The best summer diet plan of all involves a simple, basic, easy to follow program.

The more complicated you make your summer diet plans the harder you’ll find them to stick to.

So first off let’s throw the calorie counting out of the window and instead just think of “portions”.

A “portion” is an amount equivalent to your fist. A portion of pasta, if stuck together, would be the same size as your fist. A portion of broccoli is… that’s right - enough that if bunched together would be the same size as your fist.

Much easier to keep tabs on.

Now first off I should say that I know this may not sound like much.

But you’ll be surprised how quickly you get used to eating smaller meals than before. And it won’t be painful for a reason I’ll explain fully in just a few minutes.

But first - in general your summer diet plan should include a portion of protein and a portion of carbohydrates per meal, with plenty of fruit and vegetables thrown in for good measure to get a reasonable number of vitamins and minerals into your body on a daily basis.

Fluids should ideally consist primarily of plain water but I for one find plain water incredibly dull so more often than not use a 50/50 mix of fruit juice and water which gives me some flavor but doesn’t overdose me too much on calories.

I have found that I am able to lose weight whilst drinking this mix, but would no doubt have had even faster results if I had stuck to plain water (though there are some compromises even I’m not willing to make!).

Notice how each meal contains no real fat.

Many people will find this obvious. Others will mention that *some* fats are good for you so you need it in your diet.

That’s true, but you only need these essential fats in small portions which you’re likely to get naturally such as by eating oily fish for some of your protein intake or some salad dressings so it’s really not worth fretting over - you’ll get what you need without supplementing yourself at all.

The other thing you can do (besides exercising regularly - suggestions elsewhere on this site) is to eat numerous small meals rather than 2 or 3 huge meals per day.

Here’s why…

When you eat food two things happen. Firstly your body uses energy already present in your system to break down the food into a useable form.

Secondly as the food is broken down your body becomes flooded with energy. If a small amount is available it is used up in everyday activities. If a large amount is present then much of this will likely be stored as fat for future access.

So when you eat several smaller meals each day your body will more regularly have to use energy already in your body to digest the meals and there will be less “waste” energy that your body can store as fat.

So I suggest you eat six small meals a day rather than just a few large ones.

This means the smaller portion size won’t matter because within a few hours you’ll be eating again so you won’t notice a significant difference.

In essence you can can therefore eat plenty to satisfy your appetite and so long as you’re eating suitable foods in suitable quantities you’ll lose weight.

This tip alone is worth your time visiting this site. In the past I have worked shifts that have resulted in very early starts (no breakfast) or late finishes (late dinner) or being so busy I didn’t stop for a proper lunch.

A typical day’s food consisted of no breakfast (through lack of time), some junk food for lunch (chips, chocolate etc.) with plenty of coffee and cola to keep me going then a huge dinner when I got home - just before bed.

Now I grab breakfast every morning (something quick and simple like cereal with skim milk), have a meal replacement drink mid morning, an egg sandwich on brown bread with orange juice for lunch, another meal replacement drink mid afternoon (by this time I’ve already had 4 of my 6 meals without effort).

Then when I get home I have a snack - maybe cereal again or a ham sandwich - and then finally one more meal around 9pm.

And that’s my summer diet plan that works wonders and virtually forces you to lose weight. Easy!