Balanced Meal Ideas for Healthy Eating

When it comes to healthy eating, there’s a lot of noise out there. Strict rules, fad diets, so much contradictory advice about what we ‘should’ or ‘shouldn’t’ be eating.

So I wanted to break it down, and show you some visual examples of how to eat for health and weight loss.

Because the truth is, you don’t need to eat (anywhere near) perfectly to make progress.
You just need to fuel your body well (with an awareness of portion sizes and calories, even if not tracking them), most of the time. In a way that tastes good, feels good, and fits your lifestyle.

Below are some balanced meal ideas from an online coaching client who’s been taking regular food photos as her way of keeping track. This lady has been aiming to building nourishing meals that help her feel full, energised, and in control, without cutting out the foods she loves.

The majority of these meals are:
✅ High in protein
✅ Colourful and satisfying
✅ Packed with vegetables and fibre
✅ Simple to prepare
✅ Enjoyable to eat
✅ Realistic – no perfection required

Let’s break down what makes these simple healthy meals work so well, and how you can use the same approach.

Prioritising Protein

One of the most powerful healthy eating tips for appetite, energy, and weight loss (if that’s your goal) is high protein meals.

Why it matters:

• Keeps you fuller for longer

• Helps build and maintain muscle, which is vital for metabolism and long-term health

• Improves recovery after exercise

• Stabilises energy levels and can reduce cravings and energy dips

In these easy nutritious recipes, protein comes from foods like chicken, eggs, Greek yogurt, fish, tofu, beans, and lean meat.

These are a few breakfasts my client has been enjoying…

How to put it into action:

• Breakfast: Scrambled eggs on toast, protein yogurt with berries, or overnight oats with protein powder

• Lunch: Tuna, tempeh or chicken salad, chicken wraps, omelettes

• Dinner: Grilled salmon with veg, lentil curry, lean beef stir-fry

Aim for a palm-sized portion of protein at each main meal, and a little at snacks too if you can.

Filling Your Plate with Colourful Vegetables

Balanced meal ideas aren’t just about protein – they’re about packing in nutrients and fibre too.

Colourful vegetables aren’t only pretty to look at. Each colour offers different vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that support your immune system, hormones, and digestion. Plus, the fibre in vegetables improves gut health, long term heart health, and keeps you fuller for longer.

How to add more colourful vegetables:

• Add a handful of spinach or frozen peas to pasta or rice dishes

• Roast a tray of mixed veg once a week and use it in lunches or dinners

• Keep cherry tomatoes, cucumber sticks, peppers and carrots in the fridge for quick snacks

• Buy frozen mixed veg to save chopping time

Aim for at least half your plate to be colourful fruit or veg. Start small and build up.

These are some colourful lunches my client has been enjoying…

Keeping Healthy Meals Easy And Appealing

The best simple healthy meals are quick to make and look appealing. We eat with our eyes first: if your plate looks fresh and colourful, you’ll enjoy it more and feel more satisfied.

This client’s meals demonstrate that healthy eating doesn’t need to be complicated. Often, it’s just protein + veg + carbs + healthy fats, arranged nicely on the plate.

Small touches that make a big difference:

• Use a colourful plate or bowl

• Add fresh herbs, chilli flakes, or lemon juice

• Jazz it up – try roasted veg, olives, a sprinkle of feta, sundried tomatoes, a tbsp of nuts or seeds, pomegranate seeds, and any other ways you can think of to make it feel like a meal you might find in a restaurant

• Flavour with a reduced calorie or homemade dressing

You don’t need restaurant-style plating – just make it look colourful and appealing to you.

Here are a few dinners my client has been enjoying…

Progress Not Perfection

These meals didn’t happen overnight. This client started with small, realistic steps:

• Adding eggs to breakfast instead of just toast

• Including an extra handful of veg with dinner

• Cooking an extra portion of protein at dinner for the next day’s lunch

Over time, those changes become habits.

If your meals look different right now, that’s OK. You don’t need to change everything at once. Start with one small tweak, practise it, and build from there.

Something else to consider is snacks – unless they’re planned, it’s easy to reach for biscuits, crisps and chocolate.

Fruit or protein make great default snack choices. As you can see from the photos below, a protein snack could be a high protein yogurt, protein shake, or something like a couple of boiled eggs or babybels.

Also as you can see from the photos, it’s important to include less nutritious snacks that you enjoy too. The majority of clients (and definitely myself) love chocolate. Deliberately planning and enjoying a bit of chocolate (or other food you love) in a portioned out amount in your week, can significantly improve your likelihood of staying consistent and achieving lasting results.

This leads me on to…

Including the Foods You Love

A vital part of healthy eating for weight loss is making it enjoyable and sustainable. As you may already have experienced on previous diets – if you cut out all your favourite foods, you’ll likely crave them more and end up overeating later.

Most of my coaching clients still enjoy chocolate, takeaways, and wine as part of their lifestyle. The difference now is that they’re factored in and more spread out over a few weeks. So they’re still enjoyed when they’re most worth it, and the consistent great choices around them leads to weight loss progress.

How to fit in the foods you enjoy:

• Have a couple of squares of chocolate with your evening cup of tea.

• Include your favourite bread in a balanced lunch.

• Consider what’s most worth it. Say no to the generic shop-bought cakes, chocolate and biscuits so you can enjoy the homemade special stuff that’s much more delicious.

• If you’ve got a big meal out, keep other meals that day lighter and full of protein and veg.

Balanced eating means making space for both nutrition and enjoyment.

Making It Work in Real Life

A healthy meal doesn’t have to take ages to make or involve complicated recipes. Here are some strategies my clients use for easy nutritious meal ideas:

Batch cooking – Make a big pot of chilli, curry, or soup and portion it for the week.
Mix-and-match basics – Keep cooked chicken, boiled eggs, or roasted veg in the fridge.
Frozen is fine – Frozen fruit and veg are just as nutritious as fresh and often cheaper.
Repeat favourites – Rotate 3-5 go-to meals you enjoy to reduce decision fatigue.

The client whose photos you see here repeats meals often, and finds that works really well for saving time, and freeing up her brain for other important parts of her life. She swaps the protein or changes up the veg to keep things interesting, and finds a new recipe now and again when she has time to do so.

Start Where You Are

If you’re looking at these photos thinking ‘my meals look nothing like that!’, please remember: you don’t have to get there overnight.

Here’s where to start:

1. Add one extra portion of veg to your day

2. Include a protein source at breakfast

3. Drink more water

4. Swap one snack for fruit or yogurt

5. Plate your food so it looks appealing to you

Pick one. Nail it. Then move on to the next.

The Takeaway

Healthy eating is about nourishing your body in a way that feels good and fits your life.

These photos aren’t showing perfection. They’re just some examples of what it looks like when you focus on high protein meals, colourful vegetables, and simple healthy meals you enjoy.

Start small, stay consistent, and remember: it’s the everyday choices that make the biggest difference to your health.

Want help building balanced meals that fit your lifestyle? – I’d love to support you.

Check out the link below for more information and to apply for coaching:

Online Weight Loss Coaching with Hayley