NetDoctor weight loss plan: Week 2

Written by Carina Norris, registered nutritionist

Week 2 basics

Breakfast

Choose one from the mix and match list every day.

Morning snacks

Choose one each day. Try to have as much variety as possible.

• Piece of fruit, eg a kiwi fruit, or a tablespoon of sultanas. A digestive biscuit.
• Pot of veggie sticks - carrot, cucumber, pepper, celery - with three wholemeal breadsticks and two tablespoons of salsa.
• Two pieces of fruit, eg apple and a handful of fresh berry fruits.
• Four ready-to-eat dried apricots and three Brazil nuts.
• Pot of plain home-popped popcorn flavoured with a pinch of paprika or a teaspoon of grated parmesan cheese.

Afternoon snacks

Choose one each day. Try to have as much variety as possible.

• Two rice cakes topped with three tablespoons of cottage cheese with pineapple.
• Slice of malt loaf.
• Two Scotch pancakes.
• One small currant bun/teacake (no icing).
• Two oatcakes or crispbreads spread with low-fat cream cheese or low fat houmous.

Recipes

You'll find recipes for the some of the dishes at the end of the week's plan.

Exercise

Get yourself a pedometer - try to walk 10,000 steps each day. At the weekend, walk for an hour one day and swim, rollerblade, or cycle for 30 minutes on the other.

Monday

Lunch

• Pitta filled with tinned salmon, salad vegetables and 2 teaspoons of low-fat mayo.
• Pot of low-fat fromage frais or a small low-fat fruit yoghurt.

Dinner

• Home-made vegetable chilli served with four tablespoons of cooked rice and a salad.

Tuesday

Lunch

• Chicken salad sandwich.
• Small pot of low-fat fromage frais.
• Handful of grapes.

Dinner

• Mustard salmon: spread wholegrain mustard on the top of a salmon steak and bake.
• Four new potatoes, green beans, a grilled tomato and mangetout or other green veg of your choice.

Wednesday

Lunch

• 150g cottage cheese with pineapple on four crispbreads.
• Large bowl of mixed salad.
• Piece of fruit or handful of grapes.

Dinner

• Baked pesto chicken breast: remove the skin and spread green pesto over the chicken breast and bake for about 20 minutes until cooked all the way through.
• Serve with a medium jacket potato (150g) topped with 15g low-fat olive spread and a mixed salad.
• Tin of fruit in juice.

Thursday

Lunch

• Lean ham and salad wrap.
• Handful of grapes and a low-fat fruit yoghurt.

Dinner

• Chicken curry made with a low-fat cooking sauce and using 100g chicken.
• Serve with four tablespoons of cooked rice, a tomato salad and one tablespoon store-bought mint and cucumber raita.
• Two slices of grilled apple or pineapple topped with two tablespoons of low-fat natural fromage frais.

Friday

Lunch

Tip

Avoid 'cream of' soups that can be high in fat.

Aim for less than 1g salt per portion of soup.

• Bowl of vegetable or lentil soup with a crusty wholemeal roll.
• Piece of fruit and a low-fat fruit yoghurt.

Dinner

• Baked fillet of white fish (choose one that's sustainably caught) topped with a sliced tomato and a tablespoon of grated half-fat mature cheddar cheese.
• 150g mashed potato (mashed with a splash or milk, no butter or spread), peas and broccoli.

Saturday

Lunch

• Trout fillet or small tin of salmon with a salad and a crusty wholemeal roll.
• Bowl of berry fruits topped with three tablespoons of low-fat natural yoghurt.

Dinner

Lean grilled pork chop served with grilled apple slices, four new potatoes cooked in their skins, carrots, sweetcorn and peas. If you want to liven up your chop, before grilling:

• brush it with oil and dust it with a little paprika
• spread with wholegrain mustard or a little curry paste.

Sunday

Lunch

• Two oatcakes spread with low-fat cream cheese.
• Low-fat natural yoghurt with a tablespoon chopped nuts, plus a teaspoon of honey if you like.
• Piece of fruit.

Dinner

• Three slices of roast chicken breast, two medium roast potatoes (lightly sprayed with oil and roasted), carrots, cabbage and broccoli. Serve with a little gravy.
• Three fresh plums.

Week 2 recipes

Monday vegetable chilli

Recipe

Place oil in a non-stick pan and gently fry the onion and garlic for 3 minutes.

Add the carrot, mushrooms and red pepper, and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, stock and chilli powder to the pan, then simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Add the kidney beans and cook for a further 10 minutes.

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 medium carrot cut into chunks
• 6 mushrooms, halved
• half a red pepper, sliced
• small can of chopped tomatoes
• 150ml vegetable stock (made with a stock cube)
• large pinch of chilli powder (or to taste)
• small tin red kidney beans, drained

Thursday curry in a hurry

Recipe

Fry the onion and garlic in the oil for 5 minutes until soft.

Add the rest of the ingredients then bring to the boil.

Lower the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 2 teaspoons curry paste, eg korma or rogan josh
• small can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 100g cold cooked chicken
• 1 tablespoon of sultanas or raisins
• 75g spinach or peas (optional)
• 100ml water

Simple raita

Combine 3 tablespoons natural yogurt with 1 tablespoon of finely chopped cucumber and 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh mint (or half a teaspoon of mint sauce from a jar).