The Perfect Day of Eating

by Lauren Gelman

Control weight and boost energy with hour-by-hour tips

Raise your hand if you wish a nutritionist would tell you exactly what and when to eat in order to look and feel great all day long. Yeah, we thought so. That's why we tapped three experts who counsel real women on the simple secrets of smarter meal planning.

Here’s what they told us: 1) Have a meal or small snack every 3 to 4 hours. Doing so fuels your metabolism and helps prevent binges and blood-sugar crashes. 2) Combine protein (meat, fish, beans, nuts, eggs, dairy) and fibre (wholegrains, fruits, vegetables) at every meal. When eaten together, these foods take longer to digest than simpler carbohydrates, so you stay fuller, longer. 3) Get up, move around and drink water often. This daily meal plan ranges from 6490 to 8790 kilojoules; if you're active, you can go towards the higher end of the range. Use our Daily Kilojoule Calculator to see how many you need based on your age, weight and activity level.

Finally, remember that even the 'perfect day' isn't perfect if you eat the same thing over and over again. Use the principles outlined here to mix and match your own delicious, healthy meals.

To find out how to start the morning right click here