Hi everyone. Well, on Monday I will be one month in. I had lost 10lbs when I weighed in last Monday so excited to see what it is this time, although I won’t be disheartened if it’s slowed a bit. I have three stone to lose in total.

I am finding it very easy to be honest, and just thought I’d share what is working for me In Case it helps anyone else.

For breakfast I tend to go for either Greek yoghurt with chia seeds and blueberries, a mushroom omelette or scrambled eggs with a couple of slices of Parma ham.

For dinner, I find whatever I have, I have with either spinach and mushrooms or a salad. For the salad, I’ve modified a favourite one:

Crush a clove of garlic and lie it at the bottom of a bowl. Add a stem of basil, chopped in half, then add a few quartered tomatoes. Drizzle a dash of red wine vinegar, olive oil and balsamic. Leave that to marinade for ten mins, then add some rocket and basil leaves. Blitz some chestnut mushrooms in a blender, sprinkle them over the top and if the calorie count for the day allows it, crumble over it a very little blue cheese/ feta/ spoon of cottage cheese. Mix it all together so that the liquid covers it all. Remove the basil stem and then dish up. Delicious!

To go with it, I either have a piece of fish, chicken or my favourite meat – game. A venison steak, partridge, pheasant, guinea fowl or pigeon breast is fabulous, and I find much more flavoursome than chicken.

Hope that is of interest, and also, if there’s something in there I’m unaware is working against the objective, please do say!

Sounds lovely Simon. The only ingredient to be slightly wary of is the balsamic. I know it’s ‘vinegar’ but it’s really high in sugar/carbs!

Hi Simon, we have a place near us that makes flavoured vinegars and I was really surprised at the amount of sugar in the sweeter flavours (why a surprise as they are sweet). My favourite was pineapple. So I started to avoid them. So, as Verano says, the Balsamic can be high in sugars but for the amount you use it is hardly worth worrying if it makes food palatable. I always have a salad dressing of olive oil, balsamic, mustard and a pinch of stevia. I think of the alternative, a dollop of mayo or salad cream and the oil and balsamic are really good for you. There are compromises to make and you are doing so well with your choices I wouldn’t worry about a teaspoon of balsamic. The ones to really avoid are the concentrated in the form of a glazed like they use to decorate plates in posh noshers.