BREAKFAST

Never miss breakfast and always eat within an hour of waking in the morning.

QUICK MEAL IDEAS:

  1. 200g tuna, 2 pilchards, 4 sardines, 225g prawns, lentils or mixed bean salad, served with a large mixed salad of your choice. Use 1/2 tablespoon flaxseed oil as a dressing, (serves 1)  or make your own French dressing  (mix together 4 tablespoons olive oil, 4 tablespoons lemon juice, a pinch of dried herbs and 1 clove of fresh grated garlic) 
  2. Two-egg omelette (mushrooms and leek, herb, garlic, tomato and grated courgette), served with a large mixed salad. Use 1/2 tablespoon flaxseed oil or the French dressing (above) to drizzle over. Serves 1.
  3. Falafel and mixed salad on toasted pumpernickel bread.
  4. Warm mackerel salad (serves 1). Grill 50g mackerel fillets for 6-7 minutes to heat through. Serve on top of a mixed salad made up off 1/2 avocado, pitted, peeled and sliced, 1 ripe mange, pitted peeled and sliced and assorted salad leaves. Top with toasted sunflower seeds.
  5. Stir-fry prawns or organic tofu with a selection of stir fry vegetables, Use 1/2 tablespoon olive oil to stir fry. Add tamari soya sauce plus mixed herbs to taste.

1) Porridge oats - get organic where possible. (Do not buy the quick or instant porridge because its speed of cooking means it is absorbed into the bloodstream faster). Top with ground flaxseeds (linseeds), a mix of seeds like sesame, sunflower and pumpkin, or sliced, blanched or whole almonds. You can add some berries to sweeten it or a spoonful of sugar-free jam.

2) Yoghurt: organic, live, plain yoghurt with chopped-up pieces of fruit or blended to make a smoothie. Sprinkle with nuts and/seeds.

3) Grilled kippers, sardines, herring or mackerel fillets with grilled tomatoes and mushrooms.

4) Rye bread with sugar-free jam or pure nut butter (such as peanut, cashew or almond). Avoid nut butters made with palm oil as this is a saturated fat.

5) Muesli: you can buy a good sugar free muesli from your health food shop (or use the recipe below). Soak the muesli in apple juice, orange juice, rice, soya or oat milk for about 20 minutes or overnight as this breaks down the phytates in the raw grain and means that you will get more goodness from the food. If the muesli doesn't already contain nuts or seeds, add this important protein to your bowl.

6) Breakfast omelettes 

  • Beat together 2 eggs with 2 tbsps. non-dairy milk
  • Heat a small teaspoon of organic olive oil in a small frying pan and pour in the mixture. Carefully stir the eggs to fold the mixture.
  • When nearly set, add a filling of tomato, onion, red pepper or leftover vegetables from last night's dinner with a sprinkle of dried herbs.

LUNCHES

Click on the titles below to go to the relevant recipe

EASY BREAKFAST IDEAS.

Snack ideas:

  • An apple with four almonds
  • Raw celery, carrot or broccoli dipped in hummus
  • 145g pot of organic, live yoghurt (with seeds or fresh fruit)
  • Fresh fruit with 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin or sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 avocado eaten with a teaspoon - add hummus if you like
  • Crudites with a tofu or tahini dip
  • Handful of nuts and raisins 
  • Celery sticks filled with peanut butter
  • Oatcakes or rye cracker with hummus or taramasalata.

Try to have a palm-sized amount of protein with lunch and no more than half a palm-sized amount of starchy carbohydrates such as brown rice or corn or vegetable pasta and one or two palm-sized portions of raw or cooked vegetables.

Soups: always have a protein, so choose a fish or bean soup with a slice of rye bread or oatcakes.

'Fat around the middle' recipes

(Source: Fat around the middle - Marilyn Glenville)

DINNER

SNACKS

HOMEMADE MUESLI

Serves 1

  • Use raw ingredients of your choice, preferably organic wholegrain cereals better still if wheat free.
  • 25g  of either one or a combination of oats, rice flakes, millet flakes, barley flakes, rye flakes or buckwheat flakes.
  • 1 1/2 heaped tablespoons whole or freshly ground seeds (flaxseeds, pumpkin, pine kernels, and or/sesame)
  • 1/2 tablespoon whole or crushed fresh nuts (optional) (almonds, brazils, cashews, pecans, hazelnuts)
  • A good handful mixed fresh fruit (berries, kiwi, apple etc)
  • Serve with 200ml oat milk, rice milk, organic soya milk and a tablespoon of goat's, sheep's or organic live plain yoghurt if desired.

Eating SMALL, nutritious snacks mid-morning and mid-afternoon, between meals, will help to stabilise your blood sugar levels. Always include a protein with your snacks if you can.

Avoid starchy carbohydrates at this meal if you can until you have lost the weight around the middle. Have a palm-sized portion of protein with two palm-sized portions of raw or cooked vegetables. Vary the vegetables so that your meals are interesting and vary the cooking methods too- try steaming, roasting and stir-frying. Use herbs and spices (garlic, lemongrass, ginger, tamari, lemon, miso, turmeric, cinnamon etc) for different flavours.