The 9 fat TRAPS lurking in your kitchen – and the healthy swaps to help you hit your weight loss goals

YOU’VE overhauled your diet and started exercising, yet you are still not losing weight.

It’s a familiar predicament, and one many of us face as we approach shorts season.

While eating well and being active are important when trying to lose weight, they are not the only things to consider.

Experts say there are several sneaky saboteurs that can destroy your chances of being slim for summer.

These are nine of the worst . . . 

NEXT time you are making dinner, be mindful of how much you eat as you go.

A spoonful of sauce here, a handful of cheese there, you might not realise how many calories you are consuming, and that is before you have even had your meal.

Dr Aileen Alexander, an NHS GP and founder of Nourish weight-loss coaching, tells Sun on Sunday Health: “We often don’t start cooking until we’re hungry.

“Whether it’s a slice of cheese (100 calories) or a piece of buttered toast (200 calories), the calories can quickly mount.”

Try to have a dedicated dinner time and set an alarm to begin cooking before then.

“You can also plan a high-protein afternoon snack, such as Greek yoghurt, to stop you becoming over-hungry,” Dr Alexander says.

“If you must snack when you cook, grab peppers or carrot sticks.”

A COFFEE can’t pack in that many calories, can it?

Well, it depends what you go for. While a cup of black coffee contains only two to five, your go-to high street order will be considerably more.

A Starbucks grande caramel frappuccino, for example, contains 380 calories (as well as 54g of sugar), and a large Costa latte with caramel contains 348 calories (and 32g of sugar).

“This is the same as a filling, high-protein meal,” Dr Alexander says.

On the other hand, a small cappuccino with skimmed milk carries less than 100 calories.

It can be hard to quit your favourite drink altogether, but is there a sugar-free option? Can you size down? Can you limit yourself to just twice a week?

MINIMISING food waste is great, but if you are not accounting for the leftover chicken nuggets you eat from the kids’ plates, then your calories will soon creep up.

“Mindless snacking doesn’t happen when you’re hungry, it happens because you’re not fully paying attention to what you’re doing,” says Dr Alexander.

Pack your kids’ leftovers in a lunchbox to give to them when they are next peckish.

Or add the leftovers to your own plate and serve yourself a smaller portion of whatever you are having.

IF you get peckish between meals, it is great to snack on nutrient-filled foods, but you can have too much of a good thing.

Nuts and seeds, for example, are packed with vitamins and minerals, but they are also high in fat and calories.

“Just 30g of nuts can amount to 200 calories, and most of us eat far more than that,” Dr Alexander says.

“If you’re opening a share bag with dried fruit, this quickly adds up.

“Limit yourself to a small handful, and pair it with fresh fruit.”

YOUR dinner plates could also be destroying your weight-loss goals.

Research published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied found buffet diners using bigger plates ate 45 per cent more food than those with smaller ones.

“Using a smaller plate, or one with a large rim, could save you 500-plus calories depending on what you’re eating,” says Dr Alexander.

“Filling your plate with 50 per cent veg first will help you to reduce your carb and fat portions, too.”

IF you are on a weight-loss plan with scheduled "cheat days" (where you eat more than your usual calorie allowance), you may end up ruining your slimming success.

Meghan Foulsham, nutritionist at Fresh Fitness Food, says: “Cheat days encourage a binge-restrict cycle, meaning you restrict ‘unhealthy’ foods during the week, saving them for the weekend when you’re ‘allowed’ to eat them, which often ends up being to excess.”

Instead, Meghan suggests including ‘cheat’ foods in your day-to-day diet, just in smaller amounts.

“Learning to eat in a balanced way means you are more in tune with your hunger and satiety signals and you are less likely to overindulge and regain weight down the line,” she says.

IT can be easy to overlook the calories in mayonnaise, ketchup, salad cream or even healthier-sounding condiments such as olive oil mixes and vinaigrettes, but these can soon rack up.

“For instance, a tablespoon of mayonnaise adds about 90 calories, while similar serving sizes of tartar sauce or salad dressings can be around 70 calories,” says Georgia Chilton, nutritionist at Fresh Fitness Food.

“And in reality, when are you actually sticking to the recommended portion size?”

She adds: “To avoid excess intake, focus on using herbs and spices for flavour and swap shop-bought dressings for home-made alternatives, using things such as fresh lemon or lime juice.”

TRYING to save calories by skipping a meal? This could seriously backfire.

Meghan says: “For some, skipping breakfast provides an easy solution — they are not hungry in the morning anyway, so they consume their calories in the afternoon.

“For others, fasting can lead to a vicious cycle of overeating then over-restricting to compensate, which often leads to eating more than if you had eaten breakfast.”

If you can, opt for something small, such as an egg on wholemeal toast or a bowl of Greek yoghurt with berries.

BEING able to multitask isn’t always a good thing.

If you’re watching TV while munching on sweet popcorn or chocolate, you might actually eat more.

Studies repeatedly show that we overeat when we are distracted, as we pay less attention to our hunger and fullness cues.

If possible, remove the sofa snacks.

If not, Georgia says: “Choosing pre-portioned snacks instead of eating straight from the bag can help to control your intake.

“You can also try alternatives like vegetables with hummus.”