is up to you. The 1500 calories per day is a guideline daily amount for a woman. A man could eat up to 2000 calories per day and still see similar results. Likewise, if you are currently severely overweight you should cut back to 1800 calories (woman) or 2300 calories (man). Why? Because this calorie restriction will still result in steady and strong weight-loss and will be easier to follow. If a diet is too extreme for your body, then the likelihood of breaking the diet or falling off the wagon is much higher.
If you can manage to accurately calorie count each day, then this is a very good way to follow the diet. It means you are most likely to follow the diet and not tip over into excessive calorie consumption. It’s not that hard to count your calories, particularly if you eat similar foods each day and/or use some of the recipes in the book (which are calorie counted per serving). You will quickly find that you know the calorie counts for all regular SIRT foods.
Even if you don’t calorie count each day, then it’s a good idea to count calories for the first few days so you get a good idea of the amount you should be eating. Now I’m used to the diet, I genuinely find that as long as I resist stupid snacks and stick to three main meals, I easily stay under the target figure.
One of the huge (and I mean huge) advantages of eating SIRT foods is that they indisputably curb your appetite, making it much easier to resist snacking between meals.
THE DIET THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FAIL …
It’s true. You don’t ‘fail’ a diet day if you eat a few too many calories; just get straight back on track the next day. We all know that sometimes we find the cravings impossible to resist. I’m thinking impossible hormones or sharing a bottle of wine with a good friend. Don’t let it happen too often and you will be fine.
By far the most important part of the SIRT Diet is eating SIRT foods. Not eaten enough SIRTs today? Then take a look at the list of SIRT boosters and add a few extras in. It’s better to have a few extra calories, if they are good SIRT-filled calories, than it is to end the day lacking in SIRTs.
EXAMPLE SIRT DIET DAY
As a rough guide, you should aim to consume up to 300 calories for breakfast, 400 for lunch and 500 for dinner. This leaves 300 calories for snacks, drinks and miscellaneous.
EXAMPLE SIRT DIET DAY MENU
Breakfast:
300 calories • 3 portions of SIRTS
Cup of green tea
Fresh SIRT fruit or smoothie Healthy cereal or omelette
Mid-morning:
Cup of green tea
Lunch:
400 calories • 3 portions of SIRTS
Salad or soup or lunchbox containing greens and other SIRT-rich vegetables, onions and olive oil
Mid-afternoon:
optional 100 calorie snack • 1 portion of SIRTS
Dark chocolate or apple
Dinner:
500 calories • 3 portions of SIRTS
Lean meat such as chicken or fish or tofu/beans
Good carbs such as brown rice or new potatoes Plenty of green vegetables
Evening:
optional 100 calorie snack • 1 portion of SIRTS
Small glass of red wine or red grapes or dark chocolate
The SIRT Diet is one of the easiest diets to follow. Adjust your mind-set to seek out and enjoy SIRT-rich foods, stock up on your favourites and you are ready to go. An awareness of the best foods to eat, portion size and a dash of willpower are all you need to start losing weight and feel revitalised.
Jump-start days are great for dropping the pounds quickly, but if they don’t work for you then just follow the standard SIRT diet (1500 calories) days. You won’t lose weight quite as quickly, but you will still lose weight steadily and feel great too!
CHANGE THREE THINGS
The best advice I can give you is to change the way you approach food in just three different ways. By adjusting your mind-set and letting the extra SIRT foods curb your appetite, you will find hunger pangs are reduced and you can follow the SIRT Diet without letting it take over your life.
Firstly, you should think about what are your worst habits. What are the foods, beliefs or bad habits that get in the way of a successful diet? Perhaps like me you’re a late-night snacker? A weekend binger? A kids’ tea scoffer? Or even a biscuit non-resister?
Change one – break your worst habit
The first thing you need to find is your biggest diet-breaking bad habit. When it comes to over-eating, when are you most likely to buckle? You must work hard to stop this behaviour. This is where willpower comes into play, but also you will find the diet-friendly SIRT foods and proper balanced healthy meals will help enormously.
My worst habit is definitely eating far too much in the evening. This is invariably cheap sweet snacks. I’m not hungry particularly, but my willpower is low and my cravings are high. What do I do to beat this habit? Well the first thing I do is eat a small portion of dark chocolate. I try and eat this slowly and make the treat last as long as possible. I normally find that this fulfils my need for something sweet – although I do have to resist going back to the cupboard for a second helping. If I make it through the evening with only one portion of dark chocolate and nothing else, then I give myself a pat on the back for another diet day achieved successfully.
Here are a few other common bad habits and best advice for breaking the pattern:
• Eating kids’ leftovers
Don’t want to waste those chips? Carefully cutting off the crusts for fussy children, but find they somehow make their way to your mouth without you realising? I think it’s hard for parents to throw good food away and the mind-set is that it is preferable to eat them yourself rather than throw them away. This comes from our fear of waste. But just think you might eat 300 to 400 calories of rubbish without even realising. You need to be on guard and aware of what you might put in your mouth without noticing. Would it really be so bad to throw a few things away? No of course not. Scrape plates straight into the bin when your children have finished and don’t leave yourself open to temptation.
• Unable to turn down biscuits and cakes when offered
This happens more than we care to mention. Someone in your office brings in a delicious cake and says help yourself. Or even worse they say: ‘It’ll go to waste if you don’t help me eat it.’ You’re at a friend’s house and you are offered a biscuit with your cuppa. How do you say no? Surely only one biscuit or a little slice of cake won’t hurt? If this is your biggest
