What's ruining your diet?

13:22 21 January 2011

Your New Year's diet might not be going as well as you think. Beware, there are some diet saboteurs out there just trying their best to ruin all your hard work.

Take a look at our guide to the top culprits and see what could be ruining your diet.

The other half Recently started out in a new relationship or moved in with your boyfriend? This could be having a negative effect on your waistline.

If you eat together, remember to control your portions. He can, and will, eat at least 500 more calories than you, because men are more muscular and need more calories to maintain their weight.

Not to mention all those cosy nights in front of the telly distracting you from the gym...

Eating out A lot of meals at restaurants are loaded with butter, salt and oil because they make a meal taste good.

If you really are diet dedicated, choose a fish instead of a meat dish, opt for boiled potatoes instead of chips or sauted spuds and ask for your salad dressing on the side.

Low fat? Not necessarily. Look at the label and if you don't understand most of the long words on the back, then give it a miss. It may not be good for you and remember, they're sugar and fat substitutes, so why not just eat a little bit of the real thing?

Eyes bigger than your belly If your plates and crockery are quite big and hold a lot of food, it may be worth investing in some smaller sized ones. The bigger your plate, the bigger your portions tend to be.

Just don't buy it. If you've got sweets, chocolate and cake in the house, even if it's for someone else, you're going to succumb to temptation. Buy lots of fruit and yoghurts to snack on instead.

The office birthday Oh it's so-and-so's birthday is it? It'd be rude not to have some cake? Say no!