Eat like you love yourself!

In the final part of our exclusive series, celebrity nutritionist AMELIA FREER reveals how you can stay slim — forever!

NUTRITIONIST Amelia Freer has helped actor, comedian and U.S. TV host James Corden shed 5st using her healthy eating plan. Today, she shows you just how easy it is to change your mindset to ensure you stick to the plan . . .

TAKING the first step towards any long-lasting lifestyle change mindset.needs not only a considered nutritional plan, but a positive

I encourage people to spend some time thinking about what, how, why and with whom they eat — and the implications that has on their ability to make healthy choices around food.

In fact, your mindset can be the difference between long-term success and yet another diet that you give up on a couple of weeks down the line.

So it’s worth making the effort to follow a few simple rules.

SHARE YOUR MEALS WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE

RESEARCH shows we tend to eat more, and eat faster, when we share meals with people we feel close to — but when we eat with people we don’t know so well, we eat less food, slower. We can also subconsciously change how much we eat depending on the serving sizes of our dining companions.

So it’s a good idea to spend time observing how social influences may be impacting our own eating habits.

TAKE A MOMENT TO RELAX BEFORE YOU EAT

STRESS slows down the absorption of glucose from the carbohydrates in our food, as well as the movement of food through the digestive tract.

Taking a few moments out of a busy day to sit down and enjoy our meals properly is not only a good stress-reliever, but also helps us to extract maximum nutrition from our food.

Healthy food promotes calm, and vice versa.

GIVE YOUR WILLPOWER A REGULAR WORKOUT

DO YOU consider your willpower a finite resource? Well, you’re not alone. That’s what we’ve been told time and again by the media and the wellness community.

In fact, willpower is something you can work on, like a muscle. Every time you use willpower, you are more capable of doing the same next time. So instead of draining your resolve, you are actually helping it grow stronger.

DON’T PUT YOUR LIFE ON HOLD BECAUSE OF FOOD

IT AMAZES me how many people are almost ‘putting off’ living their lives to the full because of low self-esteem. It’s as if they are living in suspended animation, waiting to get going again as soon as they feel better about themselves.

‘When I reach x weight, I will do it/go there/be happy’ or, ‘life will be better once I am healthier/ thinner/fitter’.

If you are honest, how frequently do you have similar thoughts? If you answer ‘often’, then it’s time to decide — from this moment — to let go of that burden of criticism.

STOP USING NAUGHTY TREATS AS REWARDS

FIRST, a crying infant is soothed

by the offer of milk. Later, we are bribed with food and then we reward ourselves with an ‘I deserve it!’ splurge. However, when the occasional treat becomes a regular habit, it’s time to re-evaluate.

Why don’t you try to turn the love associated with giving food to ourselves into self-love through the enjoyment of healthy, nourishing food.

This feeds a virtuous cycle of wellbeing for mind and body.

ADAPTED by Anna Pursglove from Nourish & Glow: The 10-Day Plan by Amelia Freer, published by Michael Joseph