Choosing healthier foods is easier than you may think. By changing just a few eating habits you can make a big difference to your diet.
Making small changes to your diet is the healthiest and most achievable way to lose weight.
Your first step is to eat fewer foods high in calories, fat, salt and sugars and swap them for something healthier, including more fruit and vegetables.
Remember, small changes can add up to make a big overall difference to your diet.
Find out more from the Eatwell Guide about which foods you should be eating – and in what amounts – to achieve a balanced diet.
Food and drink swaps
Try these small changes when you have your next meal or drink, or when you open the kitchen cupboard or fridge looking for a snack. Once you've got started, try thinking of your own healthier swaps, too.
When buying pre-packed food, don't rely on the attractive promotional print on the wrapping, which can be misleading. Instead, learn to read the nutritional information when checking for calorie, fat, salt and sugar content.
Breakfast
swap whole milk for semi-skimmed, 1% fat or even skimmed milk
swap a sugar-coated breakfast cereal for a wholegrain breakfast cereal such as porridge or shredded wholegrain wheat cereal with no added sugar – read about how to choose a healthy breakfast cereal
swap a sprinkle of sugar on your breakfast cereal for a topping of fresh or dried fruit, which counts towards one of your 5 A DAY
swap full-fat greek yoghurt for lower-fat or fat-free greek yoghurt, or natural low-fat yoghurt
Get more ideas for healthy breakfasts.
Lunch
swap white breads, bagels and muffins for wholegrain varieties
swap butter and cheese in your baked potato for reduced-fat spread and reduced salt and sugar baked beans
swap a tuna melt panini for a tuna salad sandwich on wholemeal bread without mayo
swap a cheddar cheese filling in your sandwich for reduced-fat hard cheese
Dinner
swap creamy or cheesy sauces for tomato- or vegetable-based sauces on your pasta, meat or fish dishes
swap mashed potato made with butter and whole milk for mash with low-fat spread and a lower-fat milk, such as semi-skimmed, 1% fat or skimmed
choose leaner cuts of meat – for example, swap streaky bacon for back bacon
swap the frying pan for the grill when cooking meat
Drinks
swap a coffee made with whole milk to a "skinny" coffee made with semi-skimmed or skimmed milk
swap a cordial for a cordial with no added sugar
swap a few of your sugary drinks for a glass of water
swap a cola or fizzy drink with some 100% fruit juice (with no added sugar) mixed with soda water
swap hot chocolate made with whole milk and served with whipped cream for a hot chocolate made with skimmed milk and no cream
source : www.nhs.uk
