Whether or not weight loss is your goal, you can't go wrong with our approach to healthy eating. It's as simple as choosing a big fruit salad over a slice of chocolate cheesecake. Having a large piece of skinless chicken instead of a small cheeseburger. Or choosing a double portion of grilled veg instead of a handful of chips. It's delicious and satisfying - and it means never going hungry.
We've already extolled the nutritional wonders of healthy foods, from sweet cherries to hot red peppers, wholewheat bread to succulent lean beef. Now we can reveal their added full-life health bonus: each time you choose one of these natural wonders instead of a more processed food, you save a significant number of calories while you flood your body with important vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fibre, anti-inflammatory compounds and satisfying components such as proteins and fats. Some examples: a hot-fudge sundae with two scoops of ice cream plus fudge sauce, whipped cream, a cherry and nuts could contain 700 calories - or more. A generous bowl of fresh rasberries, strawberries and chunks of ripe mango and pineapple might have 150 calories.
A cheeseburger on a bun made from refined flour might have 600 calories. But a grilled skinless chicken breast and a wholewheat roll has just 300 calories. And if you add a side plate of green beans and a lettuce and tomato salad with olive oil vinaigrette, you've got a whole meal for less than the calories in a single cheeseburger.
Smart Ways
To Eat More More food but fewer calories
FULL-LIFE EATING GOAL: make fruit or vegetables at least half of what you eat
Have unsweetened cereal for breakfast You can enjoy a bigger serving of healthy whole grains for fewer calories. The reason: sugar is very high in calories yet has virtually no bulk. Add chopped fruit for flavour and sweetness.
Start every lunch with salad A big, fresh salad brimming with veg or fruit fills you up, fits in several vegetables servings and tastes great. Start with a generous bed of lettuce and top with chopped tomatoes, grated or sliced carrots, cucumber rounds, sliced green or red pepper and any of these: shredded courgette, sliced raw mushrooms, onions, fresh herbs (basil is heavenly), celery, fennel or shredded cabbage. Top with fat-free dressing, a dash of low-fat mayonnnaise or a tablespoon of olive oil-based vinaigrette.
Add a first course of vegetables soup to dinner every night Research suggests that your body's satisfaction sensors are activated when a food is bulked up with water. Think of a bowl of low-fat, low-sodium vegetable soup, then add your favourite frozen veg and spices.
Dish up your food before serving Put food onto the plates in the kitchen rather than putting serving bowls of food on the table. The only serving bowl you should allow on the dinning room table is the one holding the vegetables. That way, there's no temptation to take another piece of meat or an extra helping of noodles.
Keep chopped fruit at the front of the eye-level shelf in your refrigerator Studies show that cut fruit retains important nutrients for nearly a week. And it's easy and delicious to open the refigerator door and indulge in chunks of watermelon, wedges of melon, pineapple slices, grapes and strawberries.
Eat a bulky, high-fibre food when you're hungry Would you rather have 19 tiny peanuts or a whole juicy apple adorned with a teaspoon of peanut butter? Both snacks are healthy, and each has about 110 calories. But the apple's size makes it much more satisfying and appealing.
Don't underestimate the power of bulk It's been suggested that 'portion distortion' plays a role in increasing obesity: we're getting fatter because portion size are getting bigger. In one study, students at a party ate 56 percent more snack foods (an average of 142 more calories each) when snacks were served in large bowls rather than smaller ones. Make use of the knowledge by using tiny bowls for high-energy foods, such as peanuts, and large one for servings of healthy, low-calorie, high-fibre foods, such as cherry tomatoes, salad greens (with a dash of dressing) and other high-fibre foods.
Designate healthy, low-calorie 'free foods' Sometimes we all just want to snack - and snack and snack some more. Keep some low-calorie, nutritious foods that you enjoy on hand, such as apples, frozen berries, carrots and slice red peppers. Allow yourself to eat as much as you want.
Switch to zero-calorie beverages Water, still and sparkling, with a dash of lemon juice, iced tea and hot tea are all great choices. Getting away from sweetened drinks can save you hundreds of empty calories every day.
Make fruit your usual dessert To make it special, spend some time in the fresh produce section of your food shop. Look beyond your usual choices for something new or indulgent. If you usually skip berreis, pomegranates or figs because of the price, for instance, consider buying them.If you usually buy just one type of fruit, buy two or three and plan to make a pretty fruit salad. After all, you're not spending money on biscuits and cakes. (And check out the choices in the canned-fruit and frozen-food aisles. Often, the best-quality berries are frozen. Just thaw gently in the microwave.)
Reverse dessert priorities Usually, people adorn calorie-dense, nutrition-light desserts such as cakes with a few berries. Next time you plan a nice dessert, do the opposite: make the bulk of your dessert berries or fruit sorbet and adorn it with a small biscuit or cake or a square of high-quality dark chocolate.
Create a pile Restaurants sometimes present appetisers and main courses in a neat pile, rather than spread around the plate. It looks dramatic, and makes it less obvious how much of each dish you're getting. So try this at home. The next time you serve up, say, streak, mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach, create a pile from the three. Make your bottom layer a large serving of vegetables (in this case, spinach spread into a circle in the middle of the plate).
Put a modest-sized disc of mashed potatoes on the spinach. On top, put four slices of the beef. Then add sauce, herbs or other final touches and serve for a tasty, well-porportioned dinner.
Have salad for a snack Many people snack not out of hunger, but to satisfy a desire for flavour or texture. That's why so many snack foods are salty and crunchy. You can satisfy that desire for texture just as easily, and far more healthfully, with a salad Use lettuce, carrots, cabbage, celery and peppers to give your mouth the robust texture it desires. If you use a light dressing, you can eat a whole bowl of salad before you get to the calorie count of a handful of crisps.
