Foods you really should cut from your diet

1.Fried food - I love my fried chicken and don't even get me started on fried plantain, but fried foods are not your friend. Grill bake or boil instead.

2.Fat free salad dressing- so you decide to replace your daily swallow with salad so you can lose your spare tyre and you go to shop rite and buy fat free salad dressing, what could go wrong? Well you know that fat free salad dressing even though it has had all the fat removed, they have also added a lot of artificial sugars and additives to improve the taste. If you must use it just use a tiny bit.

3.Red meat - I am My father's daughter, my dad can eat a whole cow on his and I take after him as I really love my red meat, but WHO recently found red meat to be a potential carcinogen (I.e. cancer causing agent) linked to colorectal, prostate and pancreatic cancer. Go for fish, chicken or turkey instead.

4.Processed meat - eg bacon, sausages and hot dogs. This is another one linked to cancer. I was quite upset when I found this out because sausage and hot dogs are a working mum’s friend because they take 5 minutes to prepare. They are brilliant when pressed for time, which is pretty much every time for me, and you need to make a meal for the children. Ones that have been cured, salted, smoked or preserved can increase the risk of colon cancer. So I guess I have to find a healthy alternative that is just as quick to make. (I’m open to any suggestions)

Yoghurt

5.Yoghurt with fruit at the bottom. The syrup in the fruit contains loads of sugar. Go for yoghurt with the fruit on the side so you have better control of how much sugar you eat.

6.Soy sauce - This goes so well with basmati rice. I use it to make special fried rice, Chinese styl, and it brings my rice to life but it contains tons of sodium which is not friendly to your heart. Opt for the low sodium sauce and then just use a little bit.

7.Protein bars. They are great after a workout but not only do they make your poo and fart smell really really bad they contain lots of sugar, most of the ingredients in them are unrecognisable and they contain a lot more protein than the body actually needs. Opt for a chocolate milk drink which will contain just the right amount of protein that your body needs.

8.Sugary cereal. Eg Frosties and other sugar coated cereals. Opt for plain cornflakes rather than sugar coated one or better still oatmeal.

9.Fruit Juice – I always thought a glass of juice was a must for a healthy breakfast but if you take the juice alone, you take in the sugar and vitamins but none of the fibre which slows down the absorption of sugar. This means that the sugar is absorbed too quickly and within a short period you will start to feel hungry again. This explains the reason why by 10am my belly is rumbling and I start raiding our biscuit corner at work even though I had a supposedly “healthy breakfast” at 8:30am