Using a simple traffic light system makes food assessment easy. Red is bad, Orange is medium and Green is good. This doesn’t mean the colours of the food! It means we grade the impact of different foods. We can see which foods are going to be good for us and which less so. Which foods should be seen as occasional treats and which we can eat every day.
Traffic LIght Categories
Red – Food that is high in fat or sugar. We can call these not good calories. They will probably taste very yummy, but hey, it’s your choice. Examples include take away curries, chips, pizza, cakes and sugary drinks like coca cola. Also crisps and some hot drinks. Most bought desserts.
Orange – Food that has nutritional value but also has some sugar or fat. So some cereals like cornflakes. Most packaged ready made meals. Bread sticks with humous. Home made cakes and desserts tend to be orange. Cheese can be seen as ornage if eaten in small quantities.
Green – Food that is good for us and has calories which are good for us. For example fruit and vegetables. Also grains and seeds. Muesli can be green unless it has lots of added sugar. Potatoes can be green but not if made into deep fried chips. Shame:(
To use the traffic light all you need to do is take a look at your observations from step 1 and grade each one, red, orange and green.
Trafic Light Foods & Drinks
Crisps. Chips. Most take away food. Curry. Pizza. Fizzy drinks. Chocolate bars. Kettle chips. Cake. Biscuits. Beer. Wine. Cheese in large quantities. Sweets. Desserts. Meat. Cream.
Bread in oderation. Soup. Cheese in moderation. Extra virgin olive oil. Butter.
Vegetables. Fruit. Nuts. Cereals with no added sugar. Plain yoghurt.
Once you have assessed your foods and drinks using the traffic lights, hopefully you will have a clearer view of what’s going on. You’ve not counted any calories yet, but you should see where some of the problems are.
The Beach Diet approach is all about building awareness and then making behavioura changes, or behavioural choices. Next you can decide on your goal.