Eating Right – Good Weekend Food Guide

By Dietitian, Juliette Kellow BSc RD

It’s even more important to pay attention to exactly what you’re eating and the quantity you’re eating at the weekend so that you don’t overeat and ruin all your hardwork. Especially if you don’t have access to nutrition information – we’re talking takeaways, dinner with friends, popcorn at the movies and that pastry and cappuccino at the coffee shop!  

Just follow our Good Weekend Food Guide to help you stay on track…

1. Continue to monitor your portions, especially when you’re in restaurants, having dinner at someone else’s house or enjoying a takeaway. If you’re able to serve yourself, fill your plate first with vegetables or salad then add the main dishes.
2. Continue to choose the healthier alternatives. Just because it’s the weekend doesn’t mean you should suddenly start choosing a creamy chicken korma or meat-feast pizza. Instead, opt for the lower-cal tandoori chicken or vegetarian pizza.
3. Give all the extras a miss. Whether you’re going to a restaurant, eating with friends or grabbing a takeaway, stick to a main dish only. Side dishes like samosas, naan bread, prawn crackers, coleslaw, garlic bread and extra fries soon pile on the pounds. And share the rice and meat dishes when you’re dining Chinese or Indian style.
4. Avoid constant nibbling in front of the TV. It’s easy to eat a whole tube of Pringles, tub of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream or kingsize bar of Dairy Milk while you’re watching the latest movie. If you can’t bear the thought of giving it a miss completely, put just one portion of crisps, popcorn, ice cream or chocolate in a bowl and nibble from this.
5. Make a meal of fast food. If you can’t resist a burger and fries at the weekend make sure you have it in place of a meal rather than as a ‘between meal’ snack. Look out for salads, too, in places like McDonalds, Burger King and KFC. They’re usually lower in fat and calories.
6. Limit the amount of booze you have. Stick to just a couple of drinks in an evening and go for lower-cal options like a single measure of vodka or gin with slimline tonic or a spritzer.
7. Eat before you drink. Go out drinking on an empty stomach and you’re guaranteed to fill up on high-cal crisps, peanuts and then grab a kebab or fish and chips on the way home.
8. Have a healthy coffee break. If you stop for a coffee when you’re out shopping, choose an espresso or skinny cappuccino or latte – and decide whether you really want to spend 500+ calories on a muffin or pastry.
9. Cook yourself – and everyone else – thin. Don’t feel you have to make fatty or sugary dishes to impress friends when they come around for dinner. Stick to the same low-fat ingredients and cooking methods as you normally would. A tomato and buffalo mozzarella salad to start with followed by griddled spicy tuna steaks with steamed veg, finished with summer pudding are guaranteed to impress just as much as a calorie-laden menu.
10. Don’t skip breakfast – but don’t OD on fat and sugar either. Lazy mornings may mean you have more time for preparing brekkie but to keep calories down skip the fry ups, croissants and pastries and instead opt for scrambled eggs, beans on toast or toasted crumpets.