3 Ditch the discretionary foods

These are foods (and drinks) we choose for pleasure that don’t provide much nutritional value and tend to be high in energy – think chips, confectionery, cakes, biscuits, pastries and sugarsweetened drinks.

You don’t need to completely cut them out if they are foods you enjoy, but you do need to keep these to a minimum when trying to lose weight and still meet your nutritional needs. Of course, everyone will be different in terms of how many ‘extras’ they can fit in and still lose weight, and this largely depends on how active you are. However, in the latest national health survey, Australians aged 2 years and above were eating an average of 35 per cent of total energy from discretionary foods and beverages, suggesting plenty of room for improvement. ➤