Plan 2026-W43 · Wednesday 21 – Sunday 25 October 2026
A week of food for Nikki and Ian
Five days, from Wednesday lunch to Sunday, after the holiday: two breakfast toppings, a ride-or-road breakfast on Saturday, a ragu cooked once and eaten twice, the soba boxes made on Thursday for two lunches, and simple plates at the weekend. No batch session this time — everything is cooked on the day it is first eaten. Every figure below is computed from USDA FoodData Central against the weighed quantities in each recipe — nothing here is estimated by eye.
Against the targets
Weekly average
kcal
Protein
Fibre
Sodium
Potassium
Sat fat
Nikki
16321450–1660
111 g≥ 100 g
39 g30–45 g
1446 mgunder 2,000 mg — salt to taste, measured
4335 mg≥ 3,000 mg
11 g—
Ian, core meals
24822300–2600
172 g≥ 140 g
48 g30–55 g
1981 mg—
5770 mg—
17 g—
Ian, with top-ups
2840
190 g
50 gceiling 55 g
2244 mg
6493 mg
24 g
Wednesday's breakfast is out. Thursday's dinner is out. Saturday's lunch and dinner are out, so the averages are over the other 2 days.
On fibre. Nikki averages 39 g a day and Ian 50 g once the top-ups are counted, against a floor of 30 g. The soft ceilings are 45 g for Nikki and 55 g for Ian. There is no official upper limit for fibre, and for Nikki the soluble kind in oats and pulses helps bring LDL down, so more is no problem. They are only there to stop one day jumping far above the rest — a sudden jump is what causes bloating while the gut catches up. Saturday's ride breakfast is kept low in fibre on purpose.
On potassium. Nikki averages 4,335 mg against a 3,000 mg target. That is the point — potassium is one of the better-evidenced dietary levers on blood pressure, and there is no upper limit for it from food with normal kidney function. One exception, worth settling before Monday: for anyone on an ACE inhibitor (ramipril, lisinopril), an ARB (losartan, candesartan) or a potassium-sparing diuretic (spironolactone, amiloride), or with any reduced kidney function, this much potassium is a conversation with a GP first. Those drugs retain potassium by design.
On eggs. Eggs appear in exactly one place — Ian's optional scrambled eggs, cooked and eaten alone. Nothing Nikki eats shares a pan, board or utensil with them without a wash in between.
A short week. Back from holiday on Wednesday, so this plan runs from Wednesday lunch to Sunday, from one shop today. There is no Sunday batch session: the ragu is cooked on Wednesday night and eaten again on Friday, the soba boxes are made on Thursday for Thursday and Friday, and the chicken is marinated on Wednesday night.
At home for lunch. Neither of you is working, so lunches are eaten at home and needn't survive a morning in a bag. Ian's chicken box is still there on Thursday and Friday.
A little salt back. Nikki's sodium ceiling is now 2,000 mg a day, up from 1,500, because food that tastes good is easier to stick to than food that leaves you craving. The savoury dishes now take a measured pinch of salt, and the ragu and minestrone get parmesan. The page still prints where the sodium came from.
Meals out. Wednesday's breakfast was before the plan starts, Thursday's dinner is out, and Saturday is breakfast only, so those three days are shown but not checked against the targets. Saturday's breakfast works whether or not the weather lets you ride.
Old favourites. Nothing here is new: the prawn and butter bean stew, the miso soba, the salmon and the breakfasts are from the week before the holiday, and the ragu, minestrone and avocado toast from the week before that.
Breakfast out, so these totals are only part of the day and are not checked against the targets.
