Your Five Food Commandments

-Go Easy on the Salt. Sodium makes water retention worse, so cut back on salt both at the table and while in the kitchen.  Avoid ready meals, cheese, dried meat and sparkling drinks, as they all contain added salt.
-Eat Plenty of Protein. Protein helps your body replace fat with muscle and aids drainage.  Build protein into every meal, in the form of eggs, poultry, lean meat, fish and low-fat yoghurts and cheese, making sure that you limit the fat you use in cooking, by baking, grilling, steaming or dry-frying when you can.
-Hydrate Yourself. Water is essential for flushing the toxins out of your system.  Drink a minimum of 1.5l of water throughout the day, or tea, tisanes, soups and unsweetened drinks.  Water is best, however.
-Choose Fruit Over Vegetables. Rich in mineral salts, eating too many vegetables will make water retention worse.  Go for fruit, which contains a lot of water, vitamins, fibre and natural sugar.
-Limit Your Sugar Intake. There’s nothing like sugar for making you put on weight!  Clear your cupboards of sweets, cakes, sweetened yoghurts and other dairy products, and ice cream.  Choose carbohydrates for slow-release energy, with bread, pasta, cereal, dried vegetables and potatoes, which will provide your body with energy to burn