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Marks & Spencer Simply
Fuller Longer
range does what it says on the packet, and the dishes are formulated to satisfy
the appetite for as long as possible. They’re not all low-calorie so do check
the label – the fish dishes tend to be the lowest in calories e.g. King Prawns,
Lochmuir Hot Smoked Salmon With Couscous & A Lemon Vinaigrette is 320
calories! The
Count on Us
range is also recommended, especially the Fish
Pie (345 calories) and 295 calorie Roast Pork Loin In Gravy, New Potatoes,
Savoy Cabbage & Carrots

Waitrose’s Love Life You Count
range has lots of fans: they
do apply the branding to a lot of different products but the You Count ones
tend to offer a main meal dish at around 300 calories, like the Chicken, Wild
Mushrooms and Vegetables at 318 or Beef and Red Wine Casserole at 297.

Tesco’s Eat Live Enjoy
range includes Chilli King
Prawn Noodles (275 per pack) and the
Light Choices
Mushroom Risotto
with 360.

Morrisons NuMe
Range gets a really big
thumbs up from the forum, with the Chilli and Potato Wedges (313), Spinach and
Ricotta Cannelloni (292) and the Cumberland Pie (297) voted tasty
and
filling
– though apparently you have to be quick as they fly off the shelf!

Asda Chosen by You
Chicken Sizzler is a hit at
292 calories and
Sainsbury’s Be Good to Yourself
range has lots of
options – suggested picks are the hearty Shepherd’s Pie (349 calories) and the
Tomato and Basil Chicken (372).

The
Cook
stores and
online shop are rated highly, too – they’re frozen meals presented in a
home-made way. Their latest range includes
Salmon Fishcakes with Thai
Seasoning
at 230 calories per portion, and
Paella with chicken, chorizo,
peppers and pea
s at 307. They also do a good range of vegetarian dishes and
smaller pots for lunch, and will deliver a
Diet Meals Weekly Box

Most supermarkets also make
vegetable-based side dishes which come in smaller packs than the standard ready
meals. They’re often designed for sharing, but eating the whole pack of
Cauliflower Cheese or one of the Indian side dishes can still come in at under
300 cals and often the dishes are satisfying in themselves. I like the Spinach
Dhal from Waitrose - the spices in veggie side dishes mean your meal is big on
flavour, but low in calories.

One
tip
: If you
choose a diet option ready-meal, try adding your own spices or fresh herbs to add
flavour - I’ve mixed in a little French or wholegrain mustard into a thin
cauliflower cheese sauce which had no discernible cheese, or you could add just
a little low-fat cream cheese to a sauce or curry side dish without adding too
many calories… soy or chilli sauces are also great.

US Options

The
ready-meals market is smaller in the US, but the following frozen dishes are
lower in calories than traditional versions of the same dishes: do read the
labels for salt and other additives.

The
Lean Cuisine
(leancuisine.com) range has a vast set of choices, including the ‘spa
collection’ and over ninety without preservatives, including Grilled Chicken
Primavera at 220 calories or Hunan Stir-Fry with Beef at 280 cals. Read the
reviews to find out which dieters enjoy!

Smart
Ones from Weight Watchers
(eatyourbest.com) includes a Satisfying Selections Range which is designed to
keep you full with extra protein: it includes Peppercorn Beef at 280 calories.
There’s also a star rating system on the website so you can see what other
people have liked – the Chicken in Spicy Peanut Sauce gets a high rating, and
is 250 cals.

The
Healthy Choice
(healthychoice.com) range includes a vegetarian range, free of additives, with
dishes like Pumpkin Squash Ravioli at 310 calories. The Cafe Steamers get the
thumbs up especially the Honey Glazed Turkey and Sweet Potatoes at 250
calories. Lots of reviews on this site, too.

Kashi
Frozen meals
 
(kashi.com) are less widely available but have an emphasis on whole grains,
like Sesame Chicken and Pilaf at 300 calories, and
Amy’s Kitchen
(amys.com) also has its fans, with lots of vegetarian and gluten-free options.
The cheese enchilada is gluten free and has 240 calories. 

Making
your own soup is easy and cheap, but for a no-hassle option, I often buy
ready-made and the flavours and brands keep on improving (they used to taste
very salty but I find the newer versions less heavy handed). It’s a great
option in colder weather when a salad, however low in calories, doesn’t quite
seem to fill you up. There’s also scientific evidence that eating soup keeps
you fuller, because it stays in the stomach for longer.

UK Options

One brand that gets the thumbs
up is the
Glorious Skinny
- the Azteca is spicy, with chunks of pepper
and tortilla (half a pot = 90 cals), while the Fragrant Thai Carrot is very
warming and 119 calories for a portion.

The Yorkshire Provender
Company
has
some lovely dishes. Tomato and Red Pepper with Wensleydale is a little higher
in calories than some (176 calories for half a pot), but the chewy pieces of
cheese are delicious. Beetroot and Horseradish comes in at 168 cals for half a
pot.

The original pioneers in this
area,
New Covent Garden Soup
, continue to make a fantastic and wide
range of soups and are very widely available. Forum members particularly like
the Souper Green (90 calories per half carton) and the seasonal varieties like
Winter Broth with Bacon and Kale (1/2 pot, 96 calories). They also make soups
with portions of vegetables that are steamed in the microwave and added as part
of the cooking process – the Red Thai Sweet Potato and Coconut is one of my
favourites as a main meal soup, 256 calories.