LunchBoth
Smoky king prawn and butter bean stew with red pepper and wholemeal toast
cooked for the two of you
Nikki1 portion, with 1 slice of wholemeal bread
Ian1 portion, with 2 slices of wholemeal bread
For the two of you
1 bag of frozen raw king prawns300 g
1 tin of butter beans, drained240 g
2 tsp olive oil9 g
1 onion150 g
1 red pepper160 g
2 cloves garlic6 g
2 tsp smoked paprika4.6 g
½ tsp chilli flakes0.9 g
1 tin of chopped tomatoes400 g
½ lemon, juiced22.5 g
1 handful of flat-leaf parsley10 g
¼ tsp salt1.5 g
Method
Frozen raw prawns can go in straight from the freezer: give them a minute or two longer in the pan.
Soften the sliced onion and pepper in the oil for 10 minutes. Add the sliced garlic, the smoked paprika and the chilli flakes for a minute.
Add the tinned tomatoes and the drained butter beans and simmer for 10 minutes, lid off, until it thickens.
Stir in the prawns and cook for 3–4 minutes until they are pink all the way through. Season with ¼ tsp salt, squeeze over the lemon, scatter the chopped parsley, and serve it with toast for mopping up.
Beef and mushroom ragu with parmesan and wholewheat pasta
the rest is kept for Friday
Nikki1 portion, with 70 g dry wholewheat pasta
Ian1 portion, with 100 g dry wholewheat pasta
Makes 4 portions
1 pack of 5% beef mince500 g
2 tsp olive oil9 g
1 onion150 g
2 carrots160 g
1 punnet of chestnut mushrooms250 g
4 cloves garlic12 g
2 tsp dried oregano2 g
1 tsp dried thyme1 g
2 tins of chopped tomatoes800 g
1 tsp cider vinegar5 g
1 handful of basil leaves6 g
½ tsp salt3 g
40 g parmesan, finely grated
Method
Brown the beef mince hard in a teaspoon of the oil in a wide pan, breaking it up, until it has lost its pink and any liquid has gone. Lift it out.
In the rest of the oil, soften the finely diced onion and carrots for 8 minutes, then add the chopped mushrooms and cook until they give up their water and it evaporates.
Add the crushed garlic, the oregano and the thyme for a minute, then the beef, both tins of tomatoes, the vinegar, ½ tsp salt and half a tin of water. Simmer, lid half on, for 25 minutes until thick. Boil the pasta meanwhile. Taste before serving: a little more vinegar if it is flat.
Tear half the basil over the plates and grate half the parmesan on top; the rest of both is for Friday.
Blend the milk, a scoop of whey, the peanut butter, the honey and the hemp seeds. Thirty seconds.
Part of Ian's plan every day, not one of the optional top-ups. It brings about 35 grams of protein and almost no fibre, which is exactly the gap between Nikki's plate and what Ian needs.
One bottle a day for Nikki, with or just after a meal — sterols work by competing with cholesterol for absorption, so they do very little taken on an empty stomach.
2 g of plant sterols a day is the dose the LDL evidence is built on, and one mini drink is that dose. A second bottle adds very little.
Dinner out, so these totals are only part of the day and are not checked against the targets.
BreakfastBoth
Overnight oats with Greek yogurt, strawberries and almonds
Each
40 g dry rolled porridge oats
1½ tsp chia seeds6 g
150 g 0% Greek yogurt
60 ml semi-skimmed milk61.8 g
6 strawberries72 g
12 g almonds
Method
The night before, weigh 40 g oats into a jar with 1½ tsp chia seeds, tip 150 g Greek yogurt and 60 ml milk on top and stir until no dry oats remain. It should look wetter than you want — the oats drink the rest overnight. Lid on, into the fridge.
In the morning, six strawberries, hulled and quartered, and the almonds, roughly chopped, over the top.
Miso–ginger soba noodle boxes with tofu, edamame, pak choi and carrot
the rest is kept for Friday
Nikki1 box
Ian1 box
Makes 4 boxes
a 200 g pack of soba noodles200 g
1 block of Tofoo280 g
240 g frozen edamame beans
2 heads of pak choi250 g
2 carrots160 g
1 red pepper160 g
4 spring onions60 g
2 handfuls of coriander16 g
1 tbsp sesame seeds9 g
1 tbsp white miso paste18 g
2 limes, juiced60 g
2 tsp cider vinegar10 g
2 tsp runny honey14 g
3 cm piece of fresh ginger15 g
1 clove garlic3 g
1 tsp olive oil4.5 g
Method
Oven to 200C fan. Cut the Tofoo into small cubes, toss in the teaspoon of oil and roast on a lined tray for 20 minutes, turning once, until the edges are golden.
