Blog Posts by Rachael Anne Hill

Bad food habits are easy to fall into but as many of us work hard to stick to complicated diet plans or even just a healthy eating programme, these unconscious food routines that might be causing us to fail.

Try ditching these four common food habits and watch the pounds fall off.Dieting disasters can be caused by unconcious habits ©Rex

Cramming in the carbs

Carb-rich foods such as rice, pasta, potatoes, cereals and breads all give us energy, valuable vitamins  and help to fill us up but over eating them can lead to weight gain, tiredness and even diabetes  - and over eating them is exactly what most of us do.

Think about your diet - breakfast is often a carb fest of cereal or toast, lunch is more bread in the form of a sandwich, wrap or bagel, a baked potato or maybe a pasta salad and supper is usually heavy on the carbs again as pasta, rice or potatoes form the basis of most common meals in the UK.  Overloading on carbs is easy, especially in the winter ©Rex

How to kick the habit
Next time you put a meal together, make fruit or vegetables the main

Read More »from The worst food habits and how to beat them

Many of us make plans to diet and lose weight in the New Year.

But research has shown that most of us will have ditched our New Year weight loss resolutions already, as so a result of many of us making unrealistic goals that are too impossible to stick to.

Yet if you really want to get into shape in 2013, what you should be doing is making healthy, easy to do changes to your diet that'll make it easier to stick do and thus see results.

Here, we reveal our nutrient packed, easy to follow, delicious eating plan that's designed to help you lose excess weight, gain energy and feel fabulous in no time.

The meals and snacks within the plan combine slow releasing, fibre filled, digestion friendly carbohydrates with high quality, hunger zapping proteins plus plenty of fruit and vegetables, rich in all the antioxidants your body needs to get it back on track.

Each meal is a maximum of 400 calories and the snacks, which are between 100 and 200 calories, will not only help to add that all important

Read More »from New Year diet plan: A weight loss plan that'll help you achieve your New Year's resolutions

It's the party season and we all want to look our best but new research claims that a diet that cuts out carbs may not be the best way to try and shed a few pounds.  Here, Yahoo! Lifestyle nutritionist Rachael Anne Hill explains...

Research has found eating carbs in the evening can actually help you lose weight © RexThe 'Carb Curfew' has long been a popular way of trying to lose excess weight.   The idea is to reduce calorie intake and avoid over eating in the evenings by banning carbohydrates after 5pm.

It also encourages followers to eat slightly more protein which, in theory, should help you to stay fuller for longer.  The diet promotes a carb-rich breakfast and lunch followed by a carb free evening meal.

[Related: Top healthy Christmas superfoods]

In practical terms this means no jacket potato with your chilli, no pasta with your Bolognese and no rice with your curries.

The diet has proved to be very popular largely because it's easy to understand and simple to do.  Followers of the diet often report feeling less bloated and more energised.

However, new research

Read More »from Why a carb curfew will only add to your curves…

It's all too easy to over consume at Christmas but there are some foods we really should be eating more of this month.  Yahoo! Lifestyle nutritionist Rachael Anne Hill reveals why...

1.    Nuts
Nuts © RexWe've known for some time that nuts can help with weight loss due to their ability to reduce hunger and stabilise blood sugars but now a new study shows that they can also boost serotonin, a substance that makes you feel happier!

Studies at Loma Linda University in California also found that eating nuts five times a week (about 50 grams a day) lowered participants' blood cholesterol levels by 12 per cent.  Go for the plain unsalted, uncoated varieties and don't overdo it.  Just a small handful a day is all you need to provide all the health benefits without over consuming the calories.

2.    Satsumas, Clementines and Tangerines
Clementines © RexForget all those expensive time release vitamin C capsules.  Vitamin C is water soluble therefore it can't be stored in the body, however a satsuma, clementine or

Read More »from Top healthy Christmas superfoods

The winter cold and flu season is officially upon us, so now is the time to make sure your diet is rich in vitamin-packed foods to stave off any nasty bugs.

So as your body prepares to do battle against the seasonal viruses, we reveal the Top 5 immune boosting recipes that'll keep you fighting fit...

Top 5 immune boosting recipes: Battle the flu season with these germ-busting foods1. Loaded Lemonade
Lemons and all other citrus fruits are a great source of Vitamin C.  Vitamin C strengthens your immune system by enhancing the ability of the cells that are responsible for killing germs in the body. It also helps to make a protein called interferon which destroys viruses.
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
2 whole lemons
600ml fizzy water
2 tablespoons of fruit or caster sugar
A pinch of

Method:
Whizz all the ingredients together in a blender then strain through a sieve into a jug. (Don’t be tempted to push the liquid through the sieve as this will make it taste bitter).  Add a little more sugar if required then drink immediately over ice.

 [Related: Are you getting your five a day? Find

Read More »from Top five immune boosting recipes for Winter

Winter's nearly here and with it comes roast dinners, warming soups and cosy nights in with a takeaway in front of the fire.  But be warned, all can have alarmingly high salt levels.  Here, Yahoo! Lifestyle nutritionist Rachael Anne Hill offers some top tips on how much salt is really in your food and how to cut back…..Salt - tasty, but no so good for you

You need salt or sodium in your diet to help maintain the right balance of fluids in your body, to transmit nerve impulses and to relax and contract your muscles. But thanks to over consumption of processed and commercially prepared foods, most of us routinely eat far more than we need.

Excess salt in the diet increases blood volume, which in turn makes your heart work harder to move it all through your blood vessels and this, of course, puts extra pressure on your arteries as well as your kidneys, whose job it is to retain a sodium balance.

Over time too much salt, especially in those who are more sensitive to its

Read More »from The Bitter Sweet Facts About The Salt In Your Diet

Y! Lifestyle's nutrition expert Rachael Anne Hill identifies three kitchen appliances that will make your slimming efforts a whole lot easier

Air fryerAn Air Fryer

Using nothing but super hot air and a grill an airfryer allows you to 'fry' a variety of delicious food with just a fraction of the fat so you can safely tuck into truly authentic, lip smackingly good chips, rissoles, fish cakes and potato wedges without the fear of over doing it on the calories.  Oh, and they also make perfect, crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, 'roast' potatoes in a matter of minutes.

Try the Philips Air Fryer available from Amazon, House of Fraser and other stockists. At approximately £200 it may seem a little pricey but once bought you'll use it more than your oven and can throw that deep fat fryer in the bin.

A slow cooker for sealing in flavourA Slow Cooker

A slow cooker may seem like something only your Granny would have but if you have a tendency to reach for a fat, sugar or salt laden

Read More »from Kitchen Appliances No Slimmer Should Ever Be Without

A low carb diet might not be a healthy oneWhat's the best way to shift the pounds?  Yahoo Lifestyle nutritionist, Rachael Anne Hill explains

First there were only low calorie diets in the war against weight gain.  Then, Atkins and other low carb diets gained popularity and we were taught that we needed to shelve bread, potatoes, pasta, cereals, rice and even fruit if we were to beat the battle of the bulge  - so which is most effective?

Low Carb Diets

Low carbohydrate diets have become very popular over recent years for two reasons - they tend to produce fast results and  they have received a great deal of celebrity endorsement.

The theory behind a low carb diet is to control blood sugar levels.  Carbohydrates are broken down to release sugars into the blood.  If we eat large quantities or carbs or too many fast releasing carbohydrates (such as refined bread, cereals and sugars) it triggers the body to produce more of the sugar controlling hormone, insulin.  The problem with thisRead More »from Low Calorie or Low Carb Diets?