Helpful tips
Seven golden rules for healthy eating habits
Snack suggestions
Tips for grocery shopping
Healthier cooking options
Tips for healthy lunchboxes
Food Swap Suggestions from the Swap It Don't Stop It website
Seven golden rules for healthy eating habits
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat more fruit and vegetables (at least two servings of fruit and five servings of vegetables every day).
3. Manage your portion sizes.
4. Eat less processed food.
5. Eat regular meals – don’t skip meals – and always eat a healthy breakfast (e.g. bowl of natural hi fibre cereal with sliced banana and low fat milk).
6. Restrict your alcohol intake.
7. Limit your intake of “extra” food. These foods are not essential to provide the nutrients the body needs and some contain too much added fat, sugar and salt. Examples include lollies, chocolate, biscuits, cakes, pastries, soft drinks, chips, pies, sausage rolls and other takeaways. Choose these foods sometimes or in small amounts.
Snack suggestions
- Add fruit and/or yoghurt to low fat milk and blend them together to make smoothies.
- Fresh fruit and vegetables, dried fruit or an occasional handful of unsalted nuts make a good snack.
- Fruit bread and wholegrain bread or toast with healthy spreads such as avocado or low-fat cream cheese, makes a filling, healthy snack.
- Eat some low fat yoghurt with fresh fruit.
- Choose wholegrain breakfast cereal with low fat milk.
- Fruits such as oranges and grapes make delicious frozen snacks.
Tips for grocery shopping
- Prepare a shopping list and stick to it. Avoid grocery shopping when you are hungry.
- Choose lean meats and trim the fat off meat. Try to limit processed meats (e.g. sausages or delicatessen meats such as bacon or salami) as they tend to be high in salt and saturated fat.
- Try to limit foods that contain a lot of energy, such as cakes, biscuits, chocolate and high-fat snack foods.
- Buy low fat and unsweetened foods, but choose carefully. Some foods advertised as “lite” or “fat free” may still be high in kilojoules.
- Read the nutrition information panel on food, especially for fat, sugar, salt (sodium) and energy (calorie/kilojoule) level, when shopping.
- Buy polyunsaturated or monounsaturated oils like sunflower oil and olive oil, or polyunsaturated and monounsaturated margarines for cooking rather than saturated fats such as butter or ghee.
- Leave juice and sweetened drinks such as cordial or soft drink off your shopping list and drink water instead.
- Buy lime juice or herbs and spices for your vegetables and salads rather than buying high kilojoule dressings and sauces as these dressings and sauces can be high in fat and salt.
Healthier cooking options
Cooking meals at home using healthier cooking methods, such as grilling, stir-frying, light microwaving or steaming are better options than deep-frying or prolonged boiling. Also consider using herbs and spices instead of salt for seasoning.
