THE CALORIE CUT
Streamline your mezze – those small plates can be deceiving
FAT-AFELS
These little spheres have virtuous written all over them. Except they’re anything but. Deep-fried in unknown oils, just 100g can contain up to 18g of fat. Bake your own to get the omega-6 fatty acid goodness from the chickpeas and none of the bad stuff.
BREAK BREAD
Replacing your white pitta with a wholemeal one is worth it, honest. Wholemeal foods have a low glycaemic index. So? A slew of studies* have found that people on low-gi diets lose more body fat than those on others.
SUPER GRAIN
The deceptively named buckwheat is actually a fibre-packed seed – and a weightloss winner. It can help lower blood sugar, which has been linked to a reduced appetite and better digestion. Oh, and buckwheat is less than half the price of quinoa. Cha-ching.
LIGHT BITES
Turkey isn’t just a low-cal stand-in for fattier meats like lamb. It’s also rich in vitamin B6, which has been shown to ease post leg-day DOMS. Plus, it stimulates the growth of beige fat, which burns calories instead of storing them. Gobble up.
IN TOO DIP?
Necking spoonfuls of shop-bought hummus on the regular? Stop. Just 50g can hold a fifth of your RDA of fat. Swap it for a lowfat beetroot dip, which could even boost your workout. Beetroot is rich in nitrates that aid athletic endurance. So, go on, beet your PB.