I like the
Marks &
Spencer
Spicy Red Lentil and Tomato which is 150 cals. for half a pot, but
incredibly filling.

The
Tesco
Tomato and
Basil is ‘absolutely delicious’, our group reports, and 210 calories for the
whole pot.

Asda
’s range includes Broccoli and
Stilton and Beef Broth – ‘very tasty and low in price’.

Waitrose
Love Life Chargrilled
Vegetable Soup Waitrose Love Life is full of flavour and 100 calories per
portion, while
Sainsbury’s
Chicken and Sweetcorn is a filling 161 per
half pot.

Don’t rule out Cup-a-soups or
tinned soups – really convenient and cheaper than the fresh varieties. For
example, the
Crosse and Blackwell
Best of British Broccoli and Stilton
is ‘lovely and rich’ and 204 calories for the whole tin – and
Baxter’s
Healthy Minestrone with Wholemeal Pasta is hearty and tempting, 79 calories for
half a tin.

US Options

Again, the fresh soups market
doesn’t exist in the same way in the US, but there are still plenty of options.

The Wal-Mart Marketside
range includes a number of
‘fresh’ soup options without additives in microwaveable containers. It
includes a Vegetable Soup at 90 calories per serving, and Chicken Vegetable
Pasta at 100 per serving.

 Campbell’s 
(campbellsoup.com)
have an extensive selection of soups, including a Healthy Request range with
dishes like Mexican-Style Chicken Tortilla Soup at 110 calories per portion,
and many of them are available in microwave packs to take to work.

There’s also the
GO range
which has chunkier soups served in pouches, like the Spicy Chorizo & Pulled
Chicken with Black Beans at 210 cals for the pack.

I
often eat a portion of soup for lunch and dinner - with a slice of bread or
Ryvita to add some crunch (I noticed when I tried to eat only soup, I missed
the texture of other foods as much as the calories). Again, I like the
convenience of having my day’s meals in a single pot - great for work.

Pasta
won’t offer you much bulk for your calories, but if you want something more
solid than soup, and as convenient, you could look at the microwaveable rice
pouches which have extra flavours and spicing built in - one of these will
probably add up to around 400 cals for the packet, so serve in two portions,
perhaps with some frozen veg added: I’d definitely gravitate towards the brown
rice versions as white rice will usually make you hungry again, much faster.

In the UK, Tilda Roasted Pepper and Courgette Steamed Brown
Basmati Rice contains 176 calories for half a pack, or the Veetee Vegetable
Biryani is 174 for half a pack. In the US, there’s Uncle Ben’s Spanish Style,
for example, at 200 calories for half a pack.

We’re moving towards Home-Made in this category but there’s
been a lot of talk on diet forums lately about ‘no calorie’ shirataki noodles
which are made of a kind of yam and are supposed to leave you full but not add
to your calorie count. They’re so popular they’ve been sold out wherever I go
but I’ve heard mixed reports. Yes, they’re filling, and they can work well
combined with a stir fry or some prawns or lean meat. However, don’t expect
them to taste too much like ‘real’ noodles. They can also have a slightly fishy
smell though this lessens if you rinse them before cooking. Shirataki noodles
are also available with tofu as part of the mix which may make them more
satisfying. You can buy them online or via health food or Asian speciality
shops.

Preparing couscous could count as borderline cooking, but
there are various flavoured couscous brands that you put in a bowl and add
boiling water to – in the UK, the Ainsley Harriott packets contain two portions
of around 170-190 each - again, you can bulk them out with frozen peas or corn,
or serve with a veggie sausage or burger.

All
the egg dishes and ‘on toast’ dishes from the Breakfast Section will work
equally well at another time of day: beans on toast is one of those dishes you
can eat without anyone really noticing you’re on a diet - especially nice if
you add some chilli flakes or sauce!

The best site I’ve found to allow you to select favourite
ingredients, cooking time and calorie counts is the BBC Good Food site,
bbcgoodfood.com – there’s a specific section with recommended 200-400 calorie dishes
including Healthy Fish and Chips, and Full English Frittata. You can also save
all your favourites into your own recipe binder if you register, and read other
reviews of each recipe posted by users.

In this section, I’ll stick to simple dishes which barely
count as ‘recipes’ – they’re more suggestions for fast and easy meals when you
don’t want to spend too much time cooking or in reach of temptations.

Meat and Two Veg

You
obviously need to be a little more careful about your meat and two veg meals
while you’re fasting, but it certainly doesn’t mean giving them up!

Over the page, I’ve created a mix and match table with some
suggestions for combinations and portion size: treat all the calorie counts as
a guideline and double check on the back of your packs. Most steamed/boiled
green veg come in at around 30-35 calories per 100 grams though peas and corn
are higher in calories.

One Pot Meals

The recipes that
follow are simple and fresh and infinitely adaptable: use them as the basis for
healthy, nutritious and low-calorie meals on Fast Days.

Replace the veg with any
others in season – adjusting the calories, of course. Also, you can serve with
a portion of meat or fish as listed in the previous section.