LOW-CALORIE DIETING

To lose weight we know that we need to eat less and move more. We are told by doctors, nutritionists, dieticians and personal trainers that it’s all about a balanced diet and eating fewer calories than we use. There’s plenty of good advice out there, so why are so many people in Britain still overweight?

I think bland and unappetising ‘diet food’ is a major factor. How can you stick to a diet if you’re not enjoying the food? If lower calorie food came packed with flavour and in generous portions, people would be more likely to lose weight. And this is where I believe I can help, by providing lots of delicious and satisfying recipes that are also lower in calories. I want to help more people to lose weight for good – regardless of lifestyle and skills in the kitchen – without ever scrimping on flavour.

It’s no secret that I used to be a big lad! At my heaviest I weighed in at around 30 stone and my health was suffering. When I celebrated my fortieth birthday, I knew I had to make a change, and fast, or else I might not get to see my fiftieth – or my little boy grow up. Things were that serious.

As a chef I am surrounded by food all day and I wasn’t going to give that up. I lost weight by cutting down drastically on carbohydrates: potatoes, pasta, bread and rice. It meant I could carry on tasting the food I was working with every day in the kitchen while still cutting back on what I ate. And it worked for me – I’ve lost 12 stone and I’m still going – but I understand that this isn’t the best approach for everyone.

A calorie-restricted diet, where you consume only a certain amount of calories – based on your height, weight-loss goals and the amount of exercise you do – is much easier for many people to stick to because you can still eat many of your favourite foods, as long as you don’t go over your daily limit. (You can talk to your GP about calculating the number of calories you should have each day, or use one of the reliable calculators online to estimate this yourself.)

I realise that counting calories is a bit boring. But soon you’ll get to know the calories in the ingredients you use regularly so you won’t have to think about it so much. And as for the recipes in this book, all the counting has been done for you!

SO WHAT CAN I EAT?

When you’re on a diet, especially one where you’re reducing your calories, it’s all too easy to focus on what you can’t eat and what you think you’ll be missing out on. Food is one of the biggest pleasures in life as well as one of the most important factors in our health, and we just won’t succeed if we stop enjoying it.

The beauty of a lower calorie diet is that you can still eat many of the foods you love, as long as you don’t go over your daily limit. Obviously, if you were to eat a massive fry-up for breakfast with a stack of toast, you would need to drastically restrict your calories for the rest of the day, but in theory it would be possible.

If you like bread, rice, pasta and potatoes, you can still enjoy them. Many calorie-controlled diets seem to reduce the portions of your regular foods right down. So, yes, you may be eating steak with a blue cheese sauce or chocolate brownies but the servings will be tiny! You’ll be hungry, craving something more. I’m all about creating bigger portions, as the secret to dieting success is to feel satisfied and full.

So now for the fun bit: let’s focus on great food and what you can eat! And let’s make this the driving force for a new way of eating. My recipes are designed to achieve satisfyingly large portion sizes, that have extra layers of flavour and plenty of interesting textures to keep your meals exciting. Hopefully this will ease the journey that you are about to embark on.

I use a lot of fresh herbs and spices, garlic and chilli, as they provide huge flavour for virtually no calories. I also sometimes include a small amount of a high-flavour, higher calorie ingredient, such as smoked salmon or cheese. You don’t need much of these strongly flavoured ingredients to make an impact and stop you feeling like you’re missing out.

Texture is just as important. Chefs use fats to help get both flavour and texture into their cooking, but if you’re cutting out the fats you need to find other ways of getting flavour and texture onto your plate. I have some clever techniques to help you out here. Try to balance crunchy ingredients – like fresh, healthy veg – with something creamy. Pair spicy heat with salty or cooling flavours, and acidity with sweetness. If you can get the right balance, it doesn’t matter how few calories the dish contains, it will taste great.

As a general rule, I don’t like the idea of replacing regular ingredients with lower calorie alternatives – they are often flavourless poor imitations and I’d rather just use something else entirely. But there are a few low-cal options that I do use in these recipes, as they can be an easy and subtle way to cut back on calories. Cooking spray oil, which has just one calorie per spray, can really drop the overall count. And a swirl of reduced-fat cream replacement stirred through soups or puddings adds a satisfying richness that low-calorie diets often lack. I also use a sugar replacement to add a bit of sweetness where needed. Reduced-fat pastry is a great addition to the shopping list too. Although losing weight is all about shifting your mindset and getting rid of old unhealthy habits, we can have the occasional treat, and a crispy fruit tart may tick all the boxes.

GETTING CLEVER IN THE KITCHEN

As we lead increasingly busy lives, being faced with complicated dishes that take ages to plan and cook is a recipe for diet failure. I want to show you how to make everyday food that is incredibly simple and totally delicious. Lots of the recipes in this book can be made in less than half an hour, and most can be made ahead in part, or full, and frozen, too. It’s all about maximum flavour for minimum effort.

