Cultivate Healthy Eating Habits

The key to a healthy diet is to eat the right amount of calories for how active you are so you balance the energy you consume with the energy you use.

If you eat or drink more than your body needs, you'll put on weight because the energy you do not use is stored as fat. If you eat and drink too little, you'll lose weight.

You should also eat a wide range of foods to make sure you're getting a balanced diet and your body is receiving all the nutrients it needs.

Keep a big jug of water in the fridge – add the juice from one lemon or lime, a couple of slices of cucumber and a few fresh mint leaves for a refreshing twist. Good hydration is important, and knowing that you’ve got a zesty drink already made up is a great reminder to keep you drinking throughout the day. Aim to finish your jug by the end of the day.

Sausages snags come out when it’s barbeque weather, but they’re high in saturated fat, extremely high in salt and contain lots of other ‘fillers’ and additives. Try chicken breast marinated in lemon juice and fresh herbs or fresh minute steaks. Vegetable kebabs are also delicious chargrilled on the BBQ, and nothing beats prawns or a fresh fillet of fish.

Breakfast has been well established as an important healthy lifestyle habit. Try to prioritise breakfast – if you don’t, you’ll run out of time in the mornings and it won’t happen.

Too much added sugar in your diet can contribute to weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. Added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added to foods and drinks when they are processed or prepared.

Added sugars have many names, including cane juice, corn syrup, dextrose, and fructose. Table sugar, maple syrup, and honey are also considered added sugars.

A good practice is to aim for a variety of colors on your plate. Fruits and vegetables like oranges, tomatoes, and dark, leafy greens—and even fresh herbs—are loaded with vitamins, fiber, and minerals.

A good way to ensure you eat your greens is to enjoy them as a starter.

By doing so, you’ll most likely finish all of your greens while you’re at your hungriest. This may cause you to eat fewer, perhaps less nutritious, meal components later.

It may lead you to eat fewer calories overall, which could result in weight loss. Plus, eating vegetables before a carb-rich meal has been shown to benefit blood sugar levels.

The pace at which you eat influences how much you eat, as well as how likely you are to gain weight.

Eating slowly is also linked to more thorough chewing, which has also been linked to improved weight control.

So, simply eating slower and chewing more often may help you eat less.

We all need food to survive. However, the type of food we eat determines the quality of life we lead. Healthy eating habits should, therefore, start right from childhood.