usa2

USA Diet Page 2
This page contains
Anne’s 13 Rules; Breakfast, Smoothies, Lunch, Snacks & Soups.

ANNE’S EATING RULES

Please note: Like any weight loss diet, this diet is no substitute for medical advice. For example, if you are pregnant, or if you have a medical condition, or if you are allergic to certain foods, then the suggestions contained in this diet should not be followed without first consulting your doctor. The author of this diet cannot accept responsibility for illness arising out of the failure to seek such medical advice. If in doubt, please see your doctor.

RULE NO 1. Choose 1 breakfast, 1 lunch, 1 main meal and 1 dessert, off the diet, every day
In addition, you must eat 2 extra pieces of fresh fruit (or 1 cup frozen/canned in juice) during the day. As breakfast and lunch both include 1 piece of fruit, your total daily fruit consumption is therefore 4 pieces. In addition, you have a milk allowance of ½ pint of low-fat milk, or 1 pint of fat-free milk. If you use ½ pint of fat-free milk at breakfast on your cereal, you have ½ pint for the rest of the day.

RULE NO 2. Follow instructions for each meal
Make sure you eat at least 2 helpings of vegetables (or salad), plus potatoes (or pasta or rice), with each main meal. Also, when using the recipes, please use your common sense! You may choose different vegetables or spices, but you must stick to the basic recipe. In particular, you must stick to (a) the cooking method; (b) the quantity of meat; (c) the quantity of vegetables. NB. Best vegetables include spinach, kale, cabbage, broccoli, parsley, green peppers. They are essential for many nutrients.

RULE NO 3. Look after your health
You don’t HAVE to eat your full daily allowance if you can’t manage it. However, you must eat your full allowance of fruit, vegetables and milk. Suggestion: If you can’t eat the full amount of your main meal in one sitting, divide it up and eat it during the day.

RULE NO 4. Choose two helpings of oily fish from the lunch/ main meal recipes, per week
Why? Because fish oil is very good for your heart. The diet contains several oily fish options. Choose two of them, each week. (Best is: mackerel, sardines, kippers, herring & salmon)

RULE NO 5. Use only a very light covering of soft margarine on your bread
Choose a brand which is low in saturated and hydrogenated fat.

RULE NO 6. When frying
Use a non-stick pan and either use PAM fat-free spray, or dry-fry using fat-free ingredients like lemon juice, soy sauce and water instead of fat. The less fat you use, the better.

RULE NO 7. Remove all visible fat & skin from meat and chicken, before cooking
This type of fat is a major cause of coronary heart disease. Don’t eat it!

RULE NO 8. Eat red meat no more than twice a week; eat no more than 4 egg yolks a week
Meat & egg yolks are good foods, but eating them too often is fattening and may be unhealthy.

RULE NO 9. If you are still hungry
If you are still hungry after you have eaten your full daily allowance – you may eat something extra from the snack section (see below on this page). This may slow down your weight-loss, but it’s much better to eat a little more than to go hungry. Hunger is still the No 1 diet-killer.

RULE NO 10. Avoid foods not listed on the diet
Except where specified, avoid all high-fat foods, like pastries, candy, cookies, peanut-butter, bacon, sausages, fries, burgers, coleslaw, butter, margarine, hard cheese, cream & mayo. Also, please avoid high sugar foods, like sweets, cakes, frosted or candy-coated cereals and non-diet soft drinks. If you can’t do this without going insane, then after 4 weeks you may start to treat yourself occasionally, although this may slow down your weight-loss. Meanwhile, you must avoid them.

RULE NO 11. Alcohol – Please limit yourself to no more than 6-8 units per week
Please note: One unit = ½ pint of beer, 1 glass of wine or 1 short (with Diet mixer).

RULE NO 12. When eating out, you must follow my eating out advice on page 9.
Eating out when you have a weight problem is a high-risk activity. Restaurants are full of tempting sights and smells, and unless you are extremely careful, you won’t lose weight. In fact, you’ll gain weight!

RULE NO 13. If you are breastfeeding
Please add the following to your diet, every day: 1 fat-free yogurt + 2 slices bread + 2 ounces lean meat + 1½ cups cereal. Otherwise, please follow the diet as normal.

This is a serious eating-plan for people who want to lose weight.
This is a serious eating-plan, with serious rules. If you follow them carefully, you’ll develop lots of new eating habits which will help you to lose weight and stay slim for life. If you don’t, you won’t. Some diets make all sorts of false promises: mine doesn’t.

