Healthy weight
How to achieve and maintain a healthy weight
Making changes to your eating habits and becoming
more active can get you on track to achieving a healthy weight
Eating for a healthy weight
To achieve a healthy weight, it is recommended you enjoy a balanced diet
and regular physical activity. The Eatwell plate gives you a guide to help you
plan what to eat.
The Eatwell plate
All foods can be part of a healthy diet, but it’s
the right balance and variety that is important
for health. The Eatwell plate (below) shows the
proportions needed for a healthy balanced
diet. Foods from the largest groups should be
eaten most often.
Fruit and
vegetables
Bread, rice, potatoes,
pasta and other
starchy foods
Bread, rice, potatoes, pasta and
other starchy foods
These foods provide you with energy, are low
in fat and should be included at each meal.
To keep these foods low in fat:
● use skimmed or 1% fat milk on wholegrain
cereals or porridge oats
● use spreads sparingly on bread and toast
● try tomato-based sauces instead of creamy
sauces to serve with pasta
● enjoy boiled plantain, or potatoes, sweet
potatoes and yams in their jackets, boiled or
mashed rather than chipped or roasted in oil.
Fruit and vegetables
Meat, ﬁsh,
eggs, beans
and other nondairy sources
of protein
Milk and
dairy foods
Foods and
drinks high
in fat and/or
sugar
To ensure you get all the nutrients your
body needs, you need to eat some food
from each of the food groups every day.
Foods from the largest groups should be
eaten most often.
Adapted from the Eatwell plate in discussion with the
Food Standards Agency. The Eatwell plate is suitable
for all adults and children over the age of 5.
These are low in fat and calories. Aim for
a variety of 5 portions a day.
● They make a quick, low-calorie snack.
● Fresh, frozen, dried and canned all count
towards your 5-a-day, as does fruit juice.
● Fill up on vegetables or salad and limit
dressings and sauces.
● Look out for the 5-a-day symbol.
What’s a typical portion?
1 whole fruit (eg apple); a handful of grapes; a
cereal bowl of salad; 2 small fruits; 3 heaped
tablespoons vegetables; 150ml glass of 100%
juice; 1 heaped tablespoon dried fruit. Dried
fruit and fruit juice are a concentrated source
of calories, so keep to 1 portion a day.
Meat, ﬁsh and alternatives
(lentils, pulses, eggs, nuts)
1A-DAY
OF5
Y
These are a great source of protein, iron and
other minerals. Eat in moderation.
● Take the skin off chicken and trim any visible
fat off meats before you cook them.
Fruit and
vegetables
Dairy foods
d
Meat, ﬁsh an
alternatives
● Use low-fat cooking methods such as grilling,
stir-frying, boiling or steaming.
● Include canned or dried lentils and pulses
(like beans or chick peas) in curries and
stews as an alternative to meat as they are a
great source of ﬁbre and are low in fat.
● Limit high-fat meat products such as
sausages, mince and processed meats.
● Choose canned ﬁsh in brine, spring water or
tomato-based sauces instead of oil.
What’s a typical portion?
80g cooked lean red meat or poultry;
100–150g cooked white ﬁsh or oily ﬁsh*;
1–2 eggs; 3 tablespoons beans, pulses or lentils;
2 tablespoons peanut butter or nuts.
Milk and dairy foods
These are a rich source of calcium and
one of the easiest ways to achieve your
daily calcium requirements is to consume
3 portions.
● Choose low-fat varieties – look out for our
be good to yourself range.
● Try semi-skimmed, 1% fat or skimmed milk.
● Try lower-fat cheeses such as ricotta or
cottage cheese.
● Snack on low-fat yogurt with chopped fruit.
● Use plain yogurt instead of cream in recipes.
What’s a typical portion?
200ml glass of milk; 150g pot of yogurt; 30g
hard cheese; 2 tablespoons cottage cheese.
Foods and drinks high in fat
and/or sugar
Reducing foods high in fat and sugar, such
as crisps, biscuits, cakes, pies, chocolate,
sweets and soft drinks, can help you manage
your weight.
● Swap mayonnaise, salad cream and oil-based
dressings for fat-free or reduced-fat varieties
– try vinegar with lemon or lime juice.
● Snack on fruit, low-fat yogurt or a currant bun.
● Use less oil in cooking – try using oil sprays
and non-stick frying pans.
Alcohol and weight loss
Alcohol contains a lot of calories and provides
you with few nutrients, so be aware of how
much you are drinking.
Should I be cutting out bread,
rice, potatoes and pasta?
No. These foods are relatively low
in calories and can ﬁll you up. But
adding creamy sauces, lots of butter,
margarine or oil, or deepfrying potatoes, increases
fat and calorie content,
which could result in
weight gain.
*Women of child-bearing age should not eat more than
2 portions of oil-rich ﬁsh per week as they can contain
high levels of chemicals called dioxins.
Cutting calories and fat
Reducing calories is easier than you think – it’s just a matter of being
smart with your food choices. These simple food swaps will help save on
calories, fat and saturated fat.
