The best diet tips online

If you’re reading this, you obviously spend time online, and if you spend time online, you won’t have been able to miss the constant adverts telling you to ‘click here for the ultimate simple trick for losing belly fat’, or words to that effect.

Not wanting to spend the next six months being inundated with random flashing pop-ups telling me I’ve won stuff, until I eventually give up and buy a new computer just to get rid of them, I haven’t clicked on any of these links. However, as an apple shape, I am always on the lookout for tried and tested ways to reduce my middle. I went looking for the best diet tips online.

Spurred on by the idea that there is a ‘secret belly-busting trick’ out there, I did an online search of more reputable sources and found, on WebMD, some evidence supporting a role for a calorie-controlled diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean protein and, most importantly, whole grains and monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAS), which are found in avocados, nuts, seeds, olives, soybeans, chocolate, olive and canola oils.

I also came across several sources that second the benefits of flaxseeds and whole grains, as well as advocating red and blue berries, and yoghurt. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a belly-busting breakfast smoothie if you ask me!

Other sites talk about super-foods such as broccoli, spinach and tomatoes, and super-drinks such as green tea and plain old water.

In essence, part of the ‘secret’ seems to be what we have always known as a ‘healthy, balanced diet’!

However, what we have also always known deep down is the next thing that WebMD tells us, which is that diet is only half the story: exercising for at least an hour a day is a key part of trimming down that spare tyre.

Aerobic exercise such as circuit or interval training for cardiovascular fitness and fat burning is essential of course, but so too is strength or resistance training to build muscle, tone and increase your metabolism for continued fat burning.

So, a healthy, balanced diet with a few extra oats, seeds and berries thrown in for good measure, plenty of water, and some good old fashioned exercise seems to be the ‘secret’ – no pop-ups required!