Boil the soba for 4–5 minutes (check the pack), drain, then rinse hard under the cold tap, lifting the noodles with your fingers until they stop feeling sticky.
Boil the edamame for 3 minutes. Slice the pak choi, stalks and leaves separately; drop the stalks in with the edamame for the last 30 seconds and the leaves for the last 10, then drain and cool them all under the tap. Brief and cold keeps the stalks crunchy.
Dressing: whisk the miso, lime juice, vinegar, honey, grated ginger and crushed garlic with 2–3 tbsp warm water until smooth. It should taste punchy on its own: salty from the miso, sharp from the lime.
Cut the carrots and pepper into matchsticks, slice the spring onions and chop the coriander.
Toss the noodles in three-quarters of the dressing, then everything else through them with the rest. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry pan for a minute and scatter them over. Eat two boxes now.
Ginger, garlic and lime chicken thighs with rice and roast veg
the rest is kept for Friday
Ian1 box
Makes 2 boxes
4 chicken thigh fillets400 g
1 lime, juiced30 g
2 cloves garlic6 g
2 cm piece of fresh ginger10 g
1 tsp runny honey7 g
1 tsp reduced-salt tamari5.3 g
1 tbsp oil13.5 g
300 g cooked white rice
1 red pepper160 g
1 head of broccoli350 g
1 pack of fine green beans200 g
1 red onion150 g
Method
The chicken is marinated on Wednesday night and cooked fresh each lunchtime; only the rice and veg are cooked ahead, on Thursday.
Wednesday night: in a bowl, mix the lime juice, the crushed garlic, the grated ginger, the honey, the tamari and half the oil. Turn the chicken thighs through it, then divide them between two bags, two thighs each, and put both in the fridge.
Thursday lunchtime, oven to 200C fan. Cut the pepper and red onion into chunks, the broccoli into small florets and the green beans in half, toss them with the rest of the oil and roast for 20 minutes, until catching at the edges.
Meanwhile cook the white rice. Divide the rice and roast veg between two boxes; Friday's cools with the lid off and goes in the fridge.
Blend the milk, a scoop of whey, the peanut butter, the honey and the hemp seeds. Thirty seconds.
Part of Ian's plan every day, not one of the optional top-ups. It brings about 35 grams of protein and almost no fibre, which is exactly the gap between Nikki's plate and what Ian needs.
One bottle a day for Nikki, with or just after a meal — sterols work by competing with cholesterol for absorption, so they do very little taken on an empty stomach.
2 g of plant sterols a day is the dose the LDL evidence is built on, and one mini drink is that dose. A second bottle adds very little.
The night before, weigh 40 g oats into a jar with 1½ tsp chia seeds, tip 150 g skyr and 60 ml milk on top and stir until no dry oats remain. Lid on, into the fridge.
In the morning, half a punnet of blueberries and the pumpkin seeds over the top.
Beef and mushroom ragu with parmesan and wholewheat pasta
cooked on Wednesday
Nikki1 portion of Wednesday's ragu, with 70 g dry wholewheat pasta
Ian1 portion of Wednesday's ragu, with 100 g dry wholewheat pasta
On the day
Reheat the ragu in a covered pan with a splash of water until it is bubbling all the way through, boil fresh pasta, and tear over the rest of the basil and grate over the rest of the parmesan.
Blend the milk, a scoop of whey, the peanut butter, the honey and the hemp seeds. Thirty seconds.
