The Sirt Diet Cookbook

My worst habit is definitely eating far too much in the evening. This is invariably cheap sweet snacks. I’m not hungry particularly, but my willpower is low and my cravings are high. What do I do to beat this habit? Well the first thing I do is eat a small portion of dark chocolate. I try and eat this slowly and make the treat last as long as possible. I normally find that this fulfils my need for something sweet – although I do have to resist going back to the cupboard for a second helping. If I make it through the evening with only one portion of dark chocolate and nothing else, then I give myself a pat on the back for another diet day achieved successfully.

Here are a few other common bad habits and best advice for breaking the pattern:

• Eating kids’ leftovers

Don’t want to waste those chips? Carefully cutting off the crusts for fussy children, but find they somehow make their way to your mouth without you realising? I think it’s hard for parents to throw good food away and the mind-set is that it is preferable to eat them yourself rather than throw them away. This comes from our fear of waste. But just think you might eat 300 to 400 calories of rubbish without even realising. You need to be on guard and aware of what you might put in your mouth without noticing. Would it really be so bad to throw a few things away? No of course not. Scrape plates straight into the bin when your children have finished and don’t leave yourself open to temptation.

• Unable to turn down biscuits and cakes when offered

This happens more than we care to mention. Someone in your office brings in a delicious cake and says help yourself. Or even worse they say: ‘It’ll go to waste if you don’t help me eat it.’ You’re at a friend’s house and you are offered a biscuit with your cuppa. How do you say no? Surely only one biscuit or a little slice of cake won’t hurt? If this is your biggest weakness then you have to say no. Try not to make a big thing about it. In fact you may find that just saying no with little fuss and just moving on to a different topic may mean that no one really notices. However, you can and should give yourself a big pat on the back because this is one of the hardest things to do.

• Eating too much when you go out to eat

Faced with amazing food in a restaurant, it’s very easy to eat bread roll, starter, huge main course and an enormous pudding. For a very rare treat then just do it! Life is for living after all. But if it’s a habit you do frequently, then one blow-out meal could mean that a whole week of good healthy eating is lost. That is what you have to weigh up. Is it worth it? If you’re trying go out for a meal and still be healthy, then go just for a healthy-ish main course without chips or bread and resist the pudding. If you don’t have too much carbohydrate, sugar or fried food, then it counts as a success – especially if you eat some SIRT-rich foods too – although you need to be aware that you probably won’t lose weight that day.

• Weekend splurge

Are you good all week, but eat and drink like crazy at the weekend? Does willpower go out of the window because the weekend is a time for having fun? If you are good all week but have a blow-out at the weekend, then you will not lose weight. It’s as simple as that. All your hard work during the week is totally lost. Is the pleasure worth the cost? If you need to let your hair down, then choose one aspect to splurge on, but be good on everything else. Want to have a few drinks? Eat a healthy SIRT-rich meal before you start drinking to help resist drink-induced snacking and stick to low-calorie drinks and red wine.

• Biscuit-tin raider

If you’ve got a biscuit tin for your kids or guests, then it can be hard to resist the temptation when you’re feeling run-down. It is impossible to forget that it’s there. Do you really need a full biscuit tin at home? If you’re not due any guests, then maybe empty it all into the bin (this is a job to do in the morning when you’re feeling strong) and buy/make SIRT-rich treats when needed.

Remember you are setting out to fix only your worst habit. This is the one you should focus on breaking. Try to change your mind-set on just the one thing and everything else should fall into place. Every single day that you don’t succumb, give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.

Change two – drink green tea every day

Love it or loathe it, there’s no getting away from it, drinking green tea is an essential part of the SIRT diet.

If you’re already a convert to green tea, then congratulations you’ll already be reaping the benefits of the extraordinary sirtuins found in green tea. You’ll find weight-loss comes more easily, together with a revitalised spirit and glowing skin.

This is for the rest of you. Those of you that think you can follow the SIRT diet without drinking green tea. You simply can’t. Even if you dislike it, you’re going to need to drink it as it is a core part of the diet.

