Healthy Foods To Eat are not hard to find!

For some people, finding Healthy foods to eat can be hard. Also for some, cooking comes naturally and their instincts guide them to how to cook healthy meals. For others it takes a bit of guidance on basic cooking skills.

Once you get the hang of cooking healthy meals it becomes easier and less of a burden, for some it actually becomes pleasurable (your thinking I'm nuts by now aren’t you?).

Healthy foods are meals that contain four components: Vegetables, meats or alternatives, starches and a bit of fat! Lets run through the basics of cooking healthy meals then some examples

1. Vegetables or salad (1/2 of meal should consist of these- see diagram below) Vegetables are very healthy foods to eat.

   I’ve put this at the top because:

   a) Its the lowest kilojoule portion of your meal so should actually be the biggest.

   b) Because we are so used to preparing meals around meats (I'm trying to get people to think about the humble Vegetable first) you just have to steam, stir fry in low-cal sauces, baked with herbs and garlic, casserole or lightly fry with a spray of oil to make them tasty.

   Somehow I manage to find ways to add Vegetables to every meal, even bangers and mash! The more colourful the Vegetables on your plate the better (with the exception of cauliflower and cabbage which are very nutritious).

2. Lean meats or alternatives (1/4 to 1/2 of the meal) The key word is “lean”.

   Lean meats can also be healthy foods to eat daily if you trim all your fat from it. You can enjoy your daily intake of meats as long as your portion is right (roughly the size of your palm) and the meat is trimmed of all visible fat. Best choices are lean steaks, chicken breast, salmon or white fish, tofu or legumes.

3. Starches/carbohydrates (up to 1/4 of your meal)Depending on your kilojoule needs you may not need this at each meal or you may just need a very small amount i.e 2 tablespoons of rice but the usual portion is a small fist of these foods which includes cooked pasta, rice, couscous, noodles, potato and bread (1 serve of bread is one slice).

4. Healthy fats: such as olive, sunflower or canola oils or avocado, low fat mayonnaise or margarine. Aim for no more than 1 teaspoon of fat per person in the meal if you are both actively trying to lose weight (i.e a casserole for 4 people can have 4 teaspoons of oil) .

   Be aware that cheese, milk and coconut milks also adds fat to a meal so if these are part of the meal, use even less oils at the start.

   
   
   

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   With this knowledge of healthy foods to eat and combinations, you can modify almost any meal to make it lower in fat and healthier just as long as these components are present.

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