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By Don Heatrick
 At some stage we all decide to “sort out our diet”, adjusting our eating habits for a period. Others constantly quest to find a magic fat loss formula. To help you along the way I’ve put together a two-part article revealing my top 10 nutrition tips to lose fat quickly. Some you may know, others you won’t, but understanding and applying them will certainly make a big difference to your waistline.
1. Reduce your intake by 500 calories each day.
If your weight is static, simply cut 500 calories out the total consumed each day. This is largely a game of substitution. Look at labels on the foods that you eat and swap for lower calorie versions or reduce your portion sizes. Try logging on to www.myfitnesspal.com for free and track your food intake to quickly see where you can tweak your calorie intake.
2. Eat less, more often. Don’t skip meals - especially breakfast
Fat loss (or gain) is essentially a hormonal battle raging to balance your blood sugar levels. You should also aim to eat every 3-hours or so to maintain steady blood sugar and energy levels. If your blood sugar drops too low your metabolism slows, holding onto to fat reserves rather than freely giving them up for fuel. So never miss out on breakfast after effectively fasting all night!
You should eat breakfast, then a small snack later on. Eat lunch, then another snack later. Finally eat your dinner and snack again in the evening. Keep portions small and drip-feed your calories throughout the day rather than having infrequent larger portions.
3. Sort out your carbs, understand GI
I guarantee it’s the carbohydrates that you consume that prevent you losing fat (or made you fatter). Carbohydrates have a dramatic effect on your blood sugar. Aim to eat foods with a low to medium GI (Glycemic Index), promoting more stable blood sugar and energy levels (click here for GI tables of common foods). You’ll also reduce cravings for sweet snacks by keeping your blood sugar in control.
>>click here for GI tables of common foods
4. Eat a variety of natural foods
Eating natural and whole foods is the only way to eat for long-term performance and health. Highly processed foods send your blood sugar though the roof, making you fat and consuming your energy. If you can’t identify the ingredients on the label, then it’s probably not good for you. Stick to meat, fish, eggs, dairy, whole-grains, fruit and vegetables rather than that microwave meal. As a rule, add more vegetables and spices to your home-made dishes and reduce starchy and sugary carbs. Also, watch out for hidden sugar, salt and fat in the sauces that you add to food. Generally, red tomato based sauces are lower in fat while white sauces will be much higher in fat. Check the nutritional information on labels, comparing the amounts of protein, carbohydrate and fat per 100g to get an idea of the food's nutritional value.
5. Cheat days - don’t compromise your life for a diet.
Allow yourself one or two “cheat days” a week, that way you’ll stick with the plan long term. As long as you don't go silly and keep your nutrition clean the rest of the time you’ll still get great results. You then can afford to enjoy the weekend or indulge on a birthday without feeling like you’ve fallen off the wagon. If you’re invited out for lunch at work during the week, make this your cheat day and just keep the Sunday a clean day instead. The objective is to permanently change your eating habits, not a temporary fad. Keep it realistic.
I’ll reveal the remaining 5 top nutrition tips in part 2, but don’t wait until then to get started. Put the first 5 tips into action right now. Please feel free to give feedback below and request topics you’d be interested to hear about in future articles.
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