Tips for Healthier Eating
- Eat 3 meals each day.
- Use fruit, water and diet yoghurts as your snacks between meals. A healthy breakfast is a great start to the day, so choose from fruit, cereal, bread or yoghurt.
- Watch your portion sizes
- Don't be tempted into choosing large portion sizes. When eating out, avoid places that serve large portions and places that serve chips or crisps with all meals.
- Drink lots of fluid
- Have at least 8 cups or glasses of fluid each day. Choose from water, tea, sugar-free squash, diet soft drinks, coffee, fruit juice or herbal tea.
- Cut down on fat
- Steer clear of high-fat foods such as biscuits, cakes, takeaways, crisps, chips and fried foods. Avoid adding oil or fat when cooking and cut fat off meat before cooking. Buy low fat-spread, low-fat milk and diet yoghurts.
- Cut down on sugar
- Cakes, chocolate, ice cream and biscuits are high in fat and sugar. Too often we turn to these when we are tired or busy. Do not use these foods as treats, rewards or quick fixes.
- Eat more fruit
- Have fruit at every meal. It is also a great snack between meals. Put fresh, frozen or dried fruit (sultanas, apricots, raisins) in cereal and yoghurt. Increase your intake by putting fruit on your desk at work, having a bag of fruit in your car or at arms reach when you watch television.
- Eat more vegetables
- Have lots of vegetables or salad on your plate. Use fresh or frozen vegetables. Add extra vegetables or tinned tomatoes to casseroles, stew, curry and pasta dishes.
- Eat more fibre
- Use wholegrain, whole-wheat and high fibre breads and cereals - these will fill you up and make you less hungry between your meals.
- Get enough calcium
- Following a healthy diet does not mean cutting out milk - just choose low-fat milk, yoghurts and cheese. Low-fat milk has the same calcium content as full fat. A regular intake of milk and milk products can help blood pressure levels as well as strengthening bones.
- Have oily fish twice a week
- Salmon, mackerel, herring, trout and sardines are all oily fish. Use tinned or fresh fish for dinner, in a salad, in a sandwich, on toast or on crackers.
- Cut down on salt
- Take the salt off the table. Only add a small amount of salt when cooking. Use more pepper, garlic, chilli, curry powder, tomato puree, mustard, lemon juice and other herbs and spices to give meals a good flavour.
- Eat freshly prepared food and meals
- Most food that is processed such as ready meals, savoury sauces in jars or cans are high in fat, salt or sugar, so avoid these. Buy fresh food as much as possible and prepare the meals yourself - it's healthier and cheaper, and will taste better if you add extra flavourings or follow Recipes. Packaged foods that can be included are breakfast cereals, frozen vegetables and tinned tomatoes.
- Cut down on alcohol
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Alcohol is high in calories - it is important to reduce your intake when trying to lose weight. The maximum recommended amount per day is:
3 - 4 units (standard drinks) for men (maximum 21 units/week) 2 - 3 units (standard drinks) for women (maximum 14 units/week) You may need to drink much less than this to help you lose weight.
1/2 pint of normal strength beer/lager = 1 standard drink 1 pint of normal strength beer/lager = 2 standard drinks 1 small glass of wine (125ml) = 1 standard drink 1 small bottle of wine (187ml) = 2 standard drinks 1 pub measure of spirits = 1.5 standard drinks 1 bottle of alcopop = 1.5 standard drinks Beware - home measures are often larger than pub measures. Check the size of your glass - you may be drinking more units than you think!
Make sure that when you are having a drink you always use low-calorie mixers such as diet or slimline drinks or unsweetened juices.
