Ways to less fattening foods

(1) Choose just one accompanying carbohydrate - rice or naan for example -not both. And share that choice with another person, as the serving sizes are generally huge.

(2) Choose carefully - go for tomato-based curry sauces not creamy ones and avoid the battered Chinese dishes that are laden with fat and calories. Go thin and crispy, never deep-pan pizzas, and chicken or lean ham toppings, not pepperoni.

(3) Swap fries for healthier, lower calories sides - baked beans or sweetcorn for example. Or go for jacket wedges, which absorb less fat than thin fries and are therefore lower calorie.

(4) At the chip shop have the smallest portion of chips and add lots of vinegar - it lowers the GI (glycaemic index) which means you get slower energy release and feel fuller for longer.

(5) The only starter or side you should allow is a filling lean protein one - chicken tikka, or prawn satay for example. Go easy on any accompanying sauce or dip.

(6) Go one spice level hotter than you'd normally have - It will slow you down so you're less likely to overeat, and spicy foods also slightly increase your metabolism so you burn a few more calories.

(7) Use chopsticks with your chinese - It's another way to slow you down and you'll leave some of the high calorie sauce behind with this method as well.

(8) Blot your pizza with a piece of kitchen towel - it can eliminate up to a teaspoon (4.5g) of fat in a large slice. You can save even more by using a napkin to soak up the orange grease on top of a curry.

(9) Only eat the crisp bits of fish batter - the soggy bits aren't that nice anyway, and ditching them saves lots of calories.

(10) Ask for your chinese meal cooked without MSG - (better restaurants shouldn't use it any way). MSG makes your food ridiculously moreish and therefore harder to resist.