1. Sweet Potato Chips

To ease you in slowly, ladies, I’ve started with a healthier variation on the traditional french fry. Unlike their ordinary relatives, sweet potatoes are complex carbohydrates and so have a low glycaemic index. This means they take a long time to break down in the body and release energy slowly, keeping you perkier for longer with no chance of crashing! Avoid deep frying at all costs, girls: simply stick a baking tray-full under the grill. Yum!

2. Broccoli and Bacon Salad

This is a delicious, hearty salad girls. It doesn’t skimp on the ingredients (and it’s packed with sinfully delicious crispy bacon) but it’s still better for you than an oily plateful of fried. Mix a little light may and low far crème fraiche, together with garlic and apple-cider vinegar. Toss the broccoli heads with this mixture, sprinkle with bacon and sun-flower seeds. Voila!

3. Grilled Pepper Salad

This is a fantastic hot salad, girls, and it’s guaranteed not to pack on the pounds. Seed, chop and steam a mixture of red, yellow and green peppers. Toss these together with olive oil and balsamic vinegar to taste. Add a few sundried tomatoes and a pinch of course seas salt, plate up and enjoy. Simple, slimming, delicious!

4. Oriental Cucumber Salad

This is such a refreshing option girls, and its so, so easy to make. Simply slice up around half a cucumber using a potato peeler for that gorgeous ribbon effect. Toss this with some rice vinegar, a pinch of salt, and just a teaspoon of sugar. Garnish with sesame seeds for an authentically oriental flavour. Girls, it honestly doesn’t get healthier than this!

5. Carrots with Orange Glaze

Beautifully cooked carrots are a great on their own ladies, and they’re packed with tons of vitamins you definitely want to be eating regularly. The orange glaze just adds a little extra excitement, and turns ordinary carrots into a restaurant-grade side dish. You’ll need julienne carrots, about half a cup of orange juice, half a cup of chicken stock, some olive oil and pinch of corn-flour. Heat olive oil in a pan, add carrots and flash fry. Then add the orange-stock mixture, and stir in the corn-flour. The whole thing will reduce down after a few minutes and you’ll have a tasty sticky veg side dish that’s a million miles better for the waistline than a bowl of french fries.

6. Green Beans with Basil-Almond Pesto

This is a quick, delicious side serving and it adds a little sophistication to an otherwise ordinary plate. You’ll need steamed green beans, a cup of pesto (shop bought is totally fine) and ground almonds. Basically, ladies, just mix everything together, season with course sea salt and enjoy. It’s healthy and fast: what more could you want?

7. Fresh Spinach Salad

You’ll need a bag of spinach for this one, girls, along with some cherry tomatoes, torn up buffalo mozzarella, pitted calamata olives and a fresh lemon for squeezing. Toss every together, and tuck in ladies! It’s fresh, juicy and just absolutely divine.

Do you have any fab recipes to share girls? What’s your favourite healthy side-snack? Share your diet do’s with the rest of us ladies; I, for one, would love to hear from you!

Top Photo Credit: alancleaver_2000