You may be eating fewer calories and doing a lot more exercise but even so you may be struggling to lose those extra pounds. It is when this happens it becomes very easy to start thinking about giving up. Before you do have a look at these few simple tips below that may just help.


1. Eat soup before your main meal. It has been indicated in studies that if you eat a small bowl of soup half an hour before you plan to have your main meal it can reduce your appetite and therefore you wont eat as much when you have your main meal. You should eat your soup when it is quite warm as you wont eat it as fast an this helps your body to digest the food more efficiently and therefore helps with the burning of calories. Make sure that you eat a low fat soup this will have far fewer calories but will still fill you up the same.


2. Dont eat before bed. When you are sleeping you dont burn as many calories and you store fat more. Therefore if you eat a high fat meal before you go to bed or even just a bar of chocolate it will have a detrimetal effect on your calorie burning. Experts say that you should not eat up to half an hour before you go to bed.


3. Make some small changes to your life. Every little helps when your trying to lose weight just making a few small chnages to your every day life can make a big diference. Try taking the stairs instead of the lift or get off the bus a stop or two early.


4. Eat chillis. If you like chilli your on to a winner. It has been found that chilli reduces your cravings and therefore reduces your appetite. Incorporating up to a teaspoon to your meals can help to reduce those cravings.


5. Don’t forget about drinks. Some people forget that drinks add to your calories. Try drinking low sugar cordials or even water to reduce your calories. Cutting down on your sugar in your tea and coffee will make a big difference as will swapping your shop bought latte for a cup of instant coffee with skimmed milk this could save you around 200 calories.


6. Slimming pills. Some people find benefit from using a slimming aid with their diet. Proactol tablets are a natural fat binder and bind up to 28% of your daily fat intake whilst helping to curb your appetite and overcome the sugar cravings which can become a problem when your trying to diet.