Simon Lovell - The Lunch Box Diet - Eat all day, lose weight, feel great. Lose up to a stone in 4 weeks.

The idea is that you will eat a few mouthfuls from your box every hour or so – never to the point thatyou’re full, only until you’re satisfied. This is what grazing is. Your brain takes around 20 to 30 minutes to catch up with your stomach so take a few bites and if in 20 to 30 minutes you’re still hungry, take a few more bites. Yep, it’s as easy as that.

You’ll learn quickly that you can be easily satisfied on less when you graze because you’re constantly refuelling the body. Your stomach will adjust to less food just as it does the opposite when we overeat. When you pig out at a meal you stretch the stomach, making it more difficult to feel satisfied at the next meal, and you’re left on the sofa feeling tired and bloated. Yep, it’s that vicious cycle again, which you will now break!

Grazing does the exact opposite, super-fast, leaving you brimming with energy. What this means is that over time, you can reduce the size of your lunch box as you’ll need less to feel satisfied. I never want you to feel hungry – that’s the main thing; but if you are regularly having trouble finishing your box, just cut down the contents. It’s as easy as that!

There are three groups that you will be choosing from:

Group A: Vegetables – 45-60 per cent of your box by volume

Group B: Lean Protein – 15-30 per cent of your box by volume

Group C: Sauce – 10 per cent of your box by volume

And as an optional extra ONLY if you have high activity levels or diabetes:

Group D: Active Carbs System – 0-30 per cent quantity depends on energy requirements

As you can see, your largest portion of the box is comprised of vegetables. You’ll be choosing five veggies from the Group A list. The key here is to be colourful. You’re most likely to create the perfect combination of nutrients when you choose a rainbow of vegetables because different colours indicate that they contain different kinds of the nutrients known as phytochemicals.

45-60% Pick 5

I encourage you to use the guide below to wean your way to liking vegetables – your key to a healthier lifestyle. Pick the option that applies to you.

You love vegetables so much that you could have been one in your previous life.

Fantastic! You can use the Lunch Box Diet up to seven days a week if you wish.

You’re a fan of vegetables, but like to be naughty sometimes.

No problem. Use the diet in your working week and take a couple of days off at weekends to reward yourself.

I don’t mind vegetables but I prefer other foods.

Okay, so bring the diet into your life three days a week and increase that once you begin to feel the benefits.

Vegetables? Sure! I love ketchup and lettuce on my burger!

You should have a lunch box once a week to begin with and try adding another day every couple of weeks to gradually educate your digestive system and taste buds.

Whenever you can, use fresh, raw, organic vegetables. For the ones that need to be cooked, you can steam, grill, oven bake or microwave them. Please don’t torture your veggies by boiling the life and the nutrients out of them and don’t add oil or butter when preparing them. You’ll be adding flavour to your box later, so be patient!

Now, you might be thinking ‘I’m not a rabbit, Simon! I can’t possibly eat all those weeds and things!’ No worries! If your taste buds are used to greasy, calorie-laden foods like pizza, bacon and eggs, cakes and sweets, you’ll have a bit of adjustment to make. All that sugar, sodium and saturated fat does indeed taste good but what’s the price? Your belly, bum and thighs. Not to mention clogged arteries, diabetes, high blood pressure, bad skin and hair…the list goes on and on.

Individual tastes vary from person to person, partly due to our genetic make-up and partly because of the tastes we are introduced to as very young children. Some people might be under-tasters and some may be super-tasters. This has to do with the number of taste buds per square centimetre on your tongue. Under-tasters with fewer taste buds tend to pile on the sugar and go heavy with salt. Vegetables taste bland for these folks. On the other hand, super-tasters with a lot of taste buds might find some veggies overwhelmingly bitter.

It’s not hard to retrain your taste buds and get to know your vegetables (check out my bite-sized tips). Truth is, if you don’t, I can safely say you’ll continue to have weight issues and be unhealthy as well. Fact of the matter is, we weren’t put on this earth to eat crisps and chocolate bars. Ask yourself, did Mother Nature grow it that way? We were provided with certain basic foods that are good for us in their natural state. By eating naturally, we’re giving ourselves what we need. If you don’t like vegetables it’s because you’ve been eating rubbish for so long that you’ve got used to it. But if you want to be vibrant, sexy, full of energy and taut around the stomach then you will need to acquire a taste for vegetables at some point.

15-30% Pick 1

Here’s where you’ll be getting your staying power. Protein takes longer to digest than carbohydrates and therefore leaves you feeling satisfied longer. Pick one type of protein source for each lunch box.

Choose quality meat and avoid the pre-packaged stuff that is mostly fillers and water and is poor in nutritional value. Although better-quality meats cost a bit more, you’ll quickly realise that you need less of them to satisfy you. I also advocate buying organic if you can afford it (see page 80 for the reasons why) but it’s not imperative.

Beef

Lean cuts: sirloin, rump steak, topside, silverside

Lamb

Shoulder, rack or cutlets

Fish

Oily fish: salmon, sardines, herring, mackerel, trout, tuna White fish: sole, haddock, cod, sea bass, sea bream, skate

Shellfish

Prawns, shrimp, crab, lobster, mussels, cockles, scallops, oysters

Poultry

White meat: chicken or turkey breast

Pork

Pork and lean cuts of ham

Dairy

Eggs

Plant sources

Tofu, chickpeas, beans, seeds and nuts

Proteins can be pricy, so here are the ones with the best nutritional bang for your buck:

Eggs

Beans(aduki, blackeye, borlotti, flageolet, haricot, red kidney)

Chickpeas

Lentils

Tinned fish(sardines, pilchards, mackerel, salmon, tuna)

Turkey breast

10%

Sprinkle a dressing into your box after adding vegetables and protein, to bring it alive. I like hot sauces, herbs and black pepper – make your own or buy them (see page 91), but read the labels for added sugar and E numbers. Don’t worry about the calories since you’re only sprinkling or drizzling.