UK users - supermarket tips & advice

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gponter79
gponter79 Posts: 124 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Firstly very sorry to our cousins over the pond but this is really aimed at MFP users in the UK.

I'm sure we all spend enough time in the Tesco, Asda, Aldi & Sainsburys etc close to our homes but do you have any really good tips or finds that you always pick up because they really work for you. I'm looking for anything that you think is worth sharing from, best bread, pasta, snacks, dinners, drinks, whatever comes to mind.

Quite often i will buy a Boots shapers meal deal for lunch. (chicken wrap, apple & grape, diet coke) for £3 and it will come to about 350 cals. It's just right for my lunch snack and is not very bulky.
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Replies

  • melville88
    melville88 Posts: 137
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    A few supermarket gems I've found over the course of my weight-loss:

    Nimble wholemeal bread ( <50 cals/slice)
    Extra Light Mayonnaise
    Weetabix Oaty Bars (57 cals, 6 grams of fibre, 1 gram fat)
    Alpen Light Choc and Fudge bars (63 cals, 5 grams of fibre, 1g fat (less than 1 I think- soooo delicious!)
    0.75% milk (can't tell the difference between this and semi skimmed milk)
    Extra Light cheese triangles (I use these instead of normal cheese in things like omelettes and for fajitas etc)


    Just a few things that I get quite regularly and I was surprised about how low cal, low fat and tasty they were. I also love smoked salmon and extra light cream cheese on bread or toast as a snack- it is to die for!
  • MouthyMatthewCHANGED
    MouthyMatthewCHANGED Posts: 85
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    One of my best finds has been I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light.

    I tried a lot of the lower-calorie spreads and many of them were tasteless muck, but ICBINBL tastes just as good as any of the full-fat or high-calorie spreads :tongue:
  • gailosborne
    gailosborne Posts: 435
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    Hello, coming back later to do this - great idea!!
  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
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    Tesco has some really delicious sausages - the 'lighter choices' ones that are only 150cal for 2 sausages!! I'll post some more when I'm not getting ready for work :)
  • Rudie
    Rudie Posts: 27
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    My best tip is to get it all delivered! I get a Saino's order delivered on a Tuesday night and it costs £3.50. It's the biggest diet (and money) saver ever - no temptations, I only get exactly what I need. I generally spend about £55 for two of us for a week (inc delivery). Last week I went in myself and did my shop - £88!!!!!!

    Apart from that, the products I always have in are the low fat philadelphia-type (but own brand) cheese with garlic and herbs - it makes a lovely creamy sauce for pasta (with a couple of tablespoons of water or stock), with ham or vegetables or chicken. Also always have Sainos 3% fat Greek style yogurt, Sainos basics salsa (in a jar, about 80p and a lifesaver with vegetable crudites), and Sainos basics crisps (small bags at less than 100 cals each).
  • jodieunited
    jodieunited Posts: 112 Member
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    Tesco has some really delicious sausages - the 'lighter choices' ones that are only 150cal for 2 sausages!! I'll post some more when I'm not getting ready for work :)

    these are nice! also light choice ready meals,taste great and the cals are already counted!!
  • Natalie43
    Natalie43 Posts: 122 Member
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    I love Kellogg's Special K Mini Breaks, 98 cal per bag and the mini boxes of raisins you can buy that are about 40 cal, for those sugar hits.
  • Stasha83
    Stasha83 Posts: 39
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    This is such a great idea for a post, looking forward to all the replies :smile:
  • p1nkpr1ncess
    p1nkpr1ncess Posts: 254 Member
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    This is a great post!

    I love the Alpen Light Summer Fruits bars at the moment, only 61 cals and a good "sweet" fix. I've also been snacking on Light Mini Babybels - 40 cals each and I pair it with a few carrot sticks and a hard boiled egg for a 150 cals filling snack! :)

    My other half also LOVES his mince so I get the Extra Lean Minced Beef from either Asda or Tesco as it has very little fat and less calories :)
    -x-x-
  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
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    Ok so, now that I have some more time... Boy could I use some advice on this topic! I miss being an expert shopper in Australia!!

    Some things I have found:

    I generally think British bread is disgusting (it's just a lot more dense and thicker than in Aust) but Hovis seed sensations is pretty good, quite high cal but keeps me full for ages and usually only need one slice

    Reduced fat cheese is also not good here (I know, I'm too fussy!!) but I like the leerdhammer lightlife slices

    My fave cereal bar is the choc-mint special K bar but having a lot of trouble finding it in London (previously had it in Scotland)

    We buy the Askey's wafers and have a small amount of icecream between 2 wafers after dinner - it's kind of impossible to go over 1 serve doing it that way (still looking for a decent tasting low fat icecream if anyone has suggestions!)

    Sainsbury's flavoured couscous makes a good base for a meal

    Weight watchers single-serve flavoured tuna cans are very handy for packed lunches oh and also heinz snap-pot baked beans

    When we want a treat on the weekend we usually go to sainsbury's or tesco or something and get one of the '2 pack' desserts ie cheesecake slices, eclairs, scones... it's usually about 300cal per serve and it means we aren't tempted to have more than one

    Hmm that's all I can think of right now but looking forward to hearing what other people have found :)
  • melville88
    melville88 Posts: 137
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    @lil missy- Low fat ice cream options: ben and jerry's do a few different low fat frozen yoghurt options. The lowest one is cherry garcia, then chocolate fudge brownie and then phish food. It goes 3, 4, 5 grams of fat in each respectively. I also found Walls Cream of Cornish actually isn't that high in fat- can't remember exactly how much is in it but if you check tubs in your local supermarket you might be surprised by what you can get! Also, for a frozen dessert with very very little fat try sorbets- they're packed full with sugar though. xxx
  • gailosborne
    gailosborne Posts: 435
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    I love the Innocent veg pots, they are really delicious and quite filling and come in at under 350 cals- I take them to work for lunch quite often. I also sometimes use the M&S 'Fuller for Longer' meals when I know I'll be in a rush - they really fill me up!

