No one can stop you reaching for the biscuits, but there are products that make it easier to control what you eat. Whether calorie-counting or cooking a low-fat meal, these can all make it easier to lose the pounds
HEART RATE MONITOR WITH CALORIE COUNTER
Many heart rate monitors don’t just measure your beats per minute, they also count the calories that you are burning so you know how hard to push yourself to work off that Yorkie. Buy a Polar F11, £99.50 (pictured) Stockists 01926 310330, www.polarelectro.co.uk
JOIN AN ONLINE HEALTH CLUB
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Like the idea of a personal trainer whipping you into shape? Fitbug is an online health club that monitors your fitness via a pedometer that can download information on to your laptop. The site will set you personalised exercise and nutrition targets. You receive regular texts and progress reports by e-mail, and if you still need motivation, you can compete online against friends. Membership costs £9.95 a month and includes the Fitbug gadget. Contact www.fitbug.co.uk
GRILLING MACHINES
Grilling is one of the healthiest ways to cook meat and fish, and special machines make the whole process exceptionally quick and easy. They have channels that allow the fat and grease to run away into a separate tray, and give the food a chargrilled look so that you won’t feel deprived. The George Foreman model fits up to four plump chicken breasts, but you might not want to eat all that at once. Buy a George Foreman Grill, £35 Stockists Debenhams, 08445 616161, www.debenhams.com
CALIBRATED PLATES
Can’t be bothered with all that weighing and measuring? If you buy a specially calibrated plate, you can be sure that you’re not helping yourself to too much food. This plate has been divided up so that the carbohydrate section will hold no more than 4oz, and the protein section will hold no more than 3oz. If you exceed your portion size, the food will spill over the sides and the fear of making a mess should — with luck — override your greed. Buy The Diet Plate, £19.99 Stockists 0870 8506554, www.thedietplate.com
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DIETARY SCALES
Normal kitchen scales are essential for slimmers who like to weigh and measure their food portions. These scales go one better: if you enter in the food “type”, say an apple, it will analyse how much fat, sugar, salt, carbohydrate, protein, fibre and cholesterol it contains. It can also give it a glycaemic index score from a database of 1,440 foods and record your daily food intake. And it can be programmed for two people. Buy the Salter Nutri-Weigh Dietary Scales, £95 Stockists John Lewis; 08456 049049, www.johnlewis.com
CALORIE COUNTER
If you’ve got a head for figures, calorie counting is still one of the easiest ways to improve yours. They come in all shapes and sizes, from pocket calculators to books and websites. This pocket guide contains calorie counts for thousands of foods, including branded snacks, takeaways and ready meals, in case you are tempted to grab something unhealthy on the go. It also lists protein, carbohydrate, fat and fibre contents. Buy the Collins Gem Calorie Counter, £3.99 Stockists All bookshops