Healthy Eating and Meal Plans
Eating well is key to feeling your best, both now and in the long- term. We know healthy eating plays an important role in keeping your body healthy and strong, as well as preventing illness.
Do you know what foods are best to put on your plate?
Or how much you should eat and how often?
The Australian Dietary Guidelines are there to help you to make healthy choices that will lead to good nutrition and health.
Otherwise our Dietitian is able to assist you with education healthy eating and health advice, or assist with developing an individual meal plan suited to your needs.
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The basis of healthy eating
Eat a wide variety of foods from the five food groups
- plenty of colourful vegetables, legumes/beans
- fruit
- grain (cereal) foods – mostly wholegrain and high fibre varieties
- lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds
- milk, yoghurt, cheese or their alternatives, mostly reduced fat. (Reduced fat milks are not suitable for children under the age of two years.)
- Drink plenty of water.
Limit foods high in saturated fat, such as biscuits, cakes, pastries, pies, processed meats, commercial burgers, pizza, fried foods, potato chips, crisps and other savoury snacks.
Replace high fat foods containing mostly saturated fat with foods containing mostly polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats. Swap butter, cream, cooking margarine, coconut and palm oil with unsaturated fats from oils, spreads, nut butters and pastes, and avocado.
Limit foods and drinks containing added salt, and don’t add salt to foods in cooking or at the table.
Limit foods and drinks containing added sugars, such as confectionery, sugar-sweetened soft drinks and cordials, fruit drinks, vitamin waters, energy and sports drinks.
Limit alcohol. Drink no more than two standard drinks on any day to reduce your risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury over your lifetime, and drink no more than four standard drinks on any occasion. For women who are pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant, or breastfeeding, not drinking alcohol is the safest option.
Together with following the healthy eating guidelines, aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity, such as walking, every day.
Meal PLanning
Thinking ahead and planning meals and snacks for yourself or your family based on the Australian Dietary Guidelines and Australian Guide to Healthy Eating is the key to healthy eating and also the best way to lose weight. Planning helps manage the budget, makes shopping easier and maximises foods that are high in nutrients, but lower in kilojoules.
Some people prefer three meals without snacks and others like smaller meals with mid meals, like morning and afternoon tea, in between. Thinking ahead about mid meal snacks is important for healthy eating, but absolutely essential for weight loss. Well planned snacks can make it easier to limit portion size at meals by allowing a ‘top up’ between meals and also avoids being so hungry at the next meal that you eat too much or eat unplanned discretionary foods