Pacific Diets Healthy Eating Plan
www.PacificDiets.com
Healthy Eating An introduction to calories The two most common questions dietitian around the Pacific receive are - What should I be eating? and, how much should I be eating? 
 Finding the right balance can be a bit of a challenge for most people. Too much or too little of any kind of food can be unhealthy. All foods contain calories (dietary energy) and a wide range of nutrients. Some foods contain lots of calories but very few nutrients (energy dense) while others may be jam-packed with nutrients (nutrient dense) but low in calories. A simple way to choose healthy foods in the Pacific is to choose foods that are grown locally and have not been processed or packaged – the fresher the better. No single food or food group can provide all the nutrients needed for health and wellbeing. Variety and balance are the critical ingredients. By eating a diet that includes a variety of healthy foods from each food group we can balance our calorie intake and maximise our health. In most Pacific countries less than 10% of people are eating enough fruits and vegetables each day. Fruits and vegetables are low in calories and packed with vitamins and nutrients making them a key ingredient in a healthy diet. To stay healthy and achieve a healthy body weight, we need a certain amount of calories and nutrients from food and drinks each day. As a general guide, most adults should aim for 2000 calories each day.
Healthy Weight Loss Healthy weight loss, and weight maintenance is all about making simple lifestyle changes that you can keep up every day. Many people rush in too quickly, making lots of changes and banning themselves from eating certain foods only to find that within a week its all too hard to keep up. We want to give you the tools and nutrition knowledge to make healthy eating choices for life. We’ve divided common foods into food groups and recorded their serving sizes based on how many calories they contain. If your aim is weight loss, a healthy weight loss rate is 0.5-1kg a week. For men this can be achieved by eating around 1900 calories a day, for women 1500 calories a day. See below for our guide on how many servings from each food group to eat to achieve this. You can make some swaps between the food groups, just as long as you get a good variety and your 5 servings of fruits and vegetables each day.
2000 CALORIES
SERVINGS
Fruits
2
Colourful Vegetables
4
Root Crops and Carbohydrates
7
Dairy,oils, nuts and coconut
3
Meat and Protein Sources
5
Extra Expenses
1
1900 CALORIES
SERVINGS
Fruits
2
Colourful Vegetables
4
Root Crops and Carbohydrates
7
Dairy,oils, nuts and coconut
2
Meat and Protein Sources
5
Extra Expenses
1
1500 CALORIES
SERVINGS
Fruits
2
Colourful Vegetables
4
Root Crops and Carbohydrates
5
Dairy,oils, nuts and coconut
2
Meat and Protein Sources
3
Extra Expenses
1
Fruits Aim for a minimum of 2 servings a day
100 CALORIES Watermelon 2 thick, ¼ circle slices (300g) Pineapple
Banana Pawpaw Tangerine Apple Kumquat Mango Guava
1.5 cups of chopped fresh pineapple or 1/2 pineapple (230g) 1 medium banana (110g) 1 medium pawpaw (300g) 1 and a half (300g) 1 medium apple (200g) 10 kumquats (250g) 1 medium mango (200g) 3 guavas (300g)
Vegetables Aim for a minimum of 3 servings a day
50 CALORIES Saijan, bele,cassava leaves, taro leaves, cabbage and all other cooked great leaves Ota, Watercress, lettuce Okra Tomato Beans Carrot Cucumber or zucchini
100g/ 1 cup
Bean Sprouts Pumpkin Eggplant
2 cups (200g) 100g 200g
Peas Beetroot Corn Cauliflower
½ cup ½ cup 1 small cob (100g) 1.5 cups (150g)
200g/ 2 cups 1.5 cups 1 large (size of fist) 1 cup (200g) 1 cup/ 1 medium (140g) 1 small cucumber (400g)
Root Crops and Carbohydrates Aim for between 5-8 servings a
100 CALORIES Potato (boiled) 100g Breadfruit 100g Sweet potato
90g
Cooking banana Taro Cassava Yam
90g
Bread
1.5 slices bread
Bread roll
½ small roll
Oats
¾ cup cooked
Weetbix
2 weetbix
Pappadam
2.5 small
70g (2 small slices) 60g (1 small stick) 50g
Pappadam White Rice (boiled) Noodles Dahl (cooked) Dahl (raw) Chickpeas Red Kidney Beans Boiled lentils Breakfast crackers Naan Roti
2.5 small ½ cup ⅓ a packet 100g 30g 3/4 cup (120g) 3/4 cup (120g) 3/4 cup (120g) 2.5 crackers 40g 40g
Planning on frying those? that’ll cost you more: Potato Breadfruit Vudi Dalo Cassava
Dairy, Nuts, Oils and coconuts Aim for between 2-4 servings a day
100 CALORIES Cheese
Thin slice the size of a matchbox
Full Fat Milk Milk Powder Low Fat Milk Skim Milk Powder Yoghurt Oil (all types) Yoghurt Butter Margarine
½ cup 2 Tbsp ¾ cup 2 heaped Tbsp 100g (5 spoonfuls) 12g (2 tsp) 100g (5 spoonfuls) 15g (¾ a Tbsp) 15g (¾ a Tbsp)
