IMPROVE HOW YOU EAT

3 Steps to Healthier Eating

We all know that eating well is important… so why is it so difficult?

The simple answer is that most of us feel that in order to eat well we need extensive time, effort and energy. But this doesn’t have to be the case…

A healthy well balanced diet helps us you to maintain a healthy weight and reduces the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. It can also help to reduce your risk of developing coronary disease and some cancers.

Although if this isn’t enough to convince you, healthy eating has other benefits too….

You’ll find yourself having more energy, better concentration and improved quality of sleep.

Keep in mind that eating well isn’t about eliminating foods. So you can still enjoy the odd take away, desert or sugary snack every now and then. It’s important to eat these foods in moderation and maintaining a well-balanced diet by eating a wide range of foods in the right amounts is important to give your body what it needs.

Sound like a lot of effort?

You’ll be surprised to know that your journey to a healthier version of yourself can be very simple.

Start by following these 3 key tips for eating well:

1. Cut down on Fat… Particularly Saturated Fat

Here’s how:

Use fats and oil in small amounts when you’re preparing your meal but also remember to keep an eye on how much of them are in the things that you buy.

Saturated fats can raise the amounts of cholesterol in your blood so you should cut down on foods such as: butter, hard cheese, fatty meat, cream and fried foods.

Changing the way you cook your food can also help when cutting down on fat. Why don’t you try baking, boiling, steaming or poaching so that you don’t need to add fat to your food?

2. Cut down on Salt

Here’s how:

The recommended maximum amount of salt for an adult is 6g a day (about a teaspoon). The majority of us don’t realise just how much salt we’re having, so we go way over the limit.

It’s not just about the salt we add to our food, as most of the salt we eat is already hidden in foods. A few examples of foods high in salt are: soups, cheese, savoury snacks, biscuits, ready meals and fast foods. Check the labels of the food you’re buying to see how much salt they contain and try and choose the products with the least salt in them.

If you find low salt food to be tasteless or bland, try adding herbs, spices, ginger and lemon to give your meal extra flavour.

3. Know your Portion Sizes

Here’s how:

People generally think that ‘portion control’ means weighing out everything that they eat. But you’ll be surprised, there’s no need to weigh all the food we eat. Ditch the scale and just keep in mind the tips below:

A serving of meat or fish should be about the size of the palm of your hand, one cupful is the right amount of starchy foods like pasta or rice, a portion of potato should be the size of two eggs and a serving of cheese should be the size of a matchbox.

To reduce your portions, eat off of a smaller plate so you are likely to eat less and put leftovers in the fridge or freezer straight away so you’re not temped to have seconds.