Aaaah what a shame, the holiday season is over ? always so much fun, but oh no! So much guilt afterwards!

It seems that most of us have a serious case of January blues ? it?s hard to go back to work, especially when your entire wardrobe seems to have shrunk in the wash. So your clothes are tighter (but let?s face it, you just ate too much), you feel sluggish and tired and even now, it?s still hard to eat properly because there are all those Christmas chocolates to be finished after all!

You are going to the gym, but so is everyone else and trying to get on a treadmill at 5.30 is an absolute nightmare - so you spend most of your time catching up on gossip instead.

And anyway, what?s the point? Because this time next year, you?ll just be back where you started, right? Well, no!

The yo-yo dieting that?s associated with firstly, the New Year and secondly, the onset of Swimwear Season, isn?t necessarily the way it has to be.

The reason why diets consistently fail is because they are often unsustainable.

Nobody wants to be on a diet and very few of us can hold out for long without our favourite things ? so ironically, one of the most popular concepts of modern times is often doomed to failure.

But before you lose heart, let me reassure you that there is a way round this!

If you want to lose your excess weight forever, the most crucial thing is to understand that there must be a fundamental shift in your approach to food.

The most successful and consistent weight loss stories come not from those who have cut out carbs, sugar or alcohol entirely, but from those who have just eaten the right balance of natural whole-foods instead.

If you cut out processed, salty, sugary and fat-laden foods, you?ll automatically cut back on calories. By eating complex carbohydrates, quality protein, fruit, vegetables and good fats you?ll help to speed up your metabolism, boost your immune system, improve your digestion and lift your spirits.

The beauty of this approach is that if you eat healthily for the majority of the time, you can go ahead and enjoy ice cream, chocolate, chips ? whatever it is that you crave ? once or twice a week. So instead of banning certain foods for weeks or months at a time, lets focus on simply replacing unnatural, processed foods with natural, wholefoods instead.

I?m breaking this down into three sections over three weeks to make it more manageable.

Essentially, from a dietary perspective, there are three major steps to lifelong weight management: blood sugar balance, replacing bad fats with good fats and maximising digestive health. Exercise and stress management are also critical, but I will have to leave you to your own devices there! (However, you should be able to get advice on both from your doctor, gym or worksite wellness programme.)

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So did you know that there are four teaspoons of sugar in a fruit yogurt? Nine teaspoons in a can of Cola? 2 ? teaspoons per serving of jam?

Glucose, sucrose, maltose, dextrose, fructose, maltodextrose, glucose, lactose, cane sugar, corn syrup, inverted sugar and hydrolyzed starch ? are all forms of sugar.

It?s hidden everywhere! In bread, tinned tomatoes, sauces, cereals, bacon. Check some food labels and see how many forms of sugar are in the foods that you eat. Well here?s the bigger picture. Yes we all know that eating fatty food contributes to weight gain, but so does sugar ? because excess sugar in the blood, gets stored in the body as fat.

This is why some low-fat options are not always as healthy as they seem. When food manufacturers take out fat, they often boost the taste by adding sugar ? some brands of low-fat yogurt or cream cheese are a perfect example of this.

In this way, low fat foods that contain sugar can still cause weight gain. Excess sugar can also cause your blood sugar levels to fluctuate wildly during the day. Fluctuating, imbalanced, blood sugar can contribute to diabetes and complicate its management, but it also has other symptoms.

Check the table ? how many symptoms of blood sugar imbalance do you have? The good news is that there are so many ways to improve blood sugar balance and the key is to understand how quickly carbohydrates break down into glucose in the body.

All digestible carbohydrates do break down to glucose (sugar) in the body. We need this glucose; it provides us with energy for our body and brain.

However, some carbs release their glucose too quickly and cause imbalance ? this excess of sugar in the blood is often followed by a big dip as the body struggles to regulate itself.

Fast-releasing carbs are those that are clearly sugary, or those that have been processed or refined e.g. sugar, candy, cookies, cornflakes and white bread.

Slow-releasing carbs provide energy over a more sustained period of time and don?t cause such imbalance ? they include more natural, wholefoods e.g. fruit, vegetables, wholemeal bread and pasta, wholegrain cereals and brown rice.

However, you don?t just need to focus on the sugar you are eating ? but also on the sugar that you are .

All the measurements in the ?how much sugar are you drinking?? table refer to one bottle or carton of the product.

When you look at carbs ?of which sugars? on a product, be careful. In order to make the sugar content less apparent, some manufacturers list the nutritional information in terms of a serving size.

So when you look at a Tropicana Twister, the sugar content per serving isn?t shocking.

But when you consider that each bottle contains 2.5 servings ? and that this translates into seventeen and a half teaspoons of sugar, it is shocking isn?t it?

Because let?s be realistic, very few people drink half a bottle of a drink and then leave the rest for another day.

What is quite confusing to some people is that by the time you factor in serving size, fruit juice can be just as sugary as a Welch?s or Tropicana product.

Unfortunately this is true ? and if you want a fruit drink, it?s best to make a smoothie out of whole fruits as the fibre content helps to slow the release of sugar into the bloodstream.

However, when faced with the choice between fruit juice or a juice-type drink with added corn syrup, then fruit juice would always be the better option.

And when you do drink it, have a small serving and preferably dilute it to reduce the sugar content.

So this week, let?s focus on learning how to balance blood sugar.

Try following these simple steps:

1.Swap fast-releasing carbohydrates for slow-releasing carbohydrates Fast releasing: Sugar, candy, cookies, cornflakes, jam, jello, sodas, white bread, white rice, white pasta, croissants, crackers, pastry and chips.

Slow releasing: fruit, vegetables, wholemeal bread and pasta, wholegrain cereals and bread, ryvita, wholegrain oats, sugar-free museli, beans, lentils, sweet potatoes and brown/red/wild rice.

2. Replace processed sugary snacks with naturally healthy snacks.

A healthy mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack helps to balance blood sugar. Adding protein to the snack (e.g. nuts) helps to further steady energy release.

natural (plain) yogurt with berries, kiwi or grated apple

Sticks of pepper, carrot, celery or wholegrain toast with hummus

An apple or pear with a small handful of unroasted/unsalted almonds or brazils ?Ryvita, oatcakes or wholegrain crispbread with cottage cheese

Raisins and pumpkin or sunflower seeds

? avocado with lemon juice, black pepper and hummus

? grapefruit with a small handful unroasted/unsalted cashews or pecans

When you do have an irresistible craving for something sweet try a Luna Bar (Down to Earth, Miles, Lindos) which is lower in sugar than a candy bar and contains fibre and protein to balance blood sugar.

Chocoholics should try just having one or two squares of quality dark chocolate (with a cocoa content of 70 percent or more), instead of a whole candy bar.

3. Replace sodas and cordial with diluted fruit juice

Try diluting fruit juice with sparkling water or soda water. Fizzy and refreshing! 4. Avoid coffee, tea, cola and cigarettes These are all stimulants that interfere with blood sugar balance.

Try replacing some of your coffee, tea and cola with glasses of water, or naturally caffeine free herbal teas. Consider cutting down, or giving up smoking.

5. Be a label detective Look carefully at the foods you are buying and avoid those with added sugar or forms of sugar such as corn syrup and dextrose.

Dizzy or irritable after a few hours without food

Drowsy or need for excessive sleep

Excessive thirst

?Addicted? to sweet foods or carbohydrates

Headaches

Fatigue

Reliance on caffeine

Poor concentration

Slow to wake up

Avoid exercise due to tiredness

Hormone imbalances

Weight gain ? especially round the waist