Healthy Lifestyle Tips:
More information on Eating Well can be found on the Loughborough University Webpage ’Health and Wellbeing’
There is also a Student Cook website which will give you lots of hints and tips on eating well.
The Imago Food Diary allows you to keep track of foods you are eating and help you reach your nutritional goals.
Eat More Fruit And Vegetables
Fruit and vegetables are good sources of vitamins and minerals but are low in calories. They also contain fibre which can help you to feel fuller for longer which can be helpful when you are trying to lose or maintain your weight.
There is strong evidence that the intake of vegetables and fruits reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and is inversely associated with several forms of cancer (6).
Aim to get 5 portions per day. One portion = one apple or one orange or a small bowl of homemade soup or a bowl of salad, or 3 tablespoons of cooked vegetables
Variety is important as different fruits and vegetables are high in different nutrients. A good approach is to aim to eat a variety of different coloured fruit and vegetables
Have fruit as snacks, try diet yogurt and chopped fruit as a healthy alternative to desserts, try crunchy vegetables like carrots and celery with your favourite dip instead of crisps.
Eat Breakfast Every Day
Mothers have told children that breakfast is the most important meal of the day for decades but it now appears that scientific evidence is mounting to back up this key component of a healthy lifestyle.
Recent research has found that breakfast skipping may lead to an increase in appetite, possibly leading to weight gain over time and poorer overall diet quality.
Regular healthy breakfast consumption, on the other hand, may reduce the risk of chronic diseases and is also associated with improved learning abilities and better school performance in children (2).
The ideal breakfast contains choices from the bread and cereals group (preferably wholegrain varieties), the milk and milk-based product group (preferably low fat) and the fruit and fruit juice group (3).
Healthy Lifestyle Tips for breakfasts:
Porridge made with skimmed milk and topped with chopped banana and raisins or grated apple and cinnamon
Wholegrain breakfast cereal (All bran, Bran Flakes, Weetibix, Fruit and Fibre) with skimmed milk and an orange
Wholemeal toast with low fat spread, a diet yogurt and a glass of unsweetened fruit juice
Choose Wholegrains
Wholemeal bread, breakfast cereals, rice and pasta are high in fibre. This helps you to feel fuller for longer, helps prevent constipation and slows the release of sugar into the bloodstream therefore reducing dips and peaks in blood sugar levels.
Scientific studies have also shown that whole-grain cereals can protect against obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancers (1).
Healthy Lifestyle Tips:
Make half of your grains whole
If your diet is low in wholegrains, increase your wholegrain intake gradually
When increasing your fibre intake it is important to ensure you are drinking plenty of fluid
Put Down The Salt
Eating too much salt can increase your likelihood of developing high blood pressure which is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
The average salt intake in the UK is 8.6 grams per day (just under 2 teaspoons). Worryingly we should be having far less than this and the recommended intake for adults is less than 6 grams per day.
Surprisingly, 75% of the salt we eat actually comes from ready-made foods we buy and therefore many people are not even aware they are eating it!
Examples of foods that are high in salt include: ready-meals, instant soups, stock cubes, cheese, salami, rashers and sausages.
Healthy Lifestyle Tips:
Cut down on salty, processed foods and ready-meals if you can
Try not to add salt to foods at the table, use alternative seasonings like herbs, spices, lemon juice and pepper
Use little or no salt in cooking
Compare food labels between similar products and go for the one containing less salt
Reduce Your Portion Sizes
Portion sizes of foods that are available at supermarkets, restaurants and fast food outlets have increased significantly over the past few decades (7). This is not helpful for maintaining a healthy weight.
When McDonald’s first started in 1955, its only hamburger weighed around 1.6 ounces (45 grams), now, the largest hamburger patty weighs 8 ounces (224 grams), meaning a 500% percent increase in calories!!
The recent trend towards increasing portions is very concerning because large number of studies have demonstrated that people eat about 30% more calories when offered larger portion sizes (4), even when the food being offered is stale popcorn!
In addition, it appears that humans don’t compensate for a large portion at one meal by eating less at subsequent meals so larger portions can contribute significantly to weight gain.
Healthy Lifestyle Tips:
Eat slowly – give your body time to give you the signal you are satisfied
Eat mindfully – pay attention to the food you are eating instead of watching TV or using the computer. This will help to prevent passive overeating.
Serve food on smaller plates and bowls – research has shown this may help to decrease the amount of calories eaten
Fill half your plate with vegetables – this will help to satisfy your hunger without large amounts of calories. About a quarter of your plate should be rice, pasta, potatoes or cereals and the other quarter should be meat, chicken, fish or pulses.
Healthy snacks like fruit between meals can prevent overeating at the next meal
The larger the package, the more people consume from it without realising it. Divide up the contents of one large package into several smaller containers to help avoid over-consumption
Skim The Fat
Fat contains 9 calories in every gram compared to 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate or protein. This means high fat foods are more ‘calorie dense’ than low fat foods but aren’t any more filling.
Healthy Lifestyle Tips:
Trim the fat off meat and the skin off chicken
Go for low fat versions of dairy products and spreads
Reduce your intake of fatty processed meats like sausages, salami and burgers
Grill, bake, boil and steam food instead of frying to reduce the amount of fat
Keep confectionary and biscuits to an occasional treat instead of a regular snack
Keep A Food And Activity Diary
Many of us think we eat less and move more than we actually do.
Research has shown that those who keep a food and activity diary lose more weight than those who don’t.
Healthy lifestyle tips: Keep a diary!
Some Useful Links