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Six useful tips for healthy eating
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1. Eat lots of fruit and veg
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Most people know we should be eating more fruit and veg. But most of us still aren’t eating enough.
Try to eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and veg every day. It might be easier than you think.You could try adding up your portions during the day.
For example, you could have:
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- A glass of juice and a sliced banana with your cereal at breakfast
- A side salad at lunch
- A pear as an afternoon snack
- A portion of peas or other vegetables with your evening meal
You can choose from fresh, frozen, tinned, dried or juiced, but remember potatoes count as a starchy food, not as portions of fruit and
veg.
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2. Base your meals on starchy foods
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Starchy foods such as bread, cereals, rice, pasta and potatoes are really important part of healthy diet. Try to choose
wholegrain varieties of starchy foods whenever you can.
Starchy foods should make up about a third of the food we eat. They are a good source of energy and the main source of a range of nutrients in our diet. As well as starch, these foods contain fibre, calcium, iron and B vitamins.
Most of us should eat more starchy foods – try to include at least one starchy food with each of your main meals. So you could start the day with a wholegrain breakfast cereal, have a sandwich for lunch and potatoes, pasta or rice with your evening meal.
Wholegrain foods contain more fibre and other nutrients than white or refined starchy foods.
We also digest wholegrain foods more slowly so they can help make us feel full for longer.
Wholegrain foods include:
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- Wholemeal and wholegrain bread, pitta and chapatti
- Wholemeal pasta and brown rice
- Wholegrain breakfast cereals
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3. Eat more fish
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Most of us should be eating more fish – including a portion of Oily fish each week. It’s excellent source of protein and contains many vitamins and minerals.
Aim for at least two portions of fish a week, including a portion of oily fish. You can
choose from fresh, frozen or canned – but remember that canned and smoked fish can be high in salt.
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4. Drink plenty of water
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We should be drinking about 6 to 8 glasses (1.2 litres) of water, or other fluids, every day to stop us getting dehydrated.
When the weather is warm or when we get active, our bodies need more than this. But avoid drinking soft and fizzy drinks that are high in added sugar.
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5. Get active and try to be healthy weight
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It’s not a good idea to be either underweight or overweight. Being overweight can lead to health
conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes. Being underweight could also affect your health.
If you’re worried about your weight, ask your GP or a dietician for advice. But if you think you just need a lose a little weight, the main things to remember are:
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- Only eat as much food as you need
- Make healthy choices – it’s a good idea to choose low-fat and low-sugar varieties, eat plenty of fruit and
veg. and wholegrains.
- Get more active
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It’s also important to eat a variety of types of food so you get all the nutrients your body needs.
Physical activity is a good way of using up extra calories and helps control our weight. (Link to Lakelands website)
Just try to get active every day and build up the amount you do. For example, you could try to fit in as much walking as you can into your daily routine. Try to walk at a good pace.
Crash diets aren’t good for your health and they don’t work in the longer term. The way to reach a healthy weight – and stay there – is to change your lifestyle gradually. Aim to loose about 0.5 to 1Kg (about 1 to 2lbs) a week, until you reach a healthy weight for your height.
Whenever we eat more than our body needs, we put on weight. This is because we store any energy we don’t use up – usually as fat. Even small amounts of extra energy each day can lead to weight gain.
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6. Don’t skip breakfast
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Breakfast can help give us the energy we need to face the day, as well as some of the vitamins and minerals we need for good health.
Some people skip breakfast because they think it will help them lose weight. But missing meals doesn’t help us lose weight and it isn’t good for us, because we can miss out on essential nutrients.
Research shows that eating breakfast can actually help people control their weight. So why not go for a bowl of wholegrain cereal with some sliced banana and a glass of fruit juice for a healthy start to the day?
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