Medium energy Recipe: Vegetarian

If your weight is increasing:
a) you need to take more exercise
b) you need to eat less
c) you may be pregnant (if female )

Adjusting your diet to match your energy needs is straight forward. If your weight continues to show a steady rise, but you are getting sufficient exercise, check first of all that you are not still eating biscuits, crisps and cakes. These are the biggest source of hidden fat and sugar in our diet.

Check that you are not adding too much fat in butter, margarine, oils or spreads and dressings to your meals. Remember that a spoonful of fat contains twice as much energy as a spoonful of starch.

If you have checked all these items but your weight still increases, slowly reduce the starch content of one of your meals - you can add extra salad or green vegetables to compensate, but don't be tempted to add extra dressings as well!

Provided you don't eat snacks between meals, you will soon find that your natural appetite mechanisms will re-establish themselves on this diet and you won't need to calculate your energy requirements. You will soon find yourself eating what you need.

Copyright Peter Thomson 2012-May-22