Tip #1

Drink plenty of water. It sounds so simple, but our bodies need a lot of water so give in to it. Water isn't just a way to flush out toxins, but if you have more water in your body you will generally feel healthier and fitter. Drinking plenty of water also helps prevent hunger pangs and so you're less likely to gorge. Best of all, water has no calories whatsoever!

Tip #2 

Start your day with a glass of water. As soon as you wake up, gulp down a glass of room temperature water. During the night we sweat quite a lot, so we lose a lot of fluid while we sleep. A nice big glass of the clear stuff helps replenish what we lost during the night. This is especially useful if you're one of those people who wakes up in the morning hungry as a glass of water will temporarily  alleviate hunger so you have time to wash, dress, and prepare a healthier breakfast.

Tip # 3 Drink a glass of water BEFORE you start your meal. Water naturally needs some space, so you will feel fuller without stuffing yourself with calorie-loaded foods! 

Tip #4 Eat your food slowly. It takes approximately 20 minutes for the brain to realize that your tummy is full, and in the meantime the tendency is to keep on eating. By taking your time to eat and swallow, not only do you enjoy your food a lot more, but you give your brain time to catch up.

Tip #5 Stay away from sweetened bottle drinks, especially sodas. Non-diet sodas contain up to half a cup of sugar, and all that sugar is just empty useless calories. Imagine sitting down and crunching your way through 30 sugar cubes, you just wouldn't do it, so why do it with a soda just because you can see the sugar? If you must drink sodas, make them diet!

Tip #6 Whilst drinking water is important, you also need to be aware that over doing it can actually be harmful Too much water over too short a period can result in destabilizing your bodies natural mineral levels, especially sodium. This is why many athletes, cyclists, and runners, use sports drinks as they contain electrolytes to replenish the bodies minerals. So, as well as water, try including things in your diet that contain more water like tomatoes, or watermelon. These contain up to 95% water, but also contain other things like salts and small amounts of sugars.

Tip #7 Eat fresh fruit instead of drinking fruit juice. Fruit juice is often sweetened, and even when it says "No artificial sweeteners"  that just means they've added more fruit sugars, natural yes, but still sugar! Fruit is also an excellent source of fiber and fresh fruit is loaded with vitamins!

Tip #8 If you fancy a fruit juice, why not try making your own? Use a juicer or a blender and instead of adding cream or milk to make a smoothie, try adding sparkling water to make a low-calorie, high-fiber tasty fruit drink?

Tip #9 While you're at the juicer or blender, experiment with vegetable juices. Carrot juice makes a tasty alternative to orange juice, and is lower in sugar. Mix fruits and veggies together if the vegetables aren't sweet enough on their own, you'll be amazed at what works. If the veggies don't work for you as a juice, try warming them up and adding a little seasoning for a delicious instant vegetable soup! 

Tip #10 Sometimes canned fruit is better... yes, it sounds crazy, but the vitamins in fruits break down quite quickly after they've been picked, so if your fruit is a bit past its best, it may have little or no vitamin value. Canned fruits packed in water are canned so soon after picking that they can often have higher vitamin content than so called "fresh fruit". However, be careful not to buy canned fruit in syrup, and even fruit packed in "fruit juice" can have added sugar.