Part of Ian's plan every day, not one of the optional top-ups. It brings about 35 grams of protein and almost no fibre, which is exactly the gap between Nikki's plate and what Ian needs.
One bottle a day for Nikki, with or just after a meal — sterols work by competing with cholesterol for absorption, so they do very little taken on an empty stomach.
2 g of plant sterols a day is the dose the LDL evidence is built on, and one mini drink is that dose. A second bottle adds very little.
Lunch and dinner out, so these totals are only part of the day and are not checked against the targets.
BreakfastBoth
Toasted sourdough with peanut butter, banana and honey
Nikki1 portion, with 250 ml semi-skimmed milk
Ian2 portions
Each
2 slices of sourdough80 g
1 tbsp peanut butter15.9 g
1 banana120 g
1 tsp runny honey7 g
Method
Toast the sourdough, spread the peanut butter on while it is hot, slice the banana over and trickle the honey on top. A glass of milk beside it.
If the weather lets you ride, this is the ride breakfast: plenty of carbohydrate, and white bread rather than wholegrain, so it is gentle on a gut about to spend three hours on a bike. If it doesn't, it is a good breakfast before a day on the road anyway.
Blend the milk, a scoop of whey, the peanut butter, the honey and the hemp seeds. Thirty seconds.
Part of Ian's plan every day, not one of the optional top-ups. It brings about 35 grams of protein and almost no fibre, which is exactly the gap between Nikki's plate and what Ian needs.
One bottle a day for Nikki, with or just after a meal — sterols work by competing with cholesterol for absorption, so they do very little taken on an empty stomach.
2 g of plant sterols a day is the dose the LDL evidence is built on, and one mini drink is that dose. A second bottle adds very little.
Wholemeal toast with cottage cheese, avocado and cherry tomatoes
Nikki1 portion
Ian1 portion, with 2 slices of wholemeal bread
Each
1 slice of wholemeal bread40 g
½ pot of cottage cheese150 g
½ avocado75 g
½ punnet of cherry tomatoes125 g
¼ tsp chilli flakes0.5 g
Method
Halve one avocado between you and mash each half with a fork. Toast a slice each, spread the avocado on, spoon the cottage cheese over, and top with the cherry tomatoes, halved, and a pinch of chilli flakes and black pepper.
Buy the avocado firm on Wednesday and keep it out of the fridge so it is ripe by Sunday.
Minestrone with cannellini beans, courgette, basil and parmesan
cooked for the two of you
Nikki1 portion
Ian1 portion
For the two of you
2 tsp olive oil9 g
1 onion150 g
1 carrot80 g
1 leek200 g
1 courgette200 g
2 cloves garlic6 g
1 tsp dried thyme1 g
1 tsp dried oregano1 g
1 tin of chopped tomatoes400 g
1 tin of cannellini beans, drained240 g
60 g dry wholewheat pasta
1 handful of basil leaves6 g
¼ tsp salt1.5 g
20 g parmesan, finely grated
½ lemon, juiced22.5 g
Method
Soften the diced onion, carrot and leek in the oil for 8 minutes, then add the diced courgette, the garlic, thyme and oregano for 2 minutes more.
Add the tinned tomatoes, the drained cannellini beans and three mugs of water, and simmer for 10 minutes.
Break the pasta into short lengths, add it and simmer for 10 minutes more until it is tender. Season with ¼ tsp salt and plenty of black pepper, squeeze in the half lemon left from Wednesday, tear the basil over, and grate the parmesan on top at the table.
Honey and ginger salmon with roast sweet potato and broccoli
cooked for the two of you
Nikki1 portion
Ian1 portion, with 150 g cooked white rice
For the two of you
2 salmon fillets240 g
2 medium sweet potatoes400 g
1 head of broccoli350 g
2 tsp olive oil9 g
1 tsp runny honey7 g
1 tsp reduced-salt tamari5.3 g
2 cm piece of fresh ginger10 g
½ lime, juiced15 g
¼ tsp salt1.5 g
Method
Cook 60 g dry white basmati rice — about 150 g once cooked: 150 g for Ian.
