Shop by food groups & lose weight the healthy way.

Your memory might be a little hazy on those foods groups you learned about in school, you might even have a fuzzy image of a pyramid pop up in your mind, but this is probably not going to help you too much.

That’s why we are going back to basics and reviewing the food groups, and what to shop for in each, so that your trolley ends up full of the right stuff, and the glossy new food products and fad diet items can be bypassed without a second glance.

As with all foods, there are healthy options and less healthy options. No food is “bad” or not allowed, it’s all about making mindful choices. If you choose to indulge sometimes as part of a balanced diet that’s perfectly ok!

The foods below are just a guide for foods you should try to choose the majority of the time, so that when it’s time for a treat you can enjoy it knowing it all balances out.

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Breads, cereals, and grains

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Healthy:

Grainy and wholemeal breads, wraps, english muffins, and rolls

Wholegrain or wholemeal crackers

Basmati or brown riceDurum (wholemeal) pasta

Rolled oats, high fibre (>6g/100g) and low sugar (<15g/100g) cereals such as All Bran, Guardian, Shredded Wheat, or natural low fat muesli

Soba (buckwheat) noodles, whole semolina noodles, quinoa noodles, kelp noodles

Other wholegrains for cooking, baking, and home made muesli mixes- rye, oats, spelt, barley, corn, wholewheat

Air popped popcorn

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Less healthy:

White bread

White rice

White pasta

Two minute noodles

Sugary cereals

White wraps

Flavoured quick oats

White crackers or rice crackers

Buttery salted popcorn

Sweet biscuits

Cakes

Pastries

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Fruit and vegetables

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Healthy:

– In moderate amounts:

Potato

Sweet potato

Corn

Peas

Pumpkin

Parsnip

Lentils

Beetroot

Avocado

Whole fruit

– In plentiful amounts

Mushrooms

Spinach and other green leafy veggies

Carrots

Capsicum

Onion

Lettuce

Celery

Shallots

Leeks

Garlic

Cucumber

Zucchini

Sprouts

Tomato

Any other non-starchy vegetables

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Less healthy:

Fried veggies like chips or potato gems

Some oven bake frozen veggies (added fat/sodium)

Some canned vegetables have added sodium

Canned fruit in syrup or with added sugar

Fruit juice

Fruit desserts, sorbet, or frozen yoghurts

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Meat and meat alternatives

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Healthy:

Fresh lean meat

Lean poultry without skin

Fish – grilled, oven baked, steamed

Eggs- boiled, scrambled, dry fried, baked

Tofu

Lentils

Unsalted nuts (just 10-12 nuts at a time though)

Less healthy:

Cheaper cuts of fatty meat

Skin on poultry, fried or deep fried (especially if crumbed)

Processed meat like sausages, salami, bacon rashers, devon, burgers,

Salted or sugar coated nuts

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Dairy:

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Healthy:

Low fat milk

Low fat and sugar yoghurt

Non fat plain greek yoghurt

Low fat and unsweetened soy and nut milks

Ricotta cheese

Cottage cheese

Light custard

Less healthy:

Fruity flavoured yoghurts, especially the full fat varieties

Cream

Ice cream

Sour cream

Full fat creamed cheese

Butter

Full fat cheese

Condensed milk

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Although this guide doesn’t include everything, it’s can be a great tool to help get you on track with stocking your pantry and fridge with healthy ingredients so eating healthy is a breeze.