Nutritionist Gabriela Peacock has outlined a September diet reset aimed at helping people lose up to five pounds in ten days after a summer of barbecues, holidays, cocktails and late nights.
Her plan, developed for clients at her London clinic, is based on restoring regular routines rather than following a restrictive detox. It focuses on meal timing, protein, vegetables, sleep, movement and taking a break from alcohol.
Peacock says the return to work and school provides a useful opportunity to re-establish consistent times for sleeping, eating and having snacks. She recommends planning meals in advance, with the first meal of the day the largest and the evening meal the lightest.
How to structure a September diet reset
Intermittent fasting is among the approaches she suggests, generally using an eight-hour eating window followed by 16 hours without food. Water, clear liquids and tea or coffee with a dash of milk are allowed during the fasting period.
However, Peacock says the window should suit the individual. Someone able to fast for 18 hours may do so, while a 14-hour fast is also acceptable. Within the eating window, she advises two balanced meals and two good-quality snacks, ideally at similar times each day.
She warns against allowing hunger to build for too long. Leaving more than six hours between lunch and dinner can lead to overeating in the evening, particularly when people reach for large portions of carbohydrate-heavy food.
Instead, she recommends eating when only moderately hungry and leaving no more than three and a half hours between the two main meals, with snacks in between.
Peacock distinguishes between planned snacks and grazing. Rather than repeatedly eating biscuits, crisps or sugary treats, she suggests choosing foods that provide protein and help maintain fullness.
Her examples include a hard-boiled egg, Greek yoghurt with berries, an apple with a tablespoon of nut butter, cottage cheese with cherry tomatoes, hummus with vegetable crudités, half an avocado or chocolate-covered nuts.
The mid-afternoon snack is particularly important, she says, because it can prevent an overly large dinner and may be useful before eating out.
Protein, vegetables and better carbohydrates
Protein should form the basis of both main meals and snacks, according to Peacock. She recommends a palm-sized portion from foods including lean meat, poultry, fish, tofu, dairy, pulses, eggs, nuts and seeds.
Unflavoured protein powder can also be added to a smoothie, blended with nut milk and fresh or frozen fruit.
Carbohydrates do not need to be removed, but Peacock advises choosing higher-fibre options such as brown rice, quinoa, spelt pasta, rye, pumpernickel and sourdough instead of processed white varieties.
She also encourages adding colour to meals, with three different-coloured vegetables alongside each of the two main meals. Roasted peppers, red onion, beetroot and carrots can be prepared in advance and eaten with hummus or guacamole.
Fruit is included in the plan. Apples and pears baked with cinnamon and chopped nuts are suggested as an autumn option, while berries can be added to an overnight chia bowl made with yoghurt, milk, chia seeds, agave and lemon juice.
For a more substantial meal, Peacock recommends a turmeric-infused lentil and carrot soup, or a chickpea, sweet potato and kale coconut curry served with brown rice or quinoa.
Alcohol, sleep and movement
Peacock advises taking several days, or ideally a week, without alcohol during the reset. After that, she suggests trying to maintain three or four consecutive alcohol-free days, while drinking more slowly and deliberately on other occasions.
Sleep is also central to the plan. She recommends going to bed and waking at consistent times, avoiding screens for two hours before bed and keeping the bedroom between 18C and 20C.
She says poor sleep can increase cravings for sugary food and affect the body’s response to stress, making it harder to manage weight. Movement need not be confined to formal gym sessions: a lunchtime walk, an evening dog walk or resistance exercises using bands and hand or ankle weights can all contribute.
Peacock adds that fitness and sleep trackers should be used only if they are motivating. If monitoring steps, calorie burn or sleep quality creates anxiety, she says it may be better to stop using them.
A small serving of cottage cheese or yoghurt, chicken, or a handful of seeds and nuts is suggested as a possible bedtime snack because these foods contain tryptophan, an amino acid involved in the production of chemicals associated with relaxation and sleep.
She also mentions supplements including astaxanthin, a multivitamin and magnesium bisglycinate, while stressing that people do not need to take large numbers of products.
An 80/20 approach
Rather than expecting perfection, Peacock recommends following the plan for about 80 per cent of the time. The remaining 20 per cent allows for foods such as pudding, a Sunday roast or birthday cake without guilt.
The emphasis, she says, should be on making sustainable changes after the irregular routines of summer, while treating occasional indulgence as part of a balanced approach.
