I've never exercised. I've never been consistent with my dieting attempts. How do I now lose weight at middle age? Is it too late. I've no interest anymore in starvation & exhaustion!

It would appear at the moment that to be healthy means you need to have a six-pack, eat ‘clean’, meal prep pretty weekly meals and in a nutshell, dedicate your life to the pursuit of fabulousness. In this pretend world of pretty & impossible, we have lost the key message that is “moderation in all things, even in moderation”. We need to stop chasing some version of perfection and start progressing towards the unsexy, undervalued, middle ground!

This is where health lives, where balance lives and where you can live, well & healthy, in the real world.

You can drink wine & lose weight

Moderate alcohol consumption (as per the Mediterranean Diet philosophy) can be part of a balanced diet. Healthy living can include a glass of wine at mealtime every day of the week. This does not mean that drinking lots on a Friday after work or bingeing at a party is good for health. It is not. But moderation here is, on a population basis, associated (not in isolation) with a healthy lifestyle. This lifestyle includes daily activity, social engagement, lots of beans, vegetables and olive oil. A moderate caloric intake and, in essence, a moderate lifestyle. But one that sounds very pleasant indeed.

You can eat dessert and lose weight

Having something sweet at the end of a meal is very appropriate, when you fancy it. Dessert does not need to include either Ben, or Jerry! It can be a little sliver of chocolate or lemon torte. It can be poached pear with mascarpone cream (yum). It can even be a cheap shop-bought chocolate concoction (as long as it is small). Because your meal will have included protein, carbohydrate, fat and fibre, the sugar from dessert will be slowly released into your bloodstream and so not lead to glucose-spikes or cravings.

When eating moderately, you can look forward to including some dessert as many days as fit with your fat-loss plan.

You can choose not to wear leisurewear and lose weight

I love the gym. But then, I’ve been frequenting the gym for thirty years, so it represents space for me in my day. I find it calming. If you hate the gym, great. Do not go! Do not buy gym-gear. Many Italians, French & Spanish, for instance, simply have the very moderate habit (consistently) of walking to and from work/public transport, after dinner, with friends for a chat. Hopping in and out of taxis is not de rigour! Leisure gear is not normalised on the streets of big cities in mainland Europe and yet people tend to exercise moderately over the course of their every day.

Dieting is hard. Dieting tends to be short-lived. Health is a more appropriate goal. Aim to develop a healthy lifestyle. Be patient. Pursue health for the sake of health, through moderation…..

and you can live a lovely life and become a healthy weight!