Favourite recipes often taste so good because they use lots of butter and/or oil to roast or fry the ingredients to caramelised perfection. I’ll show you some easy techniques that will create tasty effects like these without adding calories. You’ll find a cook’s blowtorch a handy investment for giving a dish those lovely crispy browned edges you usually get from roasting or frying. It may sound a bit cheffy but it’s an easy way to add flavour, and create extra texture for zero calories.

Something as simple as roasting mince before you use it adds a huge amount of extra flavour and texture – try it in my One-layer lasagne. A regular, go-to ingredient for dieters is chicken, as it is high in protein yet low in fat, but it can shrink or dry out when you cook it, leaving you feeling disappointed. I poach chicken crowns on the bone in some of my recipes, which helps the chicken keep its volume – upping the portion size (surely every dieter’s dream) while also keeping the meat lovely and moist. Try it and see what a big difference it makes to the finished dish in my healthy version of Chicken tikka masala.

Cooking low and slow in the oven is another great way of ensuring meat stays succulent and keeps its flavour without adding lots of oil. This method works brilliantly with casseroles and pot-roasts, but I also use it for roasting a whole chicken. Next Sunday, instead of your usual roast, give my Piri piri chicken or Pot-roast topside of beef a go.

A classic dieter’s downfall is to pile up a healthy salad and then smother it in a high-fat oily or mayo-loaded dressing. Suddenly your sensible choice can have as many calories as a takeaway! To solve this little dieting dilemma, I’ve come up with a clever oil-free dressing, using a little cornflour to give it a thick consistency – you would never think it was virtually calorie-free. You can flavour it in different ways to give an instant hit to salads and veg, or drizzle the dressing over meat or fish – try the smoked paprika version, the herby option here or the citrus dressing.

Just a few simple adjustments to the way you prepare and cook your food can save a huge amount of calories. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that many of these dishes have ended up tasting better than the meals they were created to replace, because they have so much more flavour and texture.

DON’T BE BEATEN BY A POTATO!

Even armed with good advice and tons of tasty recipes, no one can say losing weight will be easy. Dieting is hard. Everyone wants to carry on eating burgers and drinking at the weekend, and lose weight at the same time, but you can’t!

You really have to want to do it, it’s as simple as that. If you find yourself raiding the fridge at 3am the only person you have to answer to is you. But I know that when you’ve got some entrenched habits, changing the way you eat is tough.

For many, it involves a huge lifestyle change and you have to be committed. When you’re a healthy weight and have an active lifestyle you can afford to have the odd day when you eat more calories than you need and it will balance itself out overall. But when you need to lose weight, you have to commit to lower calories every day. And it’s not just for the 12 weeks or 6 months of your ‘diet’ either, it’s about changing your whole mindset for good. Once you’ve lost that 2 stone – or 10 stone! – you can’t just go back to the way you were eating before. I used to smoke like a chimney but cutting down to 10-a-day still made me a smoker and it’s the same with food: you have to change the whole way you think about what you eat.

When you have a large amount of weight to lose, it can be hard to believe you will ever make it to your goal. But after just a week or two of eating only the amount of calories you actually need, you really will lose weight. And once you start to see those changes, it will make it so much easier to keep going.

Getting comfortable with a diet or any new habit and sticking to it is all about routine. Exercise is just one routine, eating regularly and well is another. It will help you stay away from bad food choices because you will feel in control of your life and able to make good decisions.

I totally get it though; I had loads of days when I found it a real struggle – especially surrounded by all that delicious food. But what helped carry me through – and resist temptation – was remembering the reason that I wanted to lose weight in the first place.

For me, the main motivations were my son and my health. Losing weight meant I’d be able to have a kick about with him in the park and have a better chance of being around for him as he got older. Work out what your main motivation is and whenever you feel yourself weakening, picture it in your mind. Maybe even cut out a photo of something that reminds you of your goal or reason for keeping to your diet and stick it in your wallet – or on the fridge!

There are a few little tricks that I still use today, which really help me keep my focus. Try them out and see if they help you:

1.Think of a hero of yours. Mine are mostly sports-related but it can be anyone you think has achieved something amazing. They will have made a commitment to get to the top and sacrificed a lot on the way; it didn’t happen overnight. You can be your own hero! But you have to give up some things to reach where you want to be. And you might have to be a little bit selfish about it. Do what you need to do to get results.

2.Now remember a time in your life when you accomplished something you really wanted. Remember how difficult it was to get there? Then remember how amazing you felt when you did it. You’ve done it before so you can do it again. Imagine how brilliant it will feel when you reach your weight-loss goal. Think of what you can achieve if you set your mind to it.

3.This might sound strange, but it can also help to turn food into animated characters in your head. If you’re tempted to eat some crisps or a bag of chips, imagine a potato with a face on it. Now arm wrestle with it! You wouldn’t let the potato win would you? Don’t be beaten by a potato!

