Health tip of the day: Lay off the guilt

Starting new lifestyle regimes, particularly when it comes to eating healthier, can result in a few slips ups. Sometimes you can’t help but give into the cravings for that bar of chocolate, glass of wine or cheese-laden meal, despite your best intentions.

What’s important isn’t whether you’ve fallen off the wagon, but in how you respond. While indulging once isn’t an excuse to continue doing so for the rest of the day, you shouldn’t feel guilty for having eaten whatever it is.

“You don’t want guilt around food either because that leads to more psychological problems than anything else,” says Niamh Fitzgerald, personal trainer and owner of Lift Training Studios in Dublin.

Livestrong say it takes 3500 calories to gain a pound so a treat or a cheat meal won’t put you over the edge on the scales, and feeling bad about slipping up will only take any good you got out of eating it away. Accept it, and move on.