> Skip to content

Article  •  3 July 2017

 

Always read the label

Bernadette Fisers offers a simple weightloss tip that you can start today.

Bernadette Fisers struggled with her weight for years. Her Little Book of Big Weightloss is a no nonsense guide to radical and sustainable weightloss for anyone tired of diet failure. Among the tips about what you should and shouldn’t eat, are some simple suggestions for changing your habits around food. One you can start right now: read the label before you buy. Here’s why.

Let’s face it, food labels are confusing… however, there’s an easy rule – the shorter the label, the better. When there are lots of ingredients, it usually means more processing.

For example, canned chickpeas. The ingredient list: chickpeas and water. Great!

Generally, the fewer ingredients, the better. Stay away from anything with trans fats, as well as significant added sugar and salt. Remember, 4g is a teaspoon.

When I first started reading labels, if I saw an ingredient I didn’t recognise, I wouldn’t buy it. As a rule, ingredients are listed by order of volume – i.e. the first ingredient listed comprises the majority of the product.

Think about this: you don’t need a food label on an apple. The best food for you is a whole ingredient. Really, anything that requires a food label – or has a TV ad – is a bit suspect, and the smaller the number of ingredients the better. But in reality… we’re all busy and sometimes convenience wins out.

Just be smart about what you throw in the trolley and what you are going to feed your family – especially your kids. Teach them how to eat properly. It will save them from having the weight issues that you have had.

I ask my daughter to run on ahead of me and find the can of tomatoes with the lowest sugar amount. It’s great – she’s learning, plus saving me time. Win-win.

Doing this will quickly become a habit. You know those lean and healthy people standing in the supermarket aisles studying labels? That will soon be you!

Feature Title

The Little Book of Big Weightloss
The little book that gets to the heart of big weight loss
Read more

More features

See all
Article
Poison or pasta sauce? A guide to New Zealand's edible weeds

Becky, our Penguin NZ Director, shares 5 ways to use 5 edible weeds she found in her garden with the help of Andrew Crowe's Edible Weeds Handbook!

Article
10 black cat boyfriends from must-read books

It’s official: the internet has dubbed Conrad Fisher a ‘black cat boyfriend’. Here are a few other black cat book boyfriends to keep you swooning.

Article
Te Wiki o te Reo Māori catalogue 2025

Kōrerotia te reo this Māori Language Week 2025 with our selection of Māori Language books.

Article
What we're gifting this Father's Day

For Father's Day 2025, we're celebrating how books can keep us close to our dads and dad-like figures.

Article
Romantasy Recommendations

Wanting to get into reading romantasy but not sure where to start? Read on for our top picks of the genre!

Article
QUIZ: Which Hawthorne brother is your soulmate?

Take this quiz to find out which Hawthorne brother from The Inheritance Games series would be your perfect match.

Article
The Lottie Brooks books, in order

Don’t know which order to read the Lottie Brooks books? Find out which to read first, and learn a little bit about each book.

Article
Your guide to pre-ordering Alchemised

Learn how to pre-order Alchemised by SenLin Yu and join the thousands of readers who will start reading it on 23 September 2025.

Article
Penguin Picks for July: Books we've been loving

Want to know what books the Penguin NZ team have been reading and loving recently? Read on for our recommendations!

Article
Staff recommendations: Books we've been loving

Want to know what books the Penguin NZ team have been reading and loving recently? Read on for our recommendations!

Article
5 of the hottest YA books right now (2025)

Check out some of the hottest YA books in stores now, from epic romantasy to sweet, unexpected romance.

Article
Best historical fiction books to read in 2025

From tales of Ancient Greece to epics set in the Second World War, these are the historical novels at the top of our reading piles this year.

Looking for more articles?

See all articles