Mealtime
Breakfast
Mid-morning
snack
Lunch
Afternoon
snack
Swap this…
✗ white toast and butter
✗ chocolate rice pops and
full-fat milk
✗ a full English breakfast
√ wholemeal bread and low-fat spread
√ wholegrain cereal and
semi-skimmed or 1%-fat milk
√ grilled bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes
and poached egg
✗ chocolate bar
hh
✗ bag of crisps
✗ slice of chocolate cake
√ reduced-fat or less than 3% fat
cereal bar
√ rice cakes with low-fat soft cheese
√ toasted teacake with low-fat spread
✗ jacket potato with cheese
and beans
✗ BLT sandwich on
white bread
✗ chicken Caesar salad
hhh
✗ macaroni cheese
√ jacket potato with tuna or prawns
with light mayonnaise and salad
√ ham salad sandwich on granary
or wholemeal bread
√ grilled chicken salad with low-fat,
or reduced-fat dressing
√ pasta with a tomato-based sauce
✗ chocolate biscuits
vv
✗ salted nuts
√ less than 3% fat or reduced-fat
digestive biscuit
√ raw vegetable sticks with less than
3% fat houmous
✗ ﬁsh and chips
√ grilled salmon, new potatoes and
steamed vegetables
√ make your own curry using yogurt
for the sauce, chicken breast and
plenty of vegetables
✗ chicken curry and rice
Evening meal
For this…
✗ spaghetti bolognese
√ use extra-lean mince and bulk it up
with extra vegetables
How to read a label
Cooking with less fat
Investing in some healthy cooking equipment
can make a positive difference to your diet.
Using a non-stick frying pan or wok is a good
way to cut down on fat as you do not need
extra oil for cooking. When you do need some,
try oil sprays to reduce the amount of oil you
use. Remember, oil expands when it’s heated,
so you may not need as much as you think.
Using a tablespoon as a measure is a good
1
2
way to control how much you use. Try some
lower-fat cooking methods such as poaching,
Contains nuts, milk and wheat gluten. Not suitable for sesame,
egg or soya allergy sufferers due to manufacturing methods.
steaming, grilling and stir frying. Also,
marinades are a good way to add extra
ﬂavour without adding extra fat.
Sainsbury’s trafﬁc-light nutrition
labelling on
the front of
cal
fat
564 21.1g
food and drink
tells you at a
total
sat fat
sugars
glance if the
9.6g salt 9.5g
food has high
1.10g
(red), medium
20mm
16mm
⁄ a pack
(amber) or low
(green) amounts of fat,
saturated fat,
Allergy advice
Allergy advice
salt, sugar and calories. To make a
healthier choice, go for more greens
and ambers, and fewer reds.
Contains nuts, milk and wheat gluten.
Great to know
Nutrition
Typical values
GDA
per 100g per 1/2 pack % adult GDA
Energy kJ
624
Energy kcal
1128
Protein
nil
Carbohydrate
129.6g
of which sugars
19.2g
Fat
42.2g
of which saturates
19g
Fibre
5.8g
Salt
2.20g
of which sodium
0.12g
317
564
nil
64.8g
9.6g
21.1g
9.5g
17.4g
1.10g
0.36g
per 1/2 pack (150g)
25.3%
0.0%
9.9%
23.4%
15.3%
26.8%
72.5%
21.0%
15.0%
adult children
(5-10 yrs)
2000
45g
230g
90g
70g
20g
24g
6g
2.4g
1800
24g
220g
85g
70g
20g
15g
4g
1.4g
GDAs = Adult Guideline Daily Amounts are based on an average
female. GDAs are guidelines and personal requirements vary
depending on age, gender, weight and activity levels.
Nutritional know-how
The nutrition panel on the back of the
pack can help you make sure you enjoy
a balanced diet. It shows the amount
of different nutrients per 100g of the
product – where space permits, we also
give this information per serving. We have
used the trafﬁc-light colour coding for the
nutrition panel. You’ll also ﬁnd Guideline
Daily Amounts (GDAs) on products. These
guides show the daily amount of nutrients
the average adult or child (5–10 years)
should have in their diet. They show what
percentage of your GDA is in a portion,
and the nutritional contribution it makes
to your diet.
Healthier options
We have plenty of great-tasting healthier
products for you to choose from at
Sainsbury’s. Simply look out for our be
good to yourself range, which has strictly
controlled levels of fat, saturated fat,
sugar and salt – all products in the range
are either less than 3% fat or reduced
fat. When shopping, look out for other
healthier products marked as low fat, low
saturated fat, reduced fat, light and half fat.
Ask your Sainsbury’s
pharmacist
Please talk to our friendly
pharmacists instore if you or your
family need any healthcare advice
or support. Our pharmacies have
extended opening hours and are
in most of our larger stores.
How do you
shape up?
Being overweight
increases your
chances of heart
disease and high
blood pressure as well
as many other health
problems. To ﬁnd out
if you need to lose
weight, measure your
waist. European men with
a waist greater than 94cm (37in), Asian men
with a waist greater than 90cm (36in) and
women with a waist greater than 80cm (32in)
should take steps to reduce their weight.
Customers will be able
to take advantage of
up-to-date nutrition
news, the extensive
database of Sainsbury’s
recipes, a free body
shape toning plan and
lots of useful tools and
calculators, as well
as mobile access.
Members will also have
access to our discussion forums, where they
can share stories and get support from the
online community. For more information,
visit sainsburysdiets.co.uk.
Healthier recipe ideas
To inspire you to cook healthily, we have 100s
of recipes on our website and our recipe cards
instore include our trafﬁc-light labelling – try
the ones that have green and amber trafﬁc
lights for a delicious, healthier choice.
Online dieting
Sainsbury’s Diets is a subscription-based
online diet service that aims to help you lose
weight in a controlled and responsible way.
It offers personalised meal plans and
a convenient food diary service.
Useful websites
For information on healthy weight loss, visit Weight Wise: www.bdaweightwise.com
For information on healthy eating, visit the British Dietetic Association: www.bda.uk.com
For information on eating well, visit the Food Standards Agency: www.eatwell.gov.uk
For information on nutrition and health, visit www.sainsburysdiets.co.uk
This information is a guide only and should not replace advice given by your healthcare professional
Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd, 33 Holborn, London EC1N 2HT. All items subject to availability.
Some items available in larger stores only.