4.This is a bit more serious, but when I’m feeling like I’m going to give into cravings, I think of people less fortunate than me all around the world. It puts things into perspective in an instant. Why am I worrying about a chocolate bar? Other people have it far worse than me.

It’s been shown that losing weight with other people can be more effective than going it alone. Finding someone to give you a few words of praise or a kick up the bum when you need it can make the difference between success and failure. I’ve been so impressed by the support I’ve seen people give each other through their ups and downs. Maybe pair up with a mate, or a group of dieters, and keep in regular contact. You can reach out to them when you need a boost – they’ll know what you’re going through. Meet up for a cup of tea (without the slice of cake) or a walk in the park. It can help to know that you’re not on your own.

The support of those around you every day is also key to dieting success, so make sure everyone knows what you’re doing and aiming to achieve. Get your partner and kids on board. Ultimately, it’s going to be up to you to make good choices, but it can help knowing that everyone wants you to succeed.

And then there’s the obvious way to help prevent you reaching for the snacks: if you don’t go filling your house with crisps, chocolate bars and ice cream then you’ll be less likely to eat them. It can really be as simple as that!

GET ORGANISED

Often, convenience foods aren’t healthy. To stay on track you need to be organised and make your diet work for you. With the best will in the world, if it’s dinner time and you’re starving when you are halfway up the motorway it’s going to be harder to make a healthy choice when faced with what’s on offer at the service station. Keeping in control of what you are eating when you’re out of the house is often a problem for dieters, and planning ahead and being prepared are the answers.

I remember my mum sending me off to school with my favourite packed lunch – corned beef and mustard sandwiches in an old plastic box. (I was well jealous of the boy in my class who came in with a new Superman lunchbox.) Invest in some good plastic containers. They are cheap to buy and those mini thermal flasks are brilliant too for winter warmers like soups and stews. There are lots of easy recipes in this book that are ideal for when you’re out and about – including the soups here and here. You’ll make your workmates jealous!

But if you haven’t packed yourself a lunch, calories are printed on most packaging now, so you can check and still make a good choice. Go somewhere where you can read the labels so you know exactly what your meal contains.

Something as simple as using a smaller plate can help trick your mind into thinking you’ve eaten more – the plates we use nowadays are huge compared to the plates our grandparents ate from. It’s no wonder our portion sizes have got a bit out of control. And try to stick to three meals a day. Snacking is where it often goes wrong! That’s why it’s important to keep portion sizes reasonably big, without going overboard. Most of the time we’re not even hungry when we reach for a snack, it’s just a habit we’ve got into, so learn to recognise if you really are hungry or you’ve just got used to that chocolate biscuit with your afternoon cup of tea.

I heard about something recently called ‘the broccoli test’: if you had to replace your snack of choice with a piece of broccoli, would you still eat it? If not, then you don’t need it! And if you do need a snack to keep you going, get used to eating fruit. My go-to snack is cold grapes straight from the fridge.

Being on a diet doesn’t mean you should enjoy your meals any less; in fact, enjoying what you eat can really help you stick with it. Set the table, light a candle, do whatever it takes to make mealtimes feel special – no more mindless eating in front of the TV. If you’re at the table you’ll pay much more attention to what you’re actually eating, which will make you feel more satisfied by it.

There’s nothing better than sharing a meal with your friends and family – it’s what brings us together – and you shouldn’t have to miss out just because you’re trying to lose weight. But a lot of people worry about what to do when they eat out. It can often feel like dieting will have a negative impact on your social life, especially as you’ll probably be cutting out the booze at the same time.

Most restaurants now offer healthier options on their menus and some give the calorie content too. Pick one of these if you can. Many menus are online now, so you can choose in advance, which means you’re less likely to be swayed by anyone else when you get there. If they don’t have any obvious lower calorie options, then just ask. The kitchen team and front of house staff want happy customers and they deal with different needs all the time so it’s really no big deal to make something lower calorie. Be brave and ask them to help you. Perhaps they can grill a piece of meat or fish and serve it with some salad. Also remember you’re among friends. Tell them what you’re doing and that you want them to support you, and I’m sure they will. Stay strong and you’ll come away having had a great evening, knowing you haven’t undone all your good work.

A FINAL NOTE

If you’ve been carrying a bit of extra weight around for a while then you may feel as though it’s become part of your identity – it’s just part of who you are. I’ve been called ‘Big Tom’ for most of my adult life. I still am, even after losing 12 stone! I think some big guys and girls worry they’ll lose a part of themselves if they shed the weight. But surely being healthy is a better badge of honour than being big?

Once you’ve lost a few pounds, you’ll start to feel good. And this will help you carry on towards your weight-loss goal. There’s also the little boost that comes when you can fit into your old clothes again – or maybe buy some new ones.

Be a good example to others and inspire them to follow a new, healthier lifestyle like you. You can show them it is possible!