QUICKTIP No 3 – DON’T EAT LESS – EAT DIFFERENTLY
Many slimmers try to lose weight by eating less. This is a big mistake. Why? Because when we eat less, we get hungry and when we get hungry we get miserable and when we get miserable we want to cheer ourselves up – so we eat a packet of cookies, or a bar of candy. Result? Goodbye diet!
My advice: Lose weight by eating more (but different!). The safest way to lose weight is to fill your stomach with lots of good food. You see, when we’re full of food we are much less tempted by things like cookies and doughnuts. Remember: it’s not how much we eat, it’s what we eat that counts!
Example: 1 small hamburger topped with ordinary salad dressing is more fattening than a whole plateful of broiled chicken breast, boiled potatoes, carrots, peas and green beans, covered in gravy.

BREAKFASTS

Your 6 Healthy breakfast foods

1. Fruit  2. Yogurt  3. Cereal  4. Bread  5. Hot Breakfasts  6. Fruit Smoothies.

• Select FRUIT and YOGURT plus one other from the above 6 foods. (See page 5, for 7-day Menu)
• Hate yogurt? No problem. Substitute an extra cup of fat free milk.
• Follow instructions below, for each food group.
• Add only a very light covering of margarine or low fat spread on your bread.
• Apart from this, don’t add any fat, oil, cream, butter, margarine, mayo, cheese to your food.

1. FRUIT
Choose 1 piece of any fresh fruit, or 1 cup of any fruit canned in juice.
Don’t be intimidated by big pieces. Chop them up!

2. YOGURT
Choose ½ cup any fat-free variety, (inc. frozen). Or ½ cup any fat-free mousse, sorbet etc.

3. CEREAL
Choose 1½ cups any PLAIN cereal (wholegrain or bran-based is best).
Ideally, add fat-free milk. (Yes, it may taste watery to start with, but within a week you won’t notice.)
Avoid GRAPE NUTS, SUGAR-COATED and CHOCOLATE-COATED cereals.

TIP! Home-made muesli makes a perfect breakfast! (½ cup)
Combine: Oats, Oat-bran, Dried fruit (esp. Apricots) and Wheatgerm.
Add a few chopped nuts (4 Almonds, Brazil nuts, Walnuts per portion).
Add chopped fresh fruit and fat-free milk.

4. BREADS, ROLLS, MUFFINS, PANCAKES, WAFFLES

• Choose 2 slices any wholemeal, oatmeal or raisin bread, or 1 dinner roll, Kaiser roll, English muffin.
• Add only a very light covering of margarine (choose brands with lowest saturated fat.)
  Add preserves, jelly, 1 small chopped banana, or 2oz fat-free cream cheese.
• Choose only light pancakes (2), or ideally make your own using fat-free milk, flour, egg, 1 spray of oil and top with lemon juice, orange juice or 1 tbsp light syrup.
• Choose only light waffles (2) and top with 1 tbsp light syrup and half cup fresh berries.
• Avoid all bagels, croissants, Danish, doughnuts or other pastries (fat butt on a plate!)

5. HOT BREAKFASTS
Choose one of the following options:

• 1 free range egg. Boil, poach or scramble with 1 tbsp fat-free milk. Serve on 1slice toast.
• Omelet: mix 1 whole egg, 1 egg-white, 1 tbsp water. Cook in non-stick pan coated thinly with non-fat cooking spray. Serve with 1 slice bread, 1 grilled tomato.
• Heat 5 oz can baked beans in tomato sauce and serve with sauté mushrooms and 1 slice toast.
• Sauté 1 cup sliced mushrooms in 1 tbsp water for 5 mins (or microwave) & serve on 2 slices toast.
• Grill 3 halved tomatoes (or microwave) and serve on 2 slices toast.

6. FRUIT SMOOTHIES (blended fruit drinks)
Make yourself a fruit smoothie. Smoothies make a perfect breakfast or anytime drink. Use my recipe (below) or create your own, but please use only fruit or 100% fruit juice and don’t add sugar!

Anne’s “Wake-up” Smoothie
Blend 6 frozen strawberries, 1 banana and 1 cup 100% orange juice.
To vary the taste: add water, extra fruit, wheatgerm or sugar-free soft drink.

