So you’ve been shopping all day and you’re starting to get hungry. You head to the food court where a virtually endless variety of foods are just a few dollars away. There is everything from chips to sandwiches, ice cream to pastas. The truth is the majority of foods available at a food court are either bad for your health, bad for your waistline or both. So are there any foods that you can eat that won’t derail your weight loss efforts?

Yes there are and the following are exactly those foods.

Custom Sandwiches

The ‘do it yourself’ sandwich idea can either be a positive or a negative when it comes to keeping lean. If you do it right, you can have a healthy meal. If you do it wrong you may be eating as many calories as if you had ordered a pizza or a hamburger! The trick is to know what to put on the sandwich, and more importantly what not to put on it. Start with wholemeal bread, and be careful of those foot long rolls that are packed with calories. Then choose a lean meat. From there load up on as many veggies as you like. Avoid sauces, mayonnaise or any other topping. Cheese is ok in moderation.

Sushi

Two sushi rolls will fill you up and doesn’t come with a huge amount of calories. The seaweed wrap also contains an ingredient that is said to increase thyroid activity, which increases your metabolism. 

Sorbet

Looking for a snack? Feel like ice cream? Opt for a sorbet. It tastes great, comes in many flavours and is low in fat.

Fruit Salads

There is always somewhere to buy a fruit salad. Fruit is a great snack. It’s low in calories, packed with vitamins and full of fibre. Having said that, I personally find the fruit in these food court fruit salads to be a little bit cheap, so instead I opt for the option I talk about next!

Fresh Fruit
Pop into Woolworths or Coles and head to the fresh fruit section. Grab 3 or 4 pieces of fruit and you have a very filling meal. Not only that but it will literally cost you a couple of dollars. (Whereas a preprepared fruit salad is quite expensive for what it is). I like to grab an apple, a pear and a banana. It may seem weird at first but if you want to achieve something badly enough sometimes you have to do things a little differently! After this meal I guarantee you will be full!

Hopefully that gives you a bit of an idea as to what to look for the next time your at a food court. Stay tuned for an article on what to avoid in a food court - and it’s not always what you think!