Why is green tea so vital?

Green tea is the only source of one of the most powerful sirtuin bioactives, catechin. Catechins are so potent that only a small quantity, one small cup, triggers fat metabolism and reduces oxidative stress.

• Appetite suppressant

With a cup or two of green tea inside you, you really notice the difference in terms of hunger pangs. You should find that you don’t think about food between meals.

• A little bit of caffeine

A cup of green tea contains about a quarter of the caffeine you’d find in a cup of coffee or half the caffeine you’d find in a cup of black tea. This caffeine is just enough to combine with the catechins to have an even more powerful fat-burning effect. This is the optimum way to convert fat to muscle.

• More energy

Hard to measure but definitely there, the catechins give you a little natural buzz that makes starting the day a smidgeon easier.

• Cumulative effect

The power of green tea keeps on giving and two cups of green tea is better than one cup, three cups is better than two cups, etc. In fact you can get up to four of your SIRT 5 a day from green tea if you drink four or more cups.

• Zero calorie

Green tea is naturally calorie free. It doesn’t need sugar or sweetener and gives you energy without the calories.

To prove to myself the benefits of green tea, I have done a little bit of self-experimentation. I conducted the experiment on two consecutive days. On the first, I drank three cups of green tea, one at breakfast and two mid-morning. I also drank my normal quantities of black tea and coffee so that I didn’t upset my normal caffeine levels. I ate a small (non-SIRT) breakfast of natural yogurt and honey. On the second day, I drank no green tea but had the same builder’s tea and milky coffee and the same breakfast. I was surprised by the difference between the two mornings. The most substantial difference was to my energy levels. I felt noticeably brighter on the green-tea day and was able to get more work done. It felt like a little extra zing in my step, different and discernible from my standard morning caffeine buzz. The second difference was my hunger. I really didn’t feel hungry all morning on the green-tea day and didn’t think about food at all until lunchtime, despite my insubstantial breakfast. On the day when I didn’t drink green tea, I was hungry and my stomach was rumbling before 11am.

This was enough to convert me to drinking green tea, even though I didn’t like it much at first. If you’re feeling brave or don’t quite trust my results, try a little experiment yourself. You won’t believe the difference.

Learning to love green tea

A lot of people say that they really dislike the taste of green tea. I agree it’s not a taste that most people will instantly like – especially if you’ve never tried it before. But a bit of perseverance pays dividends here. The first cup may be horrible, the fourth just doable, the tenth nearly enjoyable and by the second week of regular drinking it should be pleasant and refreshing. I am a total convert now. If you find it truly difficult, start with two cups a day: one before or with breakfast and one mid-morning. Pour a small weak cup of tea and wait for it to cool to easy drinking temperature. Then just drink it quickly like medicine. Treat it like a necessary evil if required, and I promise you it will get easier.

If you find the tea too ‘grassy’ tasting, then try white tea. This is a little bit more expensive but has a cleaner taste. It is still my favourite. You will also notice a difference in brands. If you don’t like one brand, try another as they are all subtly different. If you pay a bit more for a quality brand then you should get a fresher taste. There are also several flavoured green teas that might turn out to be ‘the one’: mint, lemon and jasmine are all common and there are many wonderful-sounding green fruit teas available too. All green and white teas contain the wonderful catechins.

The tea ritual for people that hate tea rituals

Boil the kettle and then leave for 30 seconds to a minute so that it goes ‘off the boil’. Pour over the tea leaves or tea bag. Leave to brew for 2–4 minutes, depending on the brew strength required. Start off with a short brewing time and build up gradually. Loose leaf tea is really tasty but you need a special teapot, so if you’re happy with teabags, stick to them. Also a glass or delicate china cup complements the subtle flavour.

Recycling your teabags (twice) or tea leaves (up to four times) is positively encouraged. The second cup often tastes even nicer than the first. This is also a great way to make your tea go a lot further and be significantly cheaper per cup.

What about my normal tea and coffee?