Make your own!
Use only 100% fruit juice and fruit – no fats, proteins etc. Use 1 cup juice to 1 cup fruit. It’s one of the most nutritious foods you can possibly make – and it’s perfect for weight loss!
For more Smoothie Recipes, see below.

COFFEE
From a slimming viewpoint, coffee is fine. Add 1 tsp sugar, if you must. Sweeteners are NO better.
Ideally, drink more water, or 100% fruit juices (not Juice drinks – they are full of sugar) or smoothies.

FRUIT SMOOTHIE RECIPES

Instructions

• Wash all fruit before preparing and remove any seeds/pips.
• Use only 100% fruit juice.
• Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
• Each smoothie makes two servings.
• For extra liquid, add extra fruit juice.
• For added FIZZ! Add sparkling water.

Mango and Orange
1 cup mango flesh
1 cup orange sections
1 cup orange juice

Banana & Apple with cinnamon
1 cup chopped banana
1 cup apple (peeled, cored & chopped)
1 cup apple juice
Pinch of cinnamon

Banana, Strawberries & Lime juice
1 cup chopped banana
1 cup strawberries
½ cup fat-free milk
2 ice cubes
2 tsp lime juice

Melon and Kiwi
1 cup honeydew melon pieces
1 cup kiwi fruit (peeled)
1 cup pineapple juice

Raspberry and Orange
1 cup frozen raspberries
1 cup orange sections
½ cup fat-free raspberry yogurt

Cranberry and Strawberry
½ cup frozen cranberries
2 cups strawberries
1 cup cranberry juice
½ cup fat-free strawberry yogurt

Peaches and Passion fruit
1 cup sliced peaches
1 cup sliced pears (peeled)
1 cup passion fruit juice

Banana and Honey
2 chopped bananas
1 tbsp wheatgerm
1 cup fat-free milk
1 tsp honey

Peaches and Sesame seeds
1 cup sliced peaches
1 large banana
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 fat-free vanilla yogurt

Test your own recipes!
Try out your own recipes based on the above.
It’s the easiest way to make friends with fruit.

 

QUICKTIP No 4 – DIETING DOESN’T MEAN DEPRIVATION
It’s always the same! One day, we can’t get into a particular skirt or someone passes a comment on our weight and suddenly we become overwhelmed with depression. Why? Because we realize we’ve got to start dieting! And immediately we think of all the nice things we’re going to miss: i.e. cookies, candy, cakes, pastries and so on. So right from the start, we think of dieting as deprivation. We think we have to give up all our pleasures. But this is nonsense! Why? Because I have never met one single slimmer who got any pleasure out of being overweight.
My advice: Stop kidding yourself that dieting means depriving yourself of pleasure. The truth is: dieting isn’t about depriving yourself or making yourself miserable. On the contrary, it’s about making yourself LESS MISERABLE, LESS TIRED, MORE RELAXED and MUCH MORE CONFIDENT!

LUNCHES

Your 6 Healthy Lunches

1. Soup  2. Sandwiches  3. Salad  4. Baked Potato  5. Pasta  6. Oily Fish.

• Choose 1 from these 6 basic lunches to make at home, or eat out.
• Don’t add any oil, cream, butter, margarine, mayo, cheese to your food, unless indicated.
• Finish off with a dessert of 1 piece of fresh fruit.

NB. Green Salad
Unlimited combination of green leaves: e.g. lettuce, spinach, endives etc.
It may be served with 1 tablespoon fat-free dressing. (Less than 3% fat)

NB. Vegetable Salad
Can be any combination of: artichokes, bean sprouts, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, cucumber, green beans, peppers, mushrooms, onions, or tomatoes. (Not unlimited, and avoid olives, but portion can be big.)
It may be served with 1 tablespoon fat-free dressing. (Less than 3% fat)

1. SOUP
Most soups are fine. Home-made is best.

• Choose 1½ cups vegetable soup, minestrone, gazpacho, lentil, bean soup or any low fat soup.
• Enjoy your soup with 2 slices wholemeal bread OR a sandwich from (2) below.
• Avoid all cream soups, soups containing cheese or meat.

