Healthy eating doesn’t have to mean following the latest celebrity fad diet or cutting back on delicious foods. Eating right means getting a balance of all the key food groups and reducing your intake of harmful sugars and fats. Our healthy eating guide can help you start on the path to healthy living.

Fruits, vegetables, cereals, grains, potatoes, dairy, meat and fish (or vegetarian alternative) should all play a part in a balanced diet.

So, why do you need such a varied diet? You need a mix of foods because no one food group provides all of the nutrients and vitamins you need for a strong and fit body. Our healthy eating guide can point you in the right direction.

Healthy eating guide: choosing the right food

When following a healthy eating guide, you should try to include food from each of the following groups in your diet. It’s not as difficult as it might first seem! Take a look at the different groups below and work out how you can include them in your meals and snacks:

• Breads, potatoes, pasta and cereals – these are carbohydrates and are essential for energy release. Healthy eating means including unrefined carbohydrates, such as grain-rich breads, bran and oats in your diet. These release energy slower and lead to less “energy spikes” in your blood sugar level. For more information, take a look at our low GI diet page.
• Fruit and vegetables – eating five portions a day could help you avoid many health problems in later life. One portion is the equivalent of, for example, an apple, a large glass of pure fruit or vegetable juice, or a couple of carrots.
• Meat, eggs, fish and other proteins – protein is essential for growth and in repairing damaged tissue in your body. As a healthy eating guide, it’s recommended that protein makes up around 15% of you diet, which means it should be included in at least one meal per day. Fish and white meat generally contain less fat, but there’s nothing wrong with an occasional steak, which contains plenty of iron. Vegetarians should consider nuts, pulses, seeds and eggs.
• Milk and dairy – this group is rich in calcium, which helps strengthen bones and teeth. You can find it in dairy products such as cheese and yoghurt, but also in such foods as almonds, spinach, broccoli and sardines. As a healthy eating guide, you should try and eat around 700mg of calcium per day – which is a pint of milk, a large tub of yoghurt or plenty of dark green vegetables.
• And, in small quantities, sugar and fat – despite being two of the worst things for us in large doses, it’s essential to include some fat and sugar in our diet. Avoid saturated fats (found in red meat, cakes, chocolate etc.) as it can lead to coronary heart disease. Unsaturated fat can be found in oily fish such as mackerel and sardines, and such things as vegetable and olive oil.

Healthy eating and exercise – personal training

Our healthy eating guide can give you a good starting point for getting the right nutritious foods into your diet. However, you may want to consider working alongside a personal trainer or nutritional expert to develop your own healthy eating and exercise programme.

It’s easy to lose motivation when facing a healthy eating and fitness plan alone. That’s why having a personal trainer or dietician to offer advice and support could be the key to you reaching your goals. Contact us to find out more.