    Will keep thinking - have picked up some good ideas so thanks everyone!!
  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
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    @lil missy- Low fat ice cream options: ben and jerry's do a few different low fat frozen yoghurt options. The lowest one is cherry garcia, then chocolate fudge brownie and then phish food. It goes 3, 4, 5 grams of fat in each respectively. I also found Walls Cream of Cornish actually isn't that high in fat- can't remember exactly how much is in it but if you check tubs in your local supermarket you might be surprised by what you can get! Also, for a frozen dessert with very very little fat try sorbets- they're packed full with sugar though. xxx

    Thanks! The ben and jerrys is so high in cals though :( but very delicious. We have been getting the tesco ones with toppings (cant remember the names)... they have similar calories to a low fat one but taste better but obviously still likely high on the fat and saturated fat.
  • antiadipose
    antiadipose Posts: 447
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    bump!!!!!!

    im moving there in 3 months and i keep asking my boyfriend the most pathetic questions like "do u think theyll have zucchini.. eggplant.. apples?!" lol "how about yogurt... any fat free options in ur shops?!"
    ... i know im freaking out for nothing but i just don't know what to expect! so plzzzzz keep this coming!
  • gailosborne
    gailosborne Posts: 435
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    bump!!!!!!

    im moving there in 3 months and i keep asking my boyfriend the most pathetic questions like "do u think theyll have zucchini.. eggplant.. apples?!" lol "how about yogurt... any fat free options in ur shops?!"
    ... i know im freaking out for nothing but i just don't know what to expect! so plzzzzz keep this coming!


    yes to all these!!!
  • ClareMolloy
    ClareMolloy Posts: 1
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    This is a great topic. I shall definitely try some of the snacks you have all been suggesting.
    I like Snack a Jacks rice and corn snacks as a replacement for crisps - only 89 calories and less than 2g fat.
    I also cut turkey breasts into strips, dip them in Season-All and grill them in the oven. Really tasty hot-or-cold, low in fat and zero carbs.
    For low fat ice cream try Carte D'Or Vanilla Light - only 70 calories for 2 scoops and 2g fat. I have found this consistently in Waitrose. Tesco & Sainsburys seem to stock it sporadically.
    Cheers!

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  • erikazj
    erikazj Posts: 2,365 Member
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    bump!!!!!!

    im moving there in 3 months and i keep asking my boyfriend the most pathetic questions like "do u think theyll have zucchini.. eggplant.. apples?!" lol "how about yogurt... any fat free options in ur shops?!"
    ... i know im freaking out for nothing but i just don't know what to expect! so plzzzzz keep this coming!

    Yes, we have all those:

    Zucchini would be labelled as courgettes, eggplant as aubergines, apples are apples! There are some differences, the biggest being there is a lot less sodium and added sugar in foods like bread, compared to in the US.

    I quite like the food doctor pitta breads as a bread alternative. I too eat the light babybels - although they're not real cheese. I tend to have 'real' cheese and have a smaller portion. The cathedral city lighter mature cheddar is fine if you want something to melt on top of pasta (30g for less than a 100 cals), ricotta is always low fat, and low calories. Santa Lucia light mozzarella is quite good for homemade pizza. Discovery wholemeal tortillas are 109 cals each. I like Lurpak lighter spreadable, about 58 cals for 10g. I really like Rachel's Dairy yogurts, the full fat ones are completely worth it, bot the low fat ones are nice too. One of the few low fat yogurts that don't have high fructose corn syrup in.

    I'll add more as I think of it...

    Erika
  • lilmissy2
    lilmissy2 Posts: 595 Member
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    Oh yeah, I forgot about the cathedral city light... I like that one too... but only the block version, the slices are yuck which kind of surprised me. I have had carte dor light but fiance is fussy and only likes favloured icecreams... I keep trying to get him to change to low fat, it will be easier once we move back to Aust coz there are loads of flavours of low fat icecream (I think we just have way more space for our supermarkets hehe)
  • SuzMcH
    SuzMcH Posts: 343 Member
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    Fab thread and I will be keeping an eye out for hints and tips.

    Ryveta crackerbread. only 18cals a slice and nice with a little extra light cream cheese and salad
    Marks and spencer thai beef to chicken dipping wraps - 5 for 50cals. Expensive but a lush low cal treat.
    Quavers/Wotsits/Skips any one for under 100cals

    My weakness is sugar and I've a real sweet tooth so
    Cadbury's light chocolate mousse - only 60cals and a good chocolate taste
    Twister mini choc and vanilla ice cream lollies - only 40cals and a real treat for summer
  • alisonengland
    alisonengland Posts: 110 Member
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    If you are veggie then the Quorn savoury eggs are yummy and only 50 cals each.

    Tescos Rough Oat Cakes are also about 50 cals each and they are so rough that it takes about 2 hours to chew and swallow by which time you are exhausted and need a snooze..however I put reduced fat humus or avocado on them and they are fine!

    Tescos flame grilled ready cooked chicken chunks are also great if you have some rocket salad and tomatos etc. It takes literally 12 seconds to prepare (can you tell I am not the worlds greatest chef..) and if you throw in a few walnuts, 20g of cheese and a couple of olives lunch is only 200 calories.

    I also use the weightwatchers malted bread, 49 cals a slice and very tasty!

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