Make fruit your usual dessert
We've already extolled the nutritional wonders of healthy foods, from sweet cherries to hot red peppers, wholewheat bread to succulent lean beef. Now we can reveal their added full-life health bonus: each time you choose one of these natural wonders instead of a more processed food, you save a significant number of calories while you flood your body with important vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fibre, anti-inflammatory compounds and satisfying components such as proteins and fats. Some examples: a hot-fudge sundae with two scoops of ice cream plus fudge sauce, whipped cream, a cherry and nuts could contain 700 calories - or more. A generous bowl of fresh rasberries, strawberries and chunks of ripe mango and pineapple might have 150 calories.
A cheeseburger on a bun made from refined flour might have 600 calories. But a grilled skinless chicken breast and a wholewheat roll has just 300 calories. And if you add a side plate of green beans and a lettuce and tomato salad with olive oil vinaigrette, you've got a whole meal for less than the calories in a single cheeseburger.
Smart Ways
To Eat More More food but fewer calories
FULL-LIFE EATING GOAL: make fruit or vegetables at least half of what you eat
Have unsweetened cereal for breakfast You can enjoy a bigger serving of healthy whole grains for fewer calories. The reason: sugar is very high in calories yet has virtually no bulk. Add chopped fruit for flavour and sweetness.
Start every lunch with salad A big, fresh salad brimming with veg or fruit fills you up, fits in several vegetables servings and tastes great. Start with a generous bed of lettuce and top with chopped tomatoes, grated or sliced carrots, cucumber rounds, sliced green or red pepper and any of these: shredded courgette, sliced raw mushrooms, onions, fresh herbs (basil is heavenly), celery, fennel or shredded cabbage. Top with fat-free dressing, a dash of low-fat mayonnnaise or a tablespoon of olive oil-based vinaigrette.
Add a first course of vegetables soup to dinner every night Research suggests that your body's satisfaction sensors are activated when a food is bulked up with water. Think of a bowl of low-fat, low-sodium vegetable soup, then add your favourite frozen veg and spices.
Dish up your food before serving Put food onto the plates in the kitchen rather than putting serving bowls of food on the table. The only serving bowl you should allow on the dinning room table is the one holding the vegetables. That way, there's no temptation to take another piece of meat or an extra helping of noodles.
Keep chopped fruit at the front of the eye-level shelf in your refrigerator Studies show that cut fruit retains important nutrients for nearly a week. And it's easy and delicious to open the refigerator door and indulge in chunks of watermelon, wedges of melon, pineapple slices, grapes and strawberries.
Eat a bulky, high-fibre food when you're hungry Would you rather have 19 tiny peanuts or a whole juicy apple adorned with a teaspoon of peanut butter? Both snacks are healthy, and each has about 110 calories. But the apple's size makes it much more satisfying and appealing.
Don't underestimate the power of bulk It's been suggested that 'portion distortion' plays a role in increasing obesity: we're getting fatter because portion size are getting bigger. In one study, students at a party ate 56 percent more snack foods (an average of 142 more calories each) when snacks were served in large bowls rather than smaller ones. Make use of the knowledge by using tiny bowls for high-energy foods, such as peanuts, and large one for servings of healthy, low-calorie, high-fibre foods, such as cherry tomatoes, salad greens (with a dash of dressing) and other high-fibre foods.
Designate healthy, low-calorie 'free foods' Sometimes we all just want to snack - and snack and snack some more. Keep some low-calorie, nutritious foods that you enjoy on hand, such as apples, frozen berries, carrots and slice red peppers. Allow yourself to eat as much as you want.
Switch to zero-calorie beverages Water, still and sparkling, with a dash of lemon juice, iced tea and hot tea are all great choices. Getting away from sweetened drinks can save you hundreds of empty calories every day.
Make fruit your usual dessert To make it special, spend some time in the fresh produce section of your food shop. Look beyond your usual choices for something new or indulgent. If you usually skip berreis, pomegranates or figs because of the price, for instance, consider buying them.If you usually buy just one type of fruit, buy two or three and plan to make a pretty fruit salad. After all, you're not spending money on biscuits and cakes. (And check out the choices in the canned-fruit and frozen-food aisles. Often, the best-quality berries are frozen. Just thaw gently in the microwave.)
Reverse dessert priorities Usually, people adorn calorie-dense, nutrition-light desserts such as cakes with a few berries. Next time you plan a nice dessert, do the opposite: make the bulk of your dessert berries or fruit sorbet and adorn it with a small biscuit or cake or a square of high-quality dark chocolate.
Create a pile Restaurants sometimes present appetisers and main courses in a neat pile, rather than spread around the plate. It looks dramatic, and makes it less obvious how much of each dish you're getting. So try this at home. The next time you serve up, say, streak, mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach, create a pile from the three. Make your bottom layer a large serving of vegetables (in this case, spinach spread into a circle in the middle of the plate).
Put a modest-sized disc of mashed potatoes on the spinach. On top, put four slices of the beef. Then add sauce, herbs or other final touches and serve for a tasty, well-porportioned dinner.
Have salad for a snack Many people snack not out of hunger, but to satisfy a desire for flavour or texture. That's why so many snack foods are salty and crunchy. You can satisfy that desire for texture just as easily, and far more healthfully, with a salad Use lettuce, carrots, cabbage, celery and peppers to give your mouth the robust texture it desires. If you use a light dressing, you can eat a whole bowl of salad before you get to the calorie count of a handful of crisps.
Make fruit your usual dessert
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