UK: The Ultimate Calorie Guide
Note: Still a work in progress, will be adding more stuff when I have time. Just some tips I picked up from living there over the last 5 years. Numbers stated are as of 2022. See @lowcalproducts for more! (& more in depth reviews)
Eating Out (calories listed & has macro-friendly options)
| NAME | OPTIONS (that probably won’t break the calorie bank) | LINK |
| Pret A Manger | Chicken Noodle Soup (110kcal, 11g protein) Berry smoothie (140kcal) Maine Lobster Salad (350kcal, 18g protein) | Link (Pg 25-26 for salads, Pg 33 for soups) |
| Nando’s | 1. 1/4 chicken breast (290kcal, 42g protein) 2. 1/4 chicken leg (260kcal, 28g) 3. Boneless Chicken Thigh (140kcal, 13g) 4. Chicken Thigh Skewer (200kcal, 18g) 5. Nandino Drumstick and Thigh (260kcal, 28g) Sides: Apple Slices (120), Coleslaw (120), Raw veggies (45), Charred Sweet Potato (130), Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower (90), Mixed Leaf Side Salad (50) | Link (Pg 4 for chicken) |
| Wetherspoons (fondly called ‘Spoons’) | 1. Tandoori chicken bites (316kcal, 37g protein) 2. Buttermilk chicken breast meal (466kcal, 29g) 3. Surf and Turf (474kcal, 21g) 4. Side salad with dressing (82kcal) | Official site seems down, found this instead |
| Fast food: McDonald’s | 1. Grilled Chicken Salad (161kcal, 19g) 2. Hamburger (252.4kcal, 14g) 3. Egg McMuffin (289kcal, 18g) 4. Cheeseburger (302kcal, 17g) 5. 6 McNuggets (303kcal, 16g) 6. Fillet-O-Fish (330kcal, 14g) | Link McDonald’s calculator if you wanna build it yourself |
| Fast food: Burger King | 1. Hamburger (249.2kcal, 11.9g protein) 2. Cheeseburger (288.9kcal, 14.1g) 3. Salad crunchy chicken (254kcal, 16.4g) 4. Green salad (53.6kcal) 5. Sides – Chicken fries (174.2kcal, 11.7g) 6. Chicken nuggets, 4pcs (164.6kcal, 8.2g) 7. Whopper Junior (324.9kcal, 12.2g) – Ketchup (10.2kcal) – BBQ Dip (34.5kcal) | Link |
| Fast food: Subway | Salads: 1. Veggie delite (52kcal) 2. Turkey breast (106kcal, 12g P) + Most of their salads are 100-200+kcal Sandwiches 6″*: 1. Veggie delite (212kcal, 11g) 2. Turkey breast (267kcal, 21g) 3. Ham (271kcal, 20g) + Many more from 200-319kcal, most around 20+g protein Cookies: 1. Oatmeal Raisin Cookie (198kcal) 2. Chocolate Chip (201kcal) 3. White Chip Macadamia Nut (204kcal) 4. Double Chocolate Chip (208kcal) 5. Peanut Butter (221kcal) *Values include multigrain wheat bread, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, green peppers and cucumbers. **Sauces: Vinegar (0), Mustard (5), Honey mustard fat free (34), Sweet onion fat free (39) | Link |
Meal Prep
- Hello Fresh and its competitor brands (delivery meal kits) – Meals around often around 400-700kcal
- Huel (v convenient meal shakes, RTD shakes & bars) – Not low calorie per se but vegan & supposedly nutritionally complete. They have Mac&Cheese and healthy instant pasta too.)
- All grocery stores have a ton of pretty affordable ready-meals which are quite balanced if you’re in a pinch. [Link to a survey that has the facts & figures of different supermarkets’ offerings]
Grocery Stores
| STORE | PRODUCT |
| Lidl | Chicken & vegetable pasta (368kcal, 30.4g protein) – £1.59 King prawn linguine (383kcal, 16.4g protein) Seafood linguine (329kcal) – £2.69 Mini quiches in the chilled section (100+kcal) Frozen meals (roughly 300-500kcal and decently filling) |
| Iceland | Slimming World frozen ready meals are 200-500kcal |
| Sainsbury’s | Chicken Chow Mein (355kcal, 28g protein) – £3.25 |
| M&S | Their “Balanced For You” range + “Count on Us” range (Couldn’t find the nutrition online but here are some links) My FAVOURITE for low cal ready-meals and they have a ton of options but unfortunately much more expensive. High protein, too! |
| Tesco | Does £3.90 meal-deals (used to be £3 but hello inflation. Still the cheapest I think) |
Convenient protein sources
- Almost all grocery stores have ready-to-eat prawns and chicken
- Wafer thin chicken slices are roughly 9-15kcal each
- Lidl’s (already cooked) sweet chili chicken breast is awesome
- Greek yogurt is much cheaper than in Asia
- Fage 0% is a classic
- Lidl’s home brand Milbona is cheaper (I’m partial to Lidl’s coconut-vanilla)
- Muller does awesome flavoured yogurt pots (partial to toffee & their seasonal flavours which are usually spot on)
- TwoChicks eggwhites for convenient eggwhites without the yolk
- When all fails, MyProtein – influencers on Instagram usually have discount codes & they have flash sales so look out for those
Grocery Stores (in order of bourgeoise)
- Aldi – Best prices, even better if you look out for ‘wonky vegetables’
- Lidl – Best prices
- Iceland – Great for frozen onion, frozen veggies, frozen berries
- Sainsbury’s
- M&S
- Waitrose
- Specialty health stuff – Holland & Barrett; Boots
Money-Saving Hacks
- Olio (Freecycling app that also rescues leftover food from Tesco/Iceland/restaurants) – you’ll never have to buy bread ever again
- TooGoodToGo (discounted food at the end of the day to reduce waste)
- Tesco Clubcard (free loyalty programme) – huge discounts when buying groceries compared to regular
- Pret Coffee Subscription (£12.50 for first month of unlimited drinks including frappes & smoothies, £25 after – note that some outlets only have hot drinks)