LA fitness news

What exactly is healthy eating?

With Christmas done for another year, now is a good time to focus on getting back into eating healthily again. The problem is that sometimes it’s tough to know exactly what healthy eating is. Here are a few simple guidelines.

1. Base your diet on good quality protein like lean meat, eggs, fish, nuts etc.

• Protein builds muscle fibre and will help you to feel full for longer. That’s one of the reasons it’s so important to have some protein (like an egg) for breakfast.

2. Carbohydrates sometimes get a bad rap but that’s only because people eat too much of the wrong sort.

• The basic rule of thumb is to avoid simple carbohydrates like sugar (which has no nutritional value at all) and highly processed carbs like chips and crisps.

• What you can eat is wholegrain breads, oats, pasta, potatoes and rice (in moderate quantities).

• The other point to remember is that cooking healthily - boiling, steaming or baking rather than frying - can make all the difference.

3. You’ve heard it a million times before but fruit and veg are a staple of any healthy diet.

• All fruits are good but the super-fruits include blackberries, blueberries, kiwi fruit, cranberries, raspberries, lemons and strawberries.

• Apples are great but watch the sugar content and one banana a day will suffice.

• On the veg front spinach, broccoli, bok choy and brussels are particularly good but pretty much all vegetables are healthy options.

• One thing you should think about is crunching on a carrot when you hit a hunger pang rather than reaching for a processed snack.

• How much fruit and veg should you be eating? Well the Government’s “Five-a-day” is a pretty good guide.

4. Okay so we’ve got the two veg part of the equation but what about the meat?

• Protein-rich lean meat, chicken and fish will make you feel fuller faster than fattier cuts and so curb your appetite faster.

5. If you need to nibble go nuts.

• Although they contain some fat, almonds, walnuts and Brazil nuts in particular are all great sources of protein (which, as we have already said, makes you feel fuller faster).

• Pub nuts like salted peanuts and cashews are less healthy. So don’t sit there with a pint of lager and a packet of nuts thinking you’re doing yourself a favour.

• By the way, seeds are also a very good nibbling option - you can buy them in handy packets now.

6. Talking about doing yourself a favour, salads and soups are always considered a go-to option for those on a diet.

• Starting a meal with a low calorie soup is helpful because it fills you up and salads are also an obvious low calorie option for the main or as an alternative starter.

• Just make sure that you watch the dressings, which are often “calorie bombs” in their own right. Use low-fat dressings whenever possible.

7. Experts believe there is a strong relationship between the amount of water you drink and your ability to lose fat.

• Drinking a good amount of water during the day - especially before lunch and dinner - will help speed up the appetite suppression signals from your belly to your brain, which again means you are likely to eat less.

• If you struggle with drinking a lot of tap water, try spicing it up with a slice of lemon or a sprig or two of mint.

• Green tea also stimulates the metabolic rate and burns fat.

8. Which brings us nicely to alcohol. Apart from the affect that drinking has on your liver, alcohol is jam-packed with calories (the average number of calories in a medium glass of wine is 125kcals).

• Nobody is saying that you shouldn’t drink - although if you can give it up it will make a big difference - our suggestion is that you go alcohol-free during the week and drink moderately at the weekend.

And finally, here are a few simple food swaps that will get you eating healthily in 2012:

• Swap white bread for wholegrain bread.
• Swap margarine and butter for coconut oil (it’s a great spread)
• Swap full fat milk for skimmed
• Replace processed foods with fresh foods as often as possible
• Nibble on fruit or nuts not snack bars
• Change your full-leaded latte to a “skinny” version