2. SANDWICHES  (Use 2 slices of bread)

• Choose wholegrain, whole-wheat, stone-ground, rye, oatmeal breads. Also try sourdough, Italian, French, Pitta, Kaiser roll, dinner roll or any fat-free breads. Avoid bagels.
• Fillings: 2 ounces turkey or chicken breast, lean ham, tuna, salmon, shrimp, lean beef , low-fat cottage cheese with pineapple, non-fat cream cheese, or 1 egg, or other non-fat options.
• Add lots of mixed green salad or raw vegetables (Unlimited).
• Add pickle, chutney, fat-free dressing (1 tablespoon), horseradish, ketchup or mustard. 
• Avoid all fillings with fried meat /chicken, full-fat cheese, mayo, cream, butter, margarine.

3. SALAD & LOW-FAT DRESSING  (+ whole-grain bread roll or 2 slices bread or 1 pitta)

• Choose any green salad, or selection of any vegetables – tomatoes, corn, carrots, cucumbers, onions, peppers, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, a few olives or any selection of fruit.
• Add 2 ounces of fish or very lean meat (chicken or turkey breast /ham) or 1 boiled egg.
• Add 1 tablespoon any low-fat dressing, low-calorie vinaigrette, low-fat yogurt dressing, cocktail sauce, fat-free sour cream, or salsa.
• Avoid full-fat cheese, all other meat, coleslaw, potato salad, mayo, sour cream, butter, margarine.

4. ONE 6 OUNCE  (MEDIUM)  BAKED POTATO & LOW-FAT TOPPING  (+ green /vegetable salad)
The potato is great. It’s the topping that needs watching! ALWAYS choose low-fat.

• In general, choose plain toppings without added butter, margarine, fat, oil, cheese, mayo or cream.
• e.g. add ½ cup chili, beans, sweetcorn, vegetables – or 2 ounces plain tuna, lean chicken, lean ham, sardines, salmon, salsa, cottage cheese, pineapple, fat-free sour cream, or 1boiled egg.
• Avoid fat-bombs like fried meat, melted cheese, coleslaw, fatty gravy.

5. BOILED PASTA  (¾ cup uncooked)  or RICE  (¼ cup uncooked)  WITH SAUCE (+ any green salad)
Like potatoes, pasta and rice are fine. It’s the sauce that needs watching! ALWAYS choose low-fat.

• Add ½ cup tomato-based sauce, or any low-fat alternative. (If eating out, double-check it’s low-fat. If eating at home, use a jar of low-fat pasta sauce: i.e. less than 3g fat, per serving.)
• Don’t choose anything creamy or any meat sauces, or anything with cheese.

6. PLAIN OILY FISH  (3oz)  (+ green/vegetable salad + 1 slice of bread)
Oily fish is the only exception to the low-fat rule. But it MUST be cooked/served WITHOUT added fat.

• Choose canned sardines, salmon, mackerel, tuna or herring (in water or tomato sauce – not oil).
• Don’t add fat to your bread, your fish or your salad.

DESSERT – TO FINISH
After each of the above meals, eat 1 piece of fresh fruit, or 1 cup frozen fruit.
If you are too full, save your dessert for later.

Do you have a favorite lunch that you’d like to keep eating, if possible?
No problem. Simply contact Anne for advice. Email: help@annecollins.com

QUICKTIP No 5 – BOREDOM MAKES US EAT BADLY
Boredom makes us fed up. Result? We eat! For example, according to a recent survey of eating habits, about 480 million packets of potato chips are eaten in the UK every year out of sheer boredom. The moral? Don’t get bored! Don’t fall into a rut. And if you’re in one already, pull yourself out of it!
My advice: Change your routines: e.g. wear something different – get a new hair style – get a new job – join a library – play new games with the kids – join a class or learn something new – keep a diary – get involved in group activities – find a hobby – paint your room a different color – design or make something. In other words, find something new to interest you and keep you occupied.

SNACKS 
Extra hungry during the day? Try one of these snacks.
Note: This may slow down your weight loss but it’s much better to eat a little too much than to go hungry.

BREADS

• Choose plain breads (esp. wholemeal or whole-wheat varieties), plain bread rolls, English muffins.
• Ideally avoid using margarine to moisten the bread – use preserves or jelly, or cucumber, or fat-free relish.
• If you do use margarine, use ONLY a very light covering.

SANDWICHES
Let the bread do the talking – not the filling!
Breads: keep a variety of breads/rolls in stock.
Sweet fillings: bananas; jelly/preserves; pure honey.
Savory fillings: lean ham, turkey or chicken, canned tuna (in water), canned mackerel or sardines (in water or tomato sauce), canned salmon, shrimps, low- fat cheese spreads, cottage cheese, salsa sauce, any low fat pickle or relish.

