta, stone ground sourdough bread, most dark coloured veggies, spinach, broccoli, capsicum. Legumes such as chickpeas, lentils (which are great as they are packed with protein). Fruits such as cherries, berries and apples. Pearl barley, oats and quinoa. Low fat yoghurt is also low GI.