The salmon comes out of the freezer on Saturday night and thaws in the fridge.
Oven to 200C fan. Cut the sweet potatoes into wedges, skin on, toss in the oil and roast for 30 minutes.
Mix the honey, the tamari, the grated ginger and the lime juice. Sit the salmon on the tray with the wedges for the last 12 minutes, the glaze spooned over, and the broccoli florets in beside them for the last 10.
Season the wedges with ¼ tsp salt as they come out. Thirty-five minutes, mostly oven time.
Blend the milk, a scoop of whey, the peanut butter, the honey and the hemp seeds. Thirty seconds.
Part of Ian's plan every day, not one of the optional top-ups. It brings about 35 grams of protein and almost no fibre, which is exactly the gap between Nikki's plate and what Ian needs.
One bottle a day for Nikki, with or just after a meal — sterols work by competing with cholesterol for absorption, so they do very little taken on an empty stomach.
2 g of plant sterols a day is the dose the LDL evidence is built on, and one mini drink is that dose. A second bottle adds very little.
Ian's meals, the weekday chicken box, the extras beside them and the afternoon shake are the plan, and every figure on this page is checked against them. Everything below is on top of that and none of it is compulsory. Training is down at the moment, so some days will want the lot and some days none of it. Each one is priced so you can add what you fancy and still know where the day landed. The rate against each is what the shopping list assumes.
Top-upIan only
Latte
suggested 5 × a week
Per portion
175 ml whole milk180.2 g
Method
A double shot with steamed whole milk. At this size it fits without pushing the saturated fat anywhere awkward.
One portion110kcal6 gprotein0 gfibre78 mgsodium238 mgpotassium
Top-upIan only
Evening milk shake
suggested 3 × a week
Per portion
400 ml semi-skimmed milk412 g
1 banana120 g
1 tbsp peanut butter15.9 g
1½ tsp runny honey10.5 g
Method
Blend the milk, one whole banana, the peanut butter and the honey with a handful of ice.
A whole banana rather than half of one: this is an optional drink, and half a banana left on the side is exactly what the plan is trying to avoid.
If the day has run short on protein, a scoop of whey puts about 20 g back.
One portion407kcal19 gprotein4 gfibre186 mgsodium1142 mgpotassium
Top-upIan only
Scrambled eggs on sourdough with cheddar
suggested 2 × a week
Per portion
2 medium eggs100 g
20 g mature cheddar
1 slice of sourdough40 g
1 tsp olive oil4.5 g
1 spring onion15 g
Method
Two eggs beaten with black pepper, no milk. Cook them low and slow in the oil and pull the pan off the heat while they still look underdone — they set on the way to the plate.
Grate the cheddar in at the very end so it melts rather than cooks. On a toasted slice of sourdough, spring onion over.
Ian's meal only. Nikki's egg allergy means the pan, spatula and board want washing before they touch her food, and the same goes for the knife if it has been near the eggs.
One portion368kcal21 gprotein2 gfibre451 mgsodium225 mgpotassium
Taken at those rates the menu averages 358 kcal and 18 g of protein a day on top of the plan, taking Ian's 2,300–2,600 kcal core up to about 2,840 kcal on the days it is all eaten. Skipping the lot is fine; the core clears the targets on its own.
44 different plants
The target is 30 a week between you. Counting distinct species — herbs, spices, seeds and wholegrains all count, and each one appears in something actually eaten this week.
Quantities are what the week actually uses, summed from every portion of every meal, then converted into what you would put in a trolley. One shop, today, Wednesday. The salmon goes straight in the freezer and comes down on Saturday night; everything else keeps in the fridge until it is used. Tick as you go — the ticks are remembered on this device until you clear them.
