SARAH DI LORENZO: With Summer around the corner, here’s the best diet to get you to your healthy goal

With Summer just around the corner many of us are thinking more about getting to our health goals and a healthy weight to feel our best selves. I certainly see this in my clinic with an influx of patients around Spring time wanting to feel and look their best for the warmer months.

The most common health goal by far I see at this time of year is to get to a healthy weight, but also a weight where many can feel comfortable to wear swimwear, board shorts or strappy summer dresses.

When chatting in my clinic I also like to point out to my patients to think about getting to a healthy weight as benefiting your overall health, not just an aesthetic.

Weight loss means lowering your risk of diseases as well such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, obesity and inflammation. When people are at a healthy weight, they really do feel the benefits with more energy, better mood, better sleep, more confidence and a positive lease on life.

In my opinion the best way to get to a healthy goal weight is with a holistic approach and to focus on fat loss only in the weight loss journey. The only way to do this is to go on a diet that will put you into ketosis, where the body uses its fat stores up.

I strongly believe in this method as many other weight loss programs will cause you to lose muscle, water and fat - and muscle is incredibly important for our overall health, including longevity and mental health.

When I mention ketosis to people they think of the classic keto diet where you lived on just fat and protein with around two per cent carbs. That diet would be bacon, eggs and avocado for breakfast, a butter chicken for lunch and some more protein for dinner with a creamy buttery sauce. Many keto devotees would also add coconut oil or butter to their daily coffee. This is far from what I would suggest to get to a healthy goal weight.

The best plan is one that includes all food groups, carefully designed to still put the body into a ketogenic state. So you are still having fruit, vegetables, protein, fat and a very small amount of carbs and a healthy relationship with food.

The focus of the menu plan is high lean protein and low carbohydrate fruit and vegetables. Snacking is where you can also accelerate the nutritional profile of the day by including nuts mid-morning and high-fibre low-calorie fruit such as berries.

A high protein intake is important, given that protein helps to keep you full.

An example day on a plate would look like a breakfast poached or boiled eggs for breakfast with spinach, tomato and quarter of an avocado.

Mid-morning would be thirty grams of a high-protein snack, so nuts such as almonds.

Lunch would be around a palm-sized portion of chicken or tuna with two cups of salad or vegetables.

Mid-afternoon would involve a protein bar or nuts with half a cup of berries and dinner would again be a palm-sized portion of protein with one and a half cups of salad or vegetables.

Salad and vegetables to avoid in the program are ones with bright colours such as banana, mango, potato, sweet potato and peaches.

Lean towards dark coloured fruit and vegetables, this is my easy tip. Dress your salads with apple cider vinegar or lemon juice and olive oil. Another tip - add fresh herbs to all meals to accelerate the nutritional profile.

Essential to the journey is exercise - that means a cardiovascular workout at a minimum of four times a week, sleeping well, getting on top of stress, boredom and emotional eating as well staying hydrated. Other key tips are to minimise or ideally avoid alcohol and focus on a positive mindset.

The key to success is preparation, do your shopping, plan your week ahead, take the journey day by day. If you fall off the program just get straight back on.

Procrastination is pointless as the best time to start is now, it’s worth it and a gift to yourself.