Getting a trim tum and sleek silhouette isn’t about starving - it’s about eating the right foods. We’ve tracked down five of the best foods to put on your shopping list this spring, so by the time swimsuit season is here you can hit the beach in total confidence.

Before we reveal the foods that will help you lose weight, it’s also important to realise that exercise goes hand in hand with a good eating plan to help you reach a healthy weight.

1. Grapefruit
Remember the grapefruit diet? It’s back on the menu. Adding grapefruit and grapefruit juice to your diet can result in weight loss, a US study claims. On average, participants who ate half a grapefruit with each meal lost 1.6kg over 12 weeks, while those who drank grapefruit juice three times a day lost 1.4kg. Lead researcher Dr Ken Fujioka says: ‘Our study participants maintained their daily eating habits and slightly enhanced their exercise routine; the only dietary change was the intake of grapefruit and grapefruit juice.’ 

2. Calcium-rich foods
Upping your calcium intake, especially if you’re not eating the recommended daily intake (RDI), may help jump-start weight loss, researchers in Canada say. In the Universite Laval study, participants who took calcium tablets lost nearly 6kg over 15 weeks, as compared to 1kg for the control group who took a placebo. ‘Sufficient calcium intake seems to stifle the desire to eat more,’ lead researcher Angelo Tremblay says. For women aged 19 to 50 years, the RDI of calcium is 1000mg a day. Here’s an example of what you need to eat to reach the daily quota:

half a cup of canned salmon (= 402mg of calcium) + one cup of milk, a 200g tub of yoghurt or 200ml of calcium-fortified soy milk (= 300mg of calcium) + a cup of calcium-fortified breakfast cereal (= 200mg of calcium) + two slices of calcium-fortified bread (= 200mg of calcium).

3.  High-fibre fare
Does your diet include healthy servings of wholegrains, fruits, vegies, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds? No? Then it may be time for more high-fibre food sources – not only are they great for your health, but they may also help you to feel fuller for longer and help you resist the urge to snack on naughty treats.   

4.  Green tea
Put the kettle on for a cuppa – but don’t brew any old tea, make it a green tea. Every cup may be helping you lose weight. A number of studies claim drinking four or more cups a day may reduce body fat. It’s believed catechins – antioxidants – in green tea may trigger weight loss by stimulating the body to burn kilojoules and shed fat.

5. Vinegar
Acetic acid, the main ingredient in vinegar, has been found to inhibit the storage of body fat in mice. And, while it’s too early to say for sure if that’s the case for us, vinegar remains a low-kilojoule option as a salad dressing.