healthy active living

Healthy meals and snacks to keep to you fit

We've all done it - felt a bit peckish, gone to the cupboard and grabbed the biscuits. But if you're looking for something a little better for you, we've got 10 light and healthy meal options that will fill you up without piling on the pounds.

Pitta pockets with strips of chicken and salad with light coleslaw
Fill pitta pockets with shredded chicken and your favourite choice of salad, adding a small amount of reduced fat coleslaw will make it more interesting. Chicken and pitta bread are both low in fat and therefore low in calories, a little coleslaw perks it up without adding too many calories.

Rice salad with apple and raisins
Cook your rice and add any of the following; sweetcorn, peppers, grated carrot. Adding apple and raisins will add a little sweetness. The more vegetables that you use in the salad, the longer it will take you to eat as well as making you feel full.

Cheese and carrot sandwiches
Take two slices of bread and grate some cheese and carrot to make a flavoursome filling. The beta-carotene that the carrot contains is a good antioxidant to help prevent heart disease and cancer.

Reduced fat houmous and oatcakes with carrot and pepper sticks
Readymade houmous can be bought in the supermarkets, team it with oatcakes and some vegetable sticks and you will have a lunch that will keep you full.

Mixed bean salad
Take a can of mixed beans, add chopped peppers and your favourite leafy green salad, and serve with toasted pitta bread. Why should you eat this? Beans are full of soluble fibre, helping lower high cholesterol levels.

Tomato soup and croutons
If you are in a hurry, a canned soup that comes from one of the many ‘healthy’ ranges in supermarkets is a good choice. Toast yourself a couple of pieces of bread and cut up into low-fat croutons. Because the soup has such a high water content it can help fill you up quickly and stop you from reaching for the chocolate!

Vegetarian pizza
Using pitta bread as a base, spread with tomato paste. Pile up sweetcorn, chopped onions and mushrooms and top with a sprinkling of cheese. These simple pizzas are a great way to increase the amount of vegetables you eat, building up to your five-a-day.

Sardines on toast
Sardines are packed full of beneficial omega-3 fats, which help prevent heart disease, a good enough reason to give this old classic a try.

Jacket potato and cottage cheese
Cottage cheese has a reputation for being bland, but have you tried it with added onions and chives or pineapple? The calcium you get from the cottage cheese helps contribute to your two-to-three-a-day dairy portions.

Wholemeal wrap packed with salmon and salad
Tortillas with salmon and green leafy salad make a tasty lunch. The wholemeal wrap has fibre in to prevent you from needing colonic irrigation and the salmon provides protein.

For further inspiration check out our nutrition guides in the realbuzz.com shop