THE BEGINNING of February means that if you are still managing to practice your new year diet resolutions, then well done.

However, if like many of us, temptation is proving too much, then Scottish Slimmers have a few words of wisdom.

Look around the farm where you work and you'll see some of the essential equipment needed to run a modern farm efficiently. There can be hundreds of thousands of pounds tied up in tractors, balers, quad bikes, trucks and trailers and you can't afford to have them break down, so they're looked after well.

But what about that essential, priceless and irreplaceable piece of equipment that we all have – our bodies, how well do we look after them?

How often would you seriously overload your truck or trailer, put the wrong oil in the generator or run the tractor on fumes? Yet this is the kind of treatment we put our bodies through year after year and then get frustrated and upset when it doesn't work as well as it once did.

If you want to make 2012 the year you started to look after yourself properly then one of the best ways to begin is look at what you eat. Give your body the right fuel to let it run efficiently. Start the day well. You wouldn't run the car with an empty tank so don't do it with your body. A healthy and tasty breakfast will do wonders to set you up:

Body swerve: sugary cereals, greasy fried food, Danish pastry

Right on track: porridge with fruit, eggs on toast, waffle and bacon grill

The right food at lunchtime will keep energy levels high, but eating a heavy stodgy meal will make your body sluggish and tired as your system has to work so hard to digest it:

Body swerve: chips, crisps, white bread, cream soups or sauces

Right on track: broth soups with pulses and vegetables, wholemeal bread for sandwiches with lean meat and vegetable fillings, baked potatoes with beans or low fat sausages and gravy, followed by fresh fruit.

After a hard day it's tempting to sit on the couch and eat watching the television, but not only is it a bad position for your body to digest the food, you may not even notice what you're eating and completely fail to register when you've had enough. So for your main meal:

Body swerve: loaded platefuls, adding salt before tasting, adding bread and butter.

Right on track: eat at a table, have three courses of small portions, include at least three portions of vegetables and one portion of fruit in the meal. Leave the table when you're finished.

We all know there's a long list of great health benefits from eating well and losing any excess weight, but the most important benefit is – you feel better. You feel better in ways that you hadn't even thought about.

Feeling more energetic and more confident is the best anti-aging treatment in the world. Being able to fit back into clothes that you had loved and felt good in is like a shot in the arm to your self-esteem.

n For details of healthy eating tips and hundreds of recipes go to www.scottishslimmers.com or call 0800 36 26 36 for details of Scottish Slimmers classes throughout Scotland.