The NHS has shared simple advice on plating up food to help you lose weight
The NHS shared two plate rules to aid your weight loss efforts(Image: Getty)
Two straightforward principles for portioning your meals could support your weight loss journey. The NHS has advocated these strategies as components of a healthy lifestyle to assist those pursuing slimming goals.
Statistics indicate that approximately one in four adults across the UK are affected by obesity. Given the various health complications linked to excess weight, shedding pounds is consequently a widespread ambition for numerous people.
Nevertheless, embarking on this path can prove challenging and intimidating. Recognising this, the NHS offers online guidance featuring fundamental measures to adopt when working towards a healthier weight.
Through its Better Health website, the health organisation outlines two uncomplicated principles for meal preparation to facilitate your progress. These include:
- Filling half your plate with vegetables
- Using smaller plates or bowls
Vegetables
The NHS advises targeting a minimum of two vegetable portions per meal, which should occupy approximately half your plate. This approach ensures satiety whilst maintaining lower calorie consumption.
The NHS stated: “Aiming for two or more portions of veg in a main meal means about half of your plate. Try to make sure you have at least two portions of veg as part of your main meals.
“This helps to fill your plate with low-calorie, fibre-rich, filling foods, leaving less room for higher-calorie foods or ingredients.”
Plate size
Part of the issue stems from the reality that many individuals are consuming quantities beyond their requirements. According to the NHS: “Everywhere we look there are large and extra-large portions of food and drinks – this has left many of us eating more than we need.”
The health service went on to advise: “Scale down when plating up. Try using smaller plates and bowls to help reduce your portion sizes at mealtimes.”
Calories
The NHS added that the amount you eat is “just as important” as what you eat. It warned: “No matter how healthy your diet is, you can still put on weight if you are eating too much.
“Having more calories than your body needs each day can lead to weight gain.” To lose weight, the NHS said the average person should reduce their daily calorie intake by 600kcal.
That means having:
- 1,900kcal per day for men
- 1,400kcal per day for women
This will vary slightly depending on the individual, though. For more information, visit the Better Health site here.
