So the temperature’s heating up, along with your desperation that too much red wine and hot chocolate over the winter months have left you with nothing to wear but your emergency trousers and a loose floral frock from 1998.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, but if the thought of mugs of foul-tasting green tea, flasks of gas-inducing cabbage soup or a week of detox with only water and celery sticks sound like foreign torture methods, we’ve got the answer for you.
It seems that the answer lies in something much more ordinary. Something you’ve always eaten – even enjoyed – but never realised the full potential of.
Welcome the 3-Apple-A-Day diet plan.
The approach seems sensible, balanced and effective. Which is surprising since it was the brainchild of an American dietician called Tammi Flynn.
How does the diet work?
Tammi discovered that when dieters eat an apple before every meal, they start losing weight effectively.
The basic principles of the diet are as follows:
- Eat an apple before every main meal
Why: Apples are high in dietary fibre, which makes you feel full. That means you’ll eat less during your meal. - Eat lots of low-fat protein
Why: Protein makes you feel fuller for longer, which means you’ll want to eat less at your next meal. - Eat nine fruits and vegetables a day
Why: If you eat three apples a day plus six other servings of fruit and vegetables, you’ll have much less space in your stomach for junk food and other fattening things. - Drink lots of water
Why: You know it’s good for you, so just do it. If you have a glass of water when you wake up (before your first cup of coffee) and a glass with each meal, it will easily add up to 2 litres a day. - Eat low-fat dairy products every day.
Why: Low-fat or fat-free milk, yoghurt and cottage cheese contain lots of calcium, which helps with losing weight. They also have a low energy content, a low GI and are packed with protein, which makes you feel full. - Lock away the Chardonnay!
Why: Sadly, each gram of alcohol adds 29 kJ to your daily energy intake. To make matters worse, alcohol can slow down your metabolism and make you crave fatty foods. - Exercise!
Why: No surprise here. Just get your heart rate up and your blood pumping every day for about 20 – 30 minutes. There are more innovative and fun ways to do that than going to the gym – so no more excuses!
Finally...Keep a food diary. Writing down everything you eat on a daily basis, even if you are following a diet closely, will help you establish a pattern that will help you reach and maintain your goals.
Why apples?
Why should apples be eaten before every meal? Tammi provides the following explanation:
- A medium-sized apple has only 60-100 calories, is basically fat free and contains no salt.
- According to Tammi, women who ate 3 medium apples a day - one before each meal - lost at least three pounds in a matter of weeks, without making any other change to their diet or lifestyle.
- It’s packed full of nutrients that improve memory and learning, and could even help in the prevention of age-related disorders like Alzheimer's.
- Apples are filled with antioxidants that can lower bad cholesterol and raise good cholesterol, protecting the heart.
- They contain Boron, a mineral that helps maintain bone density and protect against heart disease.
- Scientists believe that eating just one apple a day can cut the risk of lung, liver and colon cancer by 70%.
- Apples have tannins, which prevent tooth decay, gum disease and urinary-tract infections.
- The vitamins and antioxidants in apples may help prevent age-related vision loss.
- Eating apples with skin may guard against stroke and asthma.
- Apples are a good source of folic acid, a B vitamin that helps prevent heart disease and serious birth defects.
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