Healthy Takeaways

Not sure if you have noticed but I have been away for a while. Needed a bit of time off to have a think of future content, plan things, and to have a well deserved break. It was well needed. We all know the importance of wellbeing, as it is wellbeing week this week. I have written previous posts about what I do as part of my self care routine, have a look at those, although one part I would like to add is sleep. I love sleeping, and that is a great self care routine. But you know what? I think that should be my next blog post, so that will be the topic! 

 Back to this post and this topic is healthy takeaways. According to a report by the website statista, in 2016 the UK spent 9 billion pounds on Takeaways! Can you imagine how much revenue that would have been during the pandemic in 2020? I cannot even imagine what that figure would be!

The takeaway industry has changed so much over the years. I do not want to give too much away of my age, but there was little choice on takeaway foods when I was growing up. It was either fish n chips, Curries, or Pizza. Apps, the internet , and new tech start up companies have revolutionsed the takeaway industry, giving it more of a boost regarding choices, sustainability, and price. Gone are the days of walking to a takeaway shop and thinking about what to order. Now it all comes straight to your door, and there is a choice of the mode of delivery, whether this is a bicycle, pushbike or a scooter. It is all amazing to be honest. 

I give you an example, so I have recently joined Deliveroo (after delaying it for a long time, but after encouragement from a friend, and a referral voucher that I received, I made the decision to join them) and when I looked at the menus, I was really spoilt for choice. There are different restaurants now that you can choose from, then the choice of their own menus, then is a section for low calories, high protein, vegetarian, vegan and even more! 

As there is now so much choice I thought I would give a quick guide into what are the best choices regarding nutrition and health

• Vegetables- Try to ensure that the meal is packed full of vegetables or a form of it, they are packed with important vitamins and minerals, which is important for various organs in the body. I have attached a picture of when I had a takeaway meal, I decided to add my kale from the fridge in there, just to boost the vitamin content. There was no vegetables at all in the meal, so I felt that it was really important to do that. Kale is packed full of vitamin A , which is great for improving sight, and helps to support the immune system. Of course that is one example, but there are so much vegetables out there so try to have a much as you can. 

• Leaner options- try to go for leaner cuts on chicken or meat. For chicken choose breast or wings, try to avoid drumsticks or thigh. Even better try to go for turkey, turkey is low in fat, in comparison to chicken. 
• If there is going to be chips involved try to go for wedges instead, as the size is slightly larger , there is less oil absorbed. Even better go for sweet potatoes, as they contain Fibre, which is great for bowel movement, and cholesterol reduction. 
• If there is going to be a curry involved go for a tomato based, as tomatoes are great aa they contain the antioxidant lycopene. My favourite curry is Rogan Josh, or Balti, well I love them all really, however I try to stay away from the creamy curries (Tikka Masala, Korma) as they contain high amounts of fat
• For Pizzas try to stick to vegetable based, as again we want to increase our daily intake of vegetables for the day, so if this can be achieved by eating pizza this is brilliant!
• Watch Your Portions- did you know that the average fat intake for a typical takeaway can be up to three times the recommended amount in one day?  If we choose better options, not only would your stomach be happy , but also the fat intake would reduce significantly, if you are full, try not to eat anymore, instead save it for the next day (depending on the food of course) Food waste is a huge problem in the UK, so if we can reduce it would be fantastic for the environment, as we all know that the food waste goes to landfill. 

• Drinks are also important when it comes to takeaway food, of course my preference is water, however I am aware that alcohol is preferred, so go for spirits/wine instead of beer as they contain less calories, sugar and gas. Of course this all depends on how much alcohol is consumed, the less the amount the better.

 So I hope those tips have been useful for you, do you have any more great tips to share? feel free to comment in the box. 

Dont forget that if you want any extra support why not purchase my service on Fiver? Just to let you know its 75% off the actual price, so why not give it a go?

Have a good week!

 

Nutrition Tips