QUICKTIP No 6 – THE CUCUMBER TRICK
Why are we fat? Because we eat too much of the wrong sort of food. In particular, we eat too much fat. One way to reduce our fat intake is to use less spread on our bread. For example, when making yourself a sandwich, don’t automatically put a layer of spread on your bread, put a layer of sliced cucumber on it, instead. Cucumber keeps the bread moist without filling you full of calories! I use this trick all the time and so do several of my most successful slimmers.

CEREAL
Don’t limit yourself to the same old cereal, always keep a good variety in stock.
To avoid waste, buy individual packs.
Use fat-free milk.
Add wheatgerm or chopped fruit.

SNACK MEALS
For a quick snack, have one of the following:

• Beans on toast
• Boiled egg and toast
• Sautéed tomatoes/ mushrooms on toast
• Can of sardines (in water or tomato sauce) on toast
• Any low-fat soup
• Tortilla with tuna and salad
• Low-fat cheese spread on toast

INSTANT ALTERNATIVES TO COOKIES & CANDY

• Large bowl of cereal with chopped banana
• Any fat-free yogurt, or frozen yogurt, or sorbet
• Bread and jelly/preserves
• Bowl of any canned fruit (in juice) with low-fat ice-cream
• Bowl of jello with fat-free fruit yogurt
• 1 low-fat Creamsicle
• 1 Tofutti Chocolate Fudge Treat
• 1 low-fat frozen fudge bar

STOCK UP WITH HEALTHY SNACK-FOOD!
We eat whatever we find in the fridge. So if your fridge is full of junk food, that’s what you’ll eat.
The moral? Get rid of the junk and replace it with healthy snack food.

• Buy chopped vegetables etc. for salads.
• Buy cooked potato (or keep lots of cold boiled potato in the fridge).
• Buy lots of low-fat soups, (or make your own).
• Buy very lean ham & other meats for salads.
• Buy low-fat cheese; buy lots of different flavors of cottage cheese.
• Buy lots of fat-free yogurts, and keep a tub of low-fat ice-cream, handy.
• Buy lots of canned fruit (in juice).
• Always have bananas and cucumbers in stock.
• Buy a variety of low-fat relishes, pickles and salsa.
• Buy lots of cereal and fat-free milk.

QUICKTIP No 7 – HOW TO SAY NO TO CANDY
There’s a candy bar in front of you. How do you cope? Follow these 5 steps:
1. Leave the bar where it is, go to the kitchen and fetch yourself a banana.
2. Eat the banana. Still want the candy? If so, fetch yourself a fat-free yogurt.
3. Eat the yogurt. Still want the candy? If so, fetch yourself a big bowl of cereal with fat-free milk.
4. Eat the cereal. Still want the candy? If so, make yourself a sandwich with preserves.
5. Eat the sandwich. Still want the candy? Then eat it!.

Nine times out of ten, by the time you’ve eaten all this food, you won’t have the slightest interest in eating the candy! Oh, and don’t worry about eating all this food: it’s very good for you.

HOW TO MAKE NINE EASY SOUPS
Home-made soup is the perfect slimming food! Low in calories and high in nutrition, it’s also a great way of eating green vegetables. Ideally, invest in a food blender – making soup is much easy if you have one.

BACON AND TOMATO
Ingredients: 2 Lean back bacon slices, 1 onion, 2 sticks celery, 1 green pepper, 16 ounces ripe tomatoes, 1 pint chicken broth. Method: Remove fat from bacon. slices & cut into small pieces. Chop up onion, celery and pepper. Put in pot with the tomatoes (or can tomatoes) and the chicken broth. Season, bring to the boil & simmer for 35 mins. Puree and reheat.

SPICY BEAN SOUP
Ingredients: 1 chopped onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 x 14 ounce cans mixed beans drained and rinsed, ½ tsp chili powder, 14 ounce can chopped tomatoes, 1 cup vegetable stock. Method: Coat base of pan with non-fat cooking spray. Add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the drained beans, tomatoes with their juice and stock. Simmer over a moderate heat until heated through. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve, topped with a blob of non-fat yogurt.

