For breakfast this morning I had one banana with muesli (sugar free) and yoghurt.
Snack was an apple.
For lunch I had two slices of whole-wheat bread and cold meat with cucumber and a cup-a-soup ("Lite").
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Expert's comments:
I am glad that you are eating regularly and not missing meals. This is possibly the most important step to achieving stable blood sugar and energy levels as well as metabolism. The content of your meals and snacks is also essential to satisfy hunger and to prevent energy dips over time.
I’ll start with your breakfast, which seems relatively balanced. This is an important meal and has been linked to overall satiety, weight loss and weight maintenance. Try to take the opportunity to ensure that your breakfast contributes significantly to your daily fibre and calcium intake as these are two nutrients which we often overlook.
Fibre plays an important role in bowel regulation and blood sugar control as well as helping to give the feeling of satiety after a meal as the foods that are rich in fibre are usually more filling and in most cases less energy dense and contain more vitamins and minerals than lower fibre products. Fibre also has various other health advantages, including a role in reducing LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, and in prevention of modern diseases of lifestyle.
Fibre requirements for an adult should range between 25-30g per day. Cereals with a low glycaemic index (GI) are preferrable as they tend to be low in fat and high in fibre. Low GI means that the food is digested and absorbed slowly, resulting in a gradual blood sugar increase and sustained energy levels throughout the morning.
Breakfast cereals considered good sources of fibre include Bokomo Fibre Plus, Weetbix, Kellogg’s All Bran Flakes and Pronutro (Original, Apple Bake or Wholewheat); muesli, cooked oats and oat bran. These should be served with low-fat or fat-free milk or yoghurt.
When reading food labels, a product which provides approximately 2,5 - 5g of fibre per serving is considered a good source of fibre, while products with 5g or more per serving of fibre are high in fibre.
Fibre absorbs a lot of fluid from the body, so it is essential to drink at least 6-8 glasses of water a day. Other good sources of fibre include vegetables (raw, frozen or cooked), fruit (fresh, canned or dried), legumes (peas, beans, lentils, baked beans, chickpeas), split peas, whole grain breads, cereals, porridges (oats, oat bran) and seeds.
In your case, you need to eat more vegetables – aim for “5-a-day” with fruits and veggies. Also choose brown, wholewheat or low-GI bread instead of white, select a fibre-rich cereal or porridge and try to incorporate more legumes into your weekly intake.
Breakfast is also an opportunity to obtain calcium, an important mineral for bone health, particularly in women, which has also been linked to weight management. Women up to the age of 35 years absorb calcium optimally, so it is important to ensure that you consume the recommended 1000mg of calcium daily.
A glass of milk (250ml) provides approximately 200mg of calcium, so if you are not someone who consumes a lot of dairy products, or eats soft boned fish regularly, e.g. salmon/pilchards, a calcium supplement (with 300-400mg elemental calcium per tablet, vitamin D and magnesium and/or zinc) is advised.
Some other examples of healthy breakfast ideas include:
Smoothies (ingredients should ideally include at least two fruits, oats/oatbran/fibre-rich cereal, low-fat dairy)
Scrambled eggs on 1-2 slices of wholewheat or low-GI toast (‘Albany Best of Both’ bread can also be used)
175ml low-fat yoghurt, fruit cut into chunks, 2-3 Tbsp of Jungle Lifestyle muesli or oats
Oatsoeasy with low-fat (2%) milk and berries
Fibre-rich cereal or porridge (Kellogg’s All bran flakes, Weetbix, high-fibre bran, Fineform muesli, Bokomo Pronutro, Jungle oatbran, Bokomo oats) with low-fat (2%) or skim milk and sliced banana (or 1 cup of fruit juice, diluted with water - ˝:˝)
Cooked porridge (Jungle oats, Tasty wheat, Kreemy meel or 1-minute Maltabella), low-fat (2%) milk and sliced banana or mixed berries (or 1 cup of fruit juice, diluted with water - ˝:˝)
If we look at the overall fat intake, remember that you should be aiming to eat low-fat options, e.g. low-fat yoghurt or milk. It is unclear what type of muesli you are eating – many contain lots of unwanted hidden fats. Always choose those that are not roasted in oil and are therefore lower in fat, e.g. Jungle Lifestyle muesli; Nature’s Source range of low-GI mueslis – Mixed Berries, Orange & Spices, Apple & Cinnamon; Fineform muesli; Morning Harvest muesli.
Read food labels to assess fat content. A product is low fat if it contains <3g fat/100g and fat free has <0,5g fat/100g. Practically, choose foods that contain fat between 3 - 10% and try to stick to about 10 - 13g fat/meal. This can be achieved by adding only one fat to a meal and following the above-mentioned cooking methods.
Regarding your choice for lunch, be careful of cold meats as a source of hidden fat. Processed meats and packet soups are also often quite high in sodium, which should ideally not be consumed excessively. A product which is considered low in sodium should have 140mg or less sodium per serving.
Here are some other ideas for low-fat sandwich fillings:
Lean cold meat (roast beef/chicken/turkey/ham) with mustard or Lite mayonnaise (spread thinly), tomato and lettuce
Marmite, Bovril, fish paste or humus with tomato and lettuce
Try different flavoured low-fat cottage cheese with avocado, pepperdew, cucumber and tomato
Smooth low-fat cottage cheese, cucumber and sweet chilli sauce
Low-fat cheese spread with tomato and pickles
Egg, tuna or chicken mayonnaise (Lite mayo) with lettuce and tomato
Baked beans, basil leaves and chutney
Leftover mince, lettuce, cucumber and chutney
Mozzarella cheese, tomato, lettuce and Bovril or Marmite
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