Avocado
4 Tbsp.
Coconut Cream
2 Tbsp
Coconut Flesh
30g (3cm x 3cm)
Coconut Water
2 coconuts
Pumpkin Seeds
1 Tbsp (20g)
Ivi, Tahitian Chestnut
3 nuts (50g)
Ngali,Cut, Pili Nut
1 Tbsp (20g)
Peanuts
10 peanuts
10 fries 40g 40g 40g 30g
Meat and protein Aim for between 3-5 servings a day
100 CALORIES Tuna (fresh) Canned tuna (in oil) Canned tuna (in brine) White Fish Chicken Chicken drumstick
70g 70g (85g) 100g (just over half a can) 80g 60 50g
Lamb Beef / Mutton Dahl (cooked) Dahl (raw) Chickpeas Red Kidney Beans Boiled lentils Pork Pork fat
40g 50g 100g 30g 3/4 cup (120g) 3/4 cup (120g) 3/4 cup (120g) 50g 20g
Battered, fried Fish Egg Fried egg Beef Sausage Spam Canned Corned Beef Luncheon Kidney Beans Tofu Nutrella
40g 1.5 eggs ¾ of an egg ½ (40g) 30g (two spoonfuls) 50g (⅙ of a can) 1.5 slices (45g) 100g 60g 40g
Freebies
FREE!
These foods and drinks have so few calories that they are free • WATER
• Herbs
• Spices
• Turmeric
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Onions
• Chillies
• Celery
• Diet Drinks (max 1 daily)
• Tea and Coffee (no milk or sugar)
Extra expenses
100 CALORIES
These foods are low in healthy vitamins and nutrients but high in unhealthy fats, added sugar and salt. Limit these foods to a maximum of two servings a day. Because these foods are low in fibre they don’t make us feel full, lots of sugar and salt can also make us crave these foods meaning its hard to stop eating them. These factors mean that its easy for us to eat too much of these foods- leading to us consuming too many calories and gaining weight. Biscuit Pie Sausage Roll Spring roll Samosa Hot chips Tang Soft Drink (all types) Juice Sugar Potato Chips Tomato Sauce Mayonnaise
1.25 biscuits (18g) 1 party pie (38g) 1 party size (40g) 2 mini spring rolls (14g each) 1 small samosa (40g) 10 standard chips (40g) 1.25 glasses (300ml) 1 glass (250mL) 1 glass (250mL) 4 tsp 12 chips (⅕ a bag) 4 Tbsp 1 Tbsp
Bongos/ Twisties Cake, Muffin and pastries Jalebi Vadai Sev mamra Mixed Bhuja/ Tapi Dried Peas Peanut butter Jam Honey Peanuts Chocolate Beer
1 small bag (20g) 30g ½ one piece (25g) ½ piece (25g) 75g (check packet) 20g (⅙ of a 120g packet) 30g ( (⅕ of a 130g packet) 1 Tbsp 2 Tbsp 1.5 Tbsp 15g (1 level Tbsp) 20g (2 squares) 335mL bottle
$ 400 Calories per pie = 1 hour and 20 minutes walking
$ 900 Calories per meal =2 hours 50 minutes walking
$ 200 Calories for one slice =40 minutes walking
$ 230 Calories for one bun =50 minutes walking
$ 870 Calories per serving = 2 hours and 45minutes walking
$ 370 Calories per pack =1 hour and 10 minutes walking
Balancing calories When it comes to meal times, the best way to save on calories is to make sure half your plate is filled with vegetables., 1/4 with root crops or carbohydrates and the last 1/4 with meat or legumes. This boosts the nutrition and saves on calories. Just look at how many calories are saved by cutting down portions of rice and meat, and increasing the veggies!
Burning calories For good health, and a healthy weight we need at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise everyday. If we over indulge in calories we can also burn some through extra calories. You might be surprised by how long it takes to burn 100 calories!
BURN 100 CALORIES Playing Volleyball for 
 35 minutes
Dancing for 25 minutes
Walking 2km which takes 20 minutes or 
 jogging for 10 minutes Playing Touch or Rugby for 10 minutes