Fruit and veg
the week uses 3 red peppers
the week uses 3 onions
the week uses 3 bananas
the week uses 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
the week uses 1 courgette
the week uses 1 avocado
the week uses 1 punnet of blueberries
the week uses 1 orange
juiced — about 30 ml a lime · the week uses 4 limes, juiced
the week uses 4 spring onions
juiced — about 45 ml a lemon · the week uses 1 lemon, juiced
the week uses 7 cm piece
the week uses 11 cloves
the week uses 2 handfuls of coriander
the week uses 12 g
the week uses 1 handful of flat-leaf parsley
Chilled
about 2 pints per litre
the week uses 750 g
the week uses 450 g
the week uses 5 Benecol drinks
the week uses 1 pot of cottage cheese
the week uses 1 block of Tofoo
Fish and meat
the week uses 1 bag of frozen raw king prawns
Freezer
Cupboard
no added salt · the week uses 1.6 kg
dry weight — it roughly two-and-a-half-times when cooked
the week uses 7 slices of wholemeal bread
no added salt; 240 g drained per tin · the week uses 240 g
no added salt; 240 g drained per tin · the week uses 240 g
the week uses 6 slices of sourdough
the week uses a 200 g pack of soba noodles
the week uses about 6 tbsp
the week uses about 8 tbsp
the week uses 2 medjool dates
the week uses about 1 tbsp
the week uses about 1 tbsp
the week uses 2 tsp
the week uses 1¼ tsp
the week uses 2 tsp
the week uses 2 tsp
the week uses about 1 tbsp
the week uses 1¼ tsp
the week uses 2 tsp
The top-up shelf · optional
The optional extras, quantified at the rate suggested on the menu and listed apart from the main shop because skipping them should not waste food. Everything here keeps. Where an item is already on the list above, this is the amount to add to it.
about 2 pints per litre
lattes only, 175 ml each
the week uses 3 bananas
the week uses 4 medium eggs
the week uses 2 slices of sourdough
the week uses about 3 tbsp
a small block is plenty
the week uses about 1½ tbsp
the week uses 2 spring onions
Store cupboard items — oil, spices, pastes and nut butters — are listed as one jar or bottle each. Check what you already have before the shop rather than buying seven of them.
Where the numbers come from
Generic ingredients resolve to a pinned USDA FoodData Central id (SR Legacy and Foundation Foods, downloaded in full rather than queried, so the figures are reproducible offline). Pulses use the no-added-salt or cooked-without-salt entries, which is what a rinsed UK tin actually gives you. A handful of items are not in FoodData Central and carry label-sourced figures instead — worth checking against your own packs:
Arla skyr natural 0% fat — product label, Arla Skyr Natural (verify against your pot)
Soba noodles, dry (Clearspring) — Open Food Facts, Clearspring Japanese buckwheat noodles 200 g (5021554987949) for the macros, fibre and salt (0.03 g). Check the pack: many soba brands salt the dough and run near 800 mg sodium per 100 g. Potassium, calcium and iron are FDC 168906 (soba, dry).
White sourdough loaf — typical UK bakery sourdough label — the single biggest sodium item in the plan
Benecol yoghurt drink (67.5 ml bottle) — Open Food Facts, Benecol yoghurt drink — potassium and calcium are not published, so both are counted as zero here (a small under-count)
Tofoo Naked tofu — The Tofoo Co. Naked Tofu pack label (280 g block) for the macros — it is pressed, so nearly twice as dense as the FDC entry. Sodium from the label's 0.06 g salt. The label carries no micronutrients: potassium and iron are FDC 172448 (firm tofu) scaled by the protein ratio 16.5/9.04, and calcium is left at that entry's figure unscaled because Tofoo is nigari-set rather than calcium-set.
Unflavoured/vanilla whey concentrate — typical whey concentrate label (verify against your tub)
Sodium figures assume no salt is added at the table or in cooking.
Across the week, Nikki's biggest sources are salt (1,455 mg), cottage cheese (462 mg), wholemeal bread (364 mg) and parmesan, finely grated (354 mg) — the rest is spread thinly across everything else.