TOMATO & PASTA SOUP
Ingredients: 1 large (20 ounce) can chopped tomatoes, 1 chopped onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 finely chopped red bell pepper, 3 cups vegetable stock, 2 tbsp tomato paste, 2 tsp dried basil, 1 cup small pasta shells. Method: Coat base of pan with non-fat cooking spray. Add onion, garlic and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes. Add canned tomatoes with their juice and stir well. Add the stock, tomato paste and basil and cook for about 10 minutes. Put in blender and process until smooth. Cook the pasta shells separately. Return tomato mixture to pan and add drained pasta shells. Reheat for 2 minutes.

SWEETCORN AND LENTIL SOUP
Ingredients: 2 tbsp green lentils, 4 cups vegetable stock, 1 tsp finely grated root ginger, 2 tsp soy sauce, 12 ounce can sweetcorn, salt and pepper. Method: Put the lentils in a pan with the stock, ginger, soy sauce and boil rapidly, uncovered for 10 minutes. Skim any foam from top. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add sweetcorn with its liquid. Simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from heat & stir.

LEEK AND POTATO SOUP
Ingredients: 2 medium leeks (inc. green part) thinly sliced, 3 medium potatoes thinly sliced, 2 cups vegetable stock. Method: Put all the ingredients in a saucepan. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 20 mins. Puree and reheat.

SOYA BEAN AND VEGETABLE SOUP
Ingredients: 1 chopped onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 ribs celery sliced, 1 large carrot diced, 14 ounce can chopped tomatoes, 1 cup red wine, 4 cups vegetable stock, 1 tsp dried oregano, 14 ounce can soya beans, 2 diced zucchini, 1 tbsp tomato paste, salt and pepper. Method: Put the onion, garlic, celery, carrot, tomatoes, wine, oregano and stock in a large pan. Bring to the boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the beans, zucchini and cook, uncovered for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, salt and pepper to taste and heat through, stirring several times for about 3 minutes.

CHICKPEA (GARBANZO BEANS) AND TOMATO SOUP
Ingredients: 2 tsp olive oil, 2 leeks sliced, 2 zucchini diced, 2 cloves minced garlic, 2 x 14 ounce cans tomatoes, 1 tbsp tomato paste, 3 cups vegetable stock, 14 ounce can garbanzo beans drained and rinsed, 2 cups fresh chopped spinach, 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese. To Serve: top each bowl with freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Method: Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the leeks and zucchini for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the garlic, tomatoes, tomato paste, stock and beans. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cook for about 2 minutes.

CARROT AND ORANGE SOUP
Ingredients: 4 cups carrots peeled and sliced, 1 cup orange juice, 3 cups vegetable stock, 1 onion chopped, 1 tsp dried oregano. To serve: non-fat plain yogurt, nutmeg. Method: Put carrots in saucepan with orange juice, stock, onion, oregano, salt and pepper, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes. Allow to cool, then process in a blender until smooth. Return to pan to reheat and serve topped with non-fat yogurt and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

SWEET POTATO SOUP
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil, 2 pounds sweet potatoes peeled and diced, 1 diced carrot, 2 medium onions thinly sliced, 3 cloves minced garlic, 3 cups vegetable stock, 1 cup orange juice, 1 cup non-fat plain yogurt, 2 tbsp chopped cilantro, salt and pepper. Method: Heat the oil in a large pan and add the potatoes, carrot, onions and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes stirring constantly. Add the stock and orange juice and bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 20 minutes. Allow to cool and process in a blender until smooth. Return to the pan, stir in the cilantro and yogurt. Add salt and pepper to taste. Allow to heat through, but DO NOT BOIL.

QUICKTIP No 8 – BE MORE GREEDY!
What do you get from eating a bar of candy or a packet of potato chips? Answer: about 5 minutes of pleasure. The same goes for a doughnut, 2-3 cookies or a piece of cake. So, in practice, if you have 4 fattening treats a day, you can expect about 20 minutes worth of happiness. Unfortunately, in return for this 20 minutes worth of pleasure, we pay a very high price.

We put on weight, lose our figure and end up hiding ourselves away under shapeless skirts and pants. Soon, walking, shopping and going out become chores instead of pleasures. Finally, we lose our confidence and sometimes our health.  All because we want 20 minutes of happiness.

My advice: Be more greedy! Next time you are tempted by junk food, just say to yourself: ‘No thanks! 5 minutes of happiness isn’t enough. I want more! I want a lifetime of happiness which comes from having a shapely, fit body. I want a lifetime of happiness, not just 20 minutes worth!