Breakfast:
2 slices toasted brown bread with cheese/ polony (no margarine), tea with no sugar and low-fat milk
Lunch:
2 slices toasted brown bread with soup/ frozen veggies with chicken breast/ fish (grilled)
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Supper:
2 slices toast and tea with no sugar and low-fat milk
I drink about 2 litres of water daily and I snack with fruits. I have about 3 fruits daily – mainly apples, bananas and oranges.
Expert's comments:
Congratulations on eating regular meals and snacks throughout the day.
Fruit and vegetables are vitamin and mineral powerhouses, so I am pleased to see that you are eating these regularly. You could possibly try to incorporate more vegetables into your meals. Remember that the more variety in colour, the more likely you are to obtain the most optimal amount of vitamins and minerals. Try to eat ‘5-a-day’ at least.
Apple is a good source of vitamin C (depending on the variety) and has been found to help both constipation and diarrhoea. An apple is the ideal snack – easy to carry and eat, filling, juicy and refreshing. Banana is another one of nature’s ideal snacks – healthy, filling and conveniently wrapped! It is rich in potassium, which is necessary for muscle and nerve function and also helps regulate blood pressure. Orange is an excellent source of vitamin C, contains vitamin B1 and folic acid.
Please look at the content of each meal – dinner in particular. Each meal should contain fibre-rich carbohydrate (starch), moderate amounts of low-fat protein (e.g. lean or extra lean beef or mince, skinless chicken, ostrich or game meat, fish, boiled or poached egg, legumes such as lentils, beans and chickpeas), vegetables and/ or fruit, and small amounts of healthy fats.
Regarding your fat intake, try to aim for ‘lower fat eating’. Your overall fat intake should be limited but not eliminated. Limit unhealthy fats, i.e. those fats obtained from animal products (saturated fat) and trans fatty acids (hard margarine, coffee creamers, coconut). Include more healthy fats i.e. monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats from plant oils (canola oil, olive oil, avocado pear, peanut butter).
Some helpful hints for lowering your fat intake include the following:
Choose low-fat or fat-free milk and dairy products, e.g. yoghurt, cottage cheese, evaporated milk. These options could replace cream in recipes.
Choose soft rather than hard margarines. Wait until toast has cooled down before spreading margarine or butter, and spread it thinly.
If you use fat, choose low-fat options for mayonnaise, salad dressing and margarine and use sparingly. Never use 2 ‘fats’ to spread on your bread, i.e. margarine/ low-fat mayonnaise/ peanut butter/ avocado pear – spread thinly and use alone.
Aim to eat less red meat (2-3 times a week). Use lean meat options, e.g. lean mince, lean beef or lamb, ostrich, venison or soya mince. The fattiest meat is lamb, followed by beef, pork, chicken, ostrich and venison. Remove all visible fat from meat before preparation. Avoid the skin of the chicken and ideally remove prior to cooking. Eat fish (fresh or canned) 1-2 times a week.
Avoid processed meats such as sausages, polony, salami, as these tend to contain high amounts of hidden fat.
Use low-fat cooking methods: boil, steam, grill, braai over coals, bake in the oven, poach and stir-fry. Avoid frying food, but if you do need to fry food, use very little oil (canola or olive oil) or try to prepare with no oil at all by means of ‘fat-free frying’ (see below). Limit the addition of any form of extra fat during food preparation (e.g. margarine, butter, cream, mayonnaise, oil, cheese).
Limit the amount of gravies and sauces.
Read food labels to assess fat content. A product is low fat if it contains < 3g fat/ 100g (solids) and < 1.5g fat per 100ml (liquids); and is fat free if it has < 0.5g fat/ 100g (solids) and < 0.5g fat per 100ml (liquids). 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.
Fat-free frying
When browning meat, chicken or even vegetables, beef, chicken or vegetable stock with water or vegetable juices can be used when you need to add liquid.
A non-stick frying pan is useful, but not essential. There will be no difference in the flavour of the final dish although sautéing food without using oil or butter does take a little longer.
Half fill a tea cup with boiling water and add a teaspoon of stock powder. Stir until dissolved and then fill the cup to the top with red or white wine. If you don’t drink alcohol, vegetable juice or apple juice can be used instead.
Place chopped onion to sauté in a frying pan over high heat. Toss the onion with a wooden spoon as it begins to cook and when it starts to brown and stick to the pan, add a few teaspoons of the stock mixture to the pan (enough to cause a cloud of steam without making the onion simmer).
Continue tossing until the onion begins to stick again and then pour in the rest of the stock mixture, stirring until the brownish residue has lifted off the bottom of the pan.
Cover with a lid and leave for 5-10 minutes until the fluid has reduced. The onions will be soft, brown and slightly caramelised.
Add beef goulash cubes, vegetables or chicken strips as well as any other ingredients.
You are drinking good amounts of water, which is essential for our body functions. It is the ideal drink to quench thirst and ensure hydration – well done!
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