Danish mum and CEO Suzy Wengel creates a simple 'Scandi Sense' diet using handfuls to measure portions. / Suzy Wengel
A book by a Danish dietitian, which has has taken Scandinavia by storm, has made its way to the UK and is being hailed as "the easiest diet in the world".
The Scandi Sense Diet reveals how you can easily cut calories without counting them by making each meal with four handfuls of food - protein, carbs and two of vegetables.
Its creator Suzy Wengel, 39, a mother-of-five and CEO of a biotech company devised the method after a lifelong battle with her weight, tipping the scales at 99kg at her heaviest.
But on her self-made diet plan, The Scandi Sense Diet, she managed to lose more than six stone in 10 months and keep it off.
Her method has been a huge hit in Denmark where one in 50 people have adopted it and her book, which has just been released in the UK, is set to be translated into eight languages this year.
Suzy Wengel says all you need to do is measure your food in the palm of your hand. Photo / YouTube, Suzy Wengel
Before her weight loss, Suzy was constantly tired, suffered from heart palpitations and allergies and had a fungal infection under her overhanging stomach.
But she spent her second pregnancy researching nutrition and realised that a simple balance of protein, vegetables and fat is what you need to live healthily and lose weight.
After qualifying as a dietitian, she set about writing down everything she'd learned - devising a simple plan based around handfuls of food.
"You will use the palms of your hands to measure the amount of food you should eat at each meal," she explained.
"You can eat up to four handfuls of food for each meal, and if they are properly balanced you will easily feel full."
How does The Scandi Sense Diet work?
Because the size of our hands is most often related to our build and our height, this will work out as on average 1500 calories a day for women and a little more for men, around 2000 calories a day.
If food is prepared according to the Scandi Sense principles, the amounts will enable you to lose on average 400–800g at a measured pace per week until the goal weight is achieved.
Every meal should be made up of four handfuls of food.
Handful 1 and 2: Veg and Salad
These consist of carbohydrates in the form of vegetables. You can choose two handfuls of vegetables, if you like, but a single handful will suffice.
Handful 3: Protein
You can choose meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, low-fat cheese or pulses.
You must have protein with at least two of your three daily meals, however processed protein (such as ham, salami and bacon) must be limited.
If you exercise a lot, it is a good idea to have protein with all three of your daily meals.
Handful 4: Carbs
In the form of bread, breakfast cereals, pasta, rice, potatoes and/or fruit and berries.
Handful 4 may be replaced with extra vegetables and up to half a handful of protein if you want to avoid bread, rice, pasta etc.
FAT
You can have 1–3 tablespoons of fat at each meal. This includes products such as olive oil, rapeseed oil, nuts, kernels, seeds, mayonnaise, tartare sauce, avocado, aioli and pesto, as well as butter, cream, crème fraîche, fatty cheese and dark chocolate.
Coconut flakes are one example of fat with dietary fibre – the same applies to avocado, nuts, kernels and seeds. If you use concentrated fat such as butter, oil and mayonnaise, eat a level tablespoonful.
When it comes to less concentrated fats such as nuts, avocado, crème fraîche or cheese, you can eat a heaped tablespoonful.
DAIRY
You may eat/drink up to 300ml of dairy products a day if you feel like it – in addition to what is already included in your meals.
This 300ml must have a fat content of 3.5 per cent or less and a maximum of 5g of sugars per 100g of product.
In addition, you can add up to 2 tablespoonfuls of dairy dressing to each meal-box. The fat content should be 9 per cent or less.
Drink 1–1½ litres of water a day. Black coffee, black tea, diet soft drinks and calorie-free squash can also be consumed as often as you like – but use your common sense
If you want to live a life where there is space for a glass of wine or beer, it is a good idea to establish your habits during the weight loss period so that you have them in place even after your weight loss.
FLAVOURINGS
Your food should be tasty, so feel free to use different flavourings.
Whilst nothing is forbidden by Scandi Sense, there are some foods that you should enjoy in limited quantities, or compensate for at other meals. I call these foods "indulgences". They could be sweets, cake, ice cream, crisps, tortilla chips or sweet drinks.
The Scandi Sense Diet: Lose weight and keep it off with the life-changing handful method by Suzy Wengel, is published by Mitchell Beazley £16.99
