Yes you can! Amanda & Nicki’s weight-loss advice

TV health gurus Nicki Waterman and Amanda Ursell help you stay in shape with the latest news and advice

I did it!
Name: Claire Jones
Age: 33
Before: 12st
After: 9st

Claire Jones, a dental nurse assistant from Chafford Hundred in Essex, explains: ‘It wasn’t until I went on holiday with my girlfriends at the end of last summer that I realised quite how big I’d become. We were in Marbella in Spain and it was pretty obvious that I was the fattest in the group. I resolved there and then that the next time I was lying by a pool, I would be fit, healthy and looking good again. I’m 5ft 5in and went from 12st and a size 16 to 9st and a size 10. I’m now ready for the beach in Goa this summer!’

Amanda says Claire never ate breakfast and started the day with six mugs of tea, each with two sugars. Instead, I introduced sugar-free muesli with skimmed milk, and she swapped to skimmed milk in her tea, minus the sugar. This one swap alone saved Claire 1050 calories each week. At lunch, I changed her crispy bacon and mushroom sandwich, packet of crisps, chocolate bar and can of cola for a tuna salad-stuffed pitta with a yogurt, an apple, a bag of baked crisps and some water – this saved a further 3260 calories a week.
Afternoon cakes and biscuits were traded in for a small bag of mixed fruit and nuts or a cereal bar. And Claire’s calorie-laden McDonalds, KFC or Chinese takeaway suppers were replaced with straightforward meals, such as grilled fish with fresh vegetables and healthy stir-fries, saving at least another 500 calories each day.
Nicki says Like lots of people, Claire had a gym membership but never used it. I told her that studies have shown just 10 minutes of exercise can spark your va-va-voom for four hours and that just a half-hour session of well-executed strength work is enough to elevate your metabolism for nearly 40 hours, which means you burn more calories, even while you sleep.
Claire got started by improving her posture, planning exercise sessions in her diary so that she stuck to them, and keeping gym sessions to less than an hour so they felt manageable. I also advised that when she is feeling gym-weary, she take some outdoor exercise – natural light is ideal for rousing your senses. Summer is a great time to seek out a group fitness environment, such as a running or triathlon club. Other people around you can keep you motivated, even when you feel like giving up. I suggested that Claire ask at her gym if others would like to join her and to check out www.timeoutdoors.com for inspiration.

Q: How can I be a slender vegetarian?
Since I became a vegetarian two years ago, I’ve piled on the pounds. I suspect it’s because I rely too much on cheese for my protein, and eat a lot of ready meals. How can I stick to my food principles but eat healthily and lose weight?
Amanda says This is a classic mistake when switching to a vegetarian diet. The key is to choose alternative protein-rich foods: for breakfast, try muesli with soya milk or a soya yogurt, and a soya milk fruit smoothie, and for lunch opt for reduced-fat houmous in a wrap or baked beans with a baked potato and salad. For dinner, try Quorn – it has only 86 calories per 100g (Cheddar has 416 calories). It also contains 14g protein (a quarter of a woman’s daily needs) and is a good source of selenium, which many people get from meat and fish. It’s great in bolognese, and most Quorn ready meals are well balanced calorie- and fat-wise.
Tofu is easy to use in everything from stir-fries to salads. You need 150g to get 12g protein (with 106 calories). And, of course, pulses are incredibly versatile. I love Rose Elliott’s pea risotto and recipes using haricot and cannellini beans (www.roseelliott.com).
Nicki says You don’t mention exercise, so bear in mind even if you address your diet and do what Amanda suggests, you still need to be active if you want to burn calories. This doesn’t necessarily have to mean going to the gym. Head out into the garden – according to the Woodland Trust, planting trees burns about 420 calories an hour, while mowing the lawn uses 387.
Or try a Challenge Walk, organised by the Long Distance Walkers Association (www.ldwa.org.uk). You pitch up, pay a small fee and receive a set of directions. The challenge is to cover the distance in a given time by signing in at checkpoints along the way. If you’re still hooked on the gym, take classes such as spinning, yoga and circuits – you’ll burn calories without burning non-renewable energy.