This is the diet plan that will help you lose half a kilo per week in the run up to Xmas, according to leading nutritionist in Spain

A TOP nutritionist has come up with a pre-Xmas diet plan to lose weight coupled with some exercise.

Esther Montoliu has been advising on healthy eating in Spain for over a decade to reverse people getting conditions like diabetes due to a bad diet.

She’s produced an ‘express diet’ ahead of the holiday season.

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“The best thing to do is to start as soon as possible and by following my recommendations, you lose between half a kilo and one kilo a week, depending on your fitness and the amount of physical exercise you do,” said Montoliu.

“It is a very simple plan, with seasonal, autumnal foods, which we can find in any supermarket,” she added.

“It will allow us to stay more or less at the right weight despite the company dinners and special meals over Christmas.”

In good news, Esther Montoliu said it is not about following a strict diet with loads of restrictions because that’s counterproductive and will result in binge eating once somebody comes off it.

It even includes items like chocolate, nuts, full-fat natural yogurt and even peanut butter.

Montoliu says it is crucial to avoid inappropriate snacking between meals and her concept involves food education which avoids the temptation to eat the likes of biscuits during he day.

“It is all about quantity and quality where half a plate should be made up of vegetables; 25% quality proteins; and the rest are carbohydrates- preferable if they are the likes of pasta and brown rice.”

Recommendations for a health kitchen pantry ahead of Christmas includes legumes, quality meat and fish, rice and wholemeal or legume pasta.

“ Fresh fruits and vegetables should be there and dairy products if we like milk or vegetable drinks, roasted or natural nuts, such as almonds, and seeds as well cheeses to get calcium, which is essential for women,” said Montoliu.

Her diet schedule is as follows:

Monday

• Breakfast. Coffee with milk, 100% whole wheat toast with Serrano ham and tomato.
• Snack. Fruit plus a handful of nuts.
• Food. Sea bream with onion, carrot, zucchini and baked potato.
• Snack. Seasonal fruit.
• Dinner. Cream of broccoli with cheese plus chicken skewers with vegetables.

Tuesday

• Breakfast. Coffee with milk, 100% whole wheat toast with fresh cheese and tomato.
• Snack. Seasonal fruit.
• Food. Sautéed chickpeas with leek, spinach and green beans.
• Snack. Full-fat plain yogurt.
• Dinner. Tomato, cucumber, onion and green pepper salad with lemon and cilantro dressing, plus scrambled eggs with mushrooms, onion and carrot with rice garnish.

Wednesday

• Breakfast. Latte, 100% whole wheat toast with peanut butter and 85% chocolate
• Snack. Full-fat plain yogurt plus fruit.
• Food. Grilled squid with garlic and parsley plus ratatouille garnish with brown rice.
• Snack. Fruit plus a handful of nuts.
• Dinner. Whole grain chicken/turkey/soy fajita textured with julienned vegetables (pepper, onion, zucchini).

Thursday

• Breakfast. Coffee with milk, 100% whole wheat toast with turkey.
• Snack. Rice pancakes plus extra turkey/ham.
• Food. Lentil stew with curried vegetables.
• Snack. Full-fat plain yogurt.
• Dinner. Tomato minced meat, comb and spring onion plus cauliflower omelette with cheese.

Friday

• Breakfast. Coffee with milk, vegetable yogurt, fruit, nuts + seeds.
• Snack. Seasonal fruit.
• Food. Pasta with salmon and stir-fry of mushrooms, onion and broccoli.
• Snack. Nuts plus 85% ounce of chocolate.
• Dinner. Chicken thighs with papillote with sweet potato, zucchini and eggplant.

Saturday

• Breakfast. Oatmeal porridge plus nuts and dried fruit
• Snack. Whole natural yogurt plus 85% ounce of chocolate.
• Food. Marinera bean stew with vegetables
• Snack. Seasonal fruit.
• Dinner. Prawn wok with rice noodles, peppers, onion and soy sauce.

Sunday

• Breakfast. Coffee with milk, banana pancakes and oatmeal plus 85% melted chocolate.
• Snack. Rice pancakes plus extra turkey/York ham.
• Food. Vegetable and chicken paella.
• Snack. Chestnuts.
• Dinner. Potato omelettes plus grilled vegetables to taste.