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Diet & Nutrition

Packed Lunches

Lunch is a great time to pack plenty of healthy foods into your diet!

Challenge: Create a healthy, balanced lunch box with at least one food from of each of the 5 food groups. You gain one point for each food group and an additional point for extra portions of fruits, vegetables and a healthy option drink.

Penalty: You loose one point for each item of confectionary, drinks with added sugar and salty snacks.

1. Starchy Food: Base your lunch on a starchy food such as bread, pasta, rice, cous cous, chapatti and potato.

Choose – wholegrain varieties where you can for added nutrients like fibre, which keeps you fuller for longer

Try - different breads for example pitta bread and wraps.

Use – left over’s from last night’s dinner like pasta, which taste great the next day.

Avoid – fried or fatty starchy foods such as pizza and samosas.

2. Protein: Add some meat, fish, egg or vegetarian sources of protein such as beans and pulses to your starchy food. Cheese also counts as a source of protein.

Choose – Lean cuts of meat or remove the visible fat and low fat cheeses.

Try – vegetarian sources of protein such as hummus.

Use - tinned fish such as tuna, salmon and sardines for a handy way to add protein to your lunch. Hummus, tofu and quorn

Avoid – processed meat such as sausages and pies.

3. Dairy: Add a source of dairy to your packed lunch. This can be a yogurt, milk or some cheese.

Choose – low fat options such as skimmed milk, reduced fat cheeses and ‘fat free’ yogurt. These foods contain calcium which is good for your bones and teeth.

Try – natural yogurt with added fresh or dried fruit and cottage cheese with dipping vegetables.

Use – handy lunch box dairy foods such as yogurt tubes, milk cartons and yogurt based drinks.

Avoid – full fat milk, yogurts which are high in sugar and hard cheeses, which are usually higher in fat than soft cheeses.

4. Vegetable: Include at least one vegetable portion (see the 5 a day portion guide). This can be fresh, tinned or even juiced!

Choose – a variety of colours to provide you with a range of nutrients.

Try – chopping carrots, peppers, cucumber and celery into sticks for a crunchy snack. Grating vegetables to put into salads, pitta pockets and wraps is a great way towards your 5 a day!

Use – Tinned sweetcorn, to add to pasta and cous cous.

Avoid – vegetables in salted water or sauces.

5. Fruit: Include at least one portion of fruit (see the 5 a day portion guide). This could be fresh, frozen, tinned, dried, juiced or in a smoothie.

Choose – a variety of colours to ensure that you eat a range of nutrients.

Try – fruits that you have never tried before, you do not have to stick to apples, oranges and bananas. Chop a slice of melon or pineapple in half to create a moon shaped fruity snack to eat with your hands. Pack a bunch of grapes or a handful of strawberries in your lunch box.

Use – packets of dried raisins and dried apricots to munch on during the day.

Avoid - fruit tinned in syrup or with added sugar.

Drinks: Water, milk, yogurt based drinks, pure fruit juice and smoothies without added sugar are healthy options. Fizzy drinks, squash, juice drinks, sports drinks and milkshakes contain added sugar so are not a healthy option.

Confectionary: This includes, chocolate, biscuits, cakes, sweets and sugary snacks.

Salty snacks: Crisps, salted nuts, pretzels.