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Be good to yourself with Tetley green tea

Eight weeks to wellness: Week eight

by Dr Wynnie Chan

Well done for making it this far and sticking with the eating plan. Hopefully, you will have reached the goals you set when you started eight weeks ago, whether they were to lose weight or just to eat healthier and be fitter. If you haven't met your exact goals, don't worry. Instead, be proud of the achievements you have made and continue following a low-fat, high-fibre diet; exercise regularly and you will make it.

Since you should already feel confident in choosing foods that are healthy, this week let's concentrate on topping up your diet with functional foods. Functional foods have added nutrients that play a specific role in preventing a disease or promoting your health. Examples include probiotic yogurts, prebiotic yogurts, fortified bread, and breakfast cereals and margarines enriched with plant sterols (naturally-occurring compounds that help lower cholesterol), such as Benecol or Flora Proactive.

Probiotic yogurts contain live bacteria that help balance other bacteria we have in our gut to increase resistance to diseases. Prebiotic yogurts contain functional ingredients such as oligosaccharides and inulin. They are not digested in the body but stimulate the growth of certain bacteria in our gut to make us healthy. Try to include some pre- and probiotic yogurts in your diet this week instead of your usual low-fat ones, and remember that yogurts are great sources of calcium as well.

Other functional foods you might like to build in to your diet this week are fortified breakfast cereals, which contain added folic acid - essential if you're planning to have a baby or are already pregnant. Calcium-fortified orange juice will help maintain strong bones and Benecol or Flora Proactive margarines, although a bit pricey, may be beneficial if you have high blood cholesterol.

Hope you've enjoyed following the healthy eating plan for the last eight weeks. Remember, just because the eating plan is over, your healthy eating life-style should continue. Feel free to mix and match any of the menus during a given week.

N.B. If some Tesco products are not available in store, a comparable substitute product with a similar calorie content is acceptable.

Breakfast

Choose one of the following numbered meals (all are under or around 350 calories) and include a glass of fruit juice with your choice.

70g American Style Pancakes with Maple Flavour Syrup (V)
100g strawberries
60g Greek Style Natural Yogurt
(277 calories, 5.2g fat)
60g (1 medium) boiled egg (V)
Wholemeal Marmite Soldiers (80g (2 slices) bread topped with 2g marmite)
120g pineapple canned in juice
(320 calories, 7.6g fat)
115g Mixed Fruit Salad (V)
60g Greek Style Natural Yogurt
50g (1 slice) Rye Bread
16g Lemon Curd
(294 calories, 7.9g fat)
160g grapefruit segments (V)
60g (1 slice) Multigrain Bread
10g H/E Sunflower Spread
20g marmalade
(307 calories, 6.6g fat)
40g Apricot Crunchies (V)
125mls semi-skimmed milk
40g (1 slice) Granary Bread
5g H/E 5% Light Sunflower Spread
(334 calories, 5.9g fat)
40g Shredded Wheat (V)
50g Mixed Dried Fruit
125mls semi-skimmed milk
(346 calories, 3.9g fat)
40g Tropical Muesli (V)
80g banana
125mls semi-skimmed milk
20g Rye Crispbread
10g jam
(350 calories, 4.1g fat)