If you pile your plate with healthy salad and grilled fish or chicken, you may think you’re on a fast track to weight loss. However, it’s the bits on the side that can trip you up.

A dollop of mayonnaise (about 2 tablespoons) caries around 100 calories. Ketchup is better, but depending on how much you use, you could be adding around 50 calories and a whole lot of sugar to your meals.

Why not make your own dressing from fat-free Greek yoghurt instead? And swap normal ketchup for a reduced sugar variety, or use fresh, sliced tomatoes as a garnish instead.

You can break your bad eating habits one step at a time. Here are simple solutions for the 7 most common bad eating habits.

1. Make a plan and stick to it. Consuming the same simple, locally grown or organic foods week to week will help prevent you from resorting to last-minute fast-food (and unhealthy) meals. Avoid using treats, such as ice cream or other sweets, as a reward for a hard day.
2. Don’t munch on the run. Our brains feel deprived if we aren’t mindful of the food we’re eating. Make a point to eat breakfast and dinner at a table as often as possible. Otherwise, you may end up eating anytime, anyplace – like when you’re lying on the sofa watching TV.
3. Avoid noshing in the car. You can quickly become trained to eat whenever you’re behind the wheel. Plus, it’s harder to keep track of what you’re eating if you’re driving and munching.
4. Have a healthy snack, like fruits and veggies, 30 minutes before you eat a meal. It can take as long as half an hour for fullness signals to travel from the stomach to the brain. The sooner you start eating, the sooner your belly will get the message to your brain that you’ve had enough food.
5. Downsize your dishes. Unless our plates are full, we tend to feel cheated, like we haven’t eaten enough. Try using a side plate instead of a dinner plate to help control those portion sizes.
6. Bust your eating triggers. If watching your favorite reality show triggers a craving for bowlfuls of your favorite snack, give up eating in front of the TV.
7. Exercise, exercise, exercise. It will help you maintain a healthy weight, and it can prevent compulsive eating because, like food, it produces stress relief and a feeling of well-being.

Last month I wrote a blog highlighting the link between fizzy drinks and increased risk of strokes in women.

This month I am the bearer of yet more bad news for these soft drinks. According to new research in America, downing 4 cans of diet fizzy drinks can raise the risk of depression by 30%.

So lighten your mood and find an alternative natural high with a cup of the super-drink that is green tea.