READY TO SHIFT SOME FAT AND MAKE A LIFELONG COMMITMENT TO STAYING LEAN? LOUISE PARKER CAN SHOW YOU HOW

Many who try to lose weight get caught in a cycle of dieting and bingeing. The result? You don’t lean up as you’d like, your running suffers as energy is up and down, and self-esteem plummets.

Weight-loss expert Louise Parker devised her Louise Parker Method (see louiseparker.com for more) to help people break out of this cycle and lose weight in a sustainable way, before maintaining a healthy weight – and a healthy attitude to eating – for the rest of their lives. In her book, Lean For Life: The Cookbook, she explains her approach. We’ve got three delicious recipes from the book here, and Parker’s guide to getting organised, to help you stay on track.

LEAN BODIES COME PREPARED

• They just do. You simply can’t leave your food choices down to chance and hope to get lucky and change your body and your lifestyle. Having said that, you also need to keep things realistic and in perspective. We’re creating habits to last forever, not white-knuckling through some ‘New Year, New You’ diet that fizzles out by February.

• I don’t want to dedicate a day a week to putting my meals in Tupperware. This kills the joy of it. I mostly enjoy the 10 minutes spent preparing meals as time to help me switch off and rest, and nothing beats the taste of fresh ingredients. So think about preparing like someone who has a life.

• Cook in batches, as and when you can and feel like it. I simply don’t have the time or inclination to spend a day doing a big cookup for the week ahead. It’s my idea of hell. Whenever you’re making something that freezes well, double or triple up the recipe, so you’ve got something to snatch out of the freezer in the morning.