Fruit and vegetables are an important part of a healthy diet

A simple lifestyle change to your diet can help to reduce the risk of having a stroke.

If you don't fancy going on a diet plan but still want to lose weight, take a look at the No Diet diet.

Rosemary Conley, health and fitness expert, has come up with a solution to shedding those extra pounds by just following a few simple rules.

Here are the DOs

• Do eat 3 moderate-sized meals a day, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  Watch the amount of you drink

• Do limit your alcohol consumption to 3 units of alcohol per day.
• Do look at the nutritional labels on food. Only buy products that contain 4 grams or less of fat per 100 grams (4% fat).
• Do increase your activity levels. Use the stairs more, walk further and more often. Try the walking programme and the fat burner workout.
• Do cut out all visible fat from your diet. That includes butter, margarine, oils and mayonnaise.
• Do eat a desert if you want to. Just select a low-fat (max. 4% fat) pudding.

  Vegetables help to bulk up your main meal

• Do eat enough at mealtimes to fill you up. Vegetables are great fillers with your main meal.
• Do eat 3 pieces of fruit per day.
• Do drink 300ml (1/2 pint) of semi- skimmed milk each day, this can be in your hot drinks and on your cereal.
• Do drink as much water as possible. Diet drinks are also unrestricted.
• Do continue to dine out, but avoid anything fried, coated in breadcrumbs or batter or cooked in pastry.

  Eating out at a restaurant - beware of the pitfalls!

  Choose a jacket potato or boiled potato in preference to chips. Ask for your food to be cooked without fat and have fat-free dressings.
• Do choose soup as a starter as it is a good filler. Avoid creamy soups and forget the bread roll.
• Do weigh yourself and measure your waist every week at the same time of day, under the same conditions. Wear the same and use the same scales. Keep a record of your progress.
• Do balance the effects of a sumptuous meal out by taking extra exercise the next day.
• Do cook and serve all food without adding fat.
  

And the DON'Ts

• Don't nibble between meals.

  Avoid the sweet counter to keep your waistline trim

• Don't buy any chocolate or sweets.
• Don't save up your daily alcohol allowance and drink it in one go.
• Don't skip meals.
• Don't eat just one massive meal a day.
• Don't eat biscuits, cakes, pastries - in fact anything with more than 4% fat content, except oily fish.

The weight loss will not be as fast as following a set diet.