Diet and Nutrition
What is a healthy diet?
Our diet plays a big part in healthy living and successful weight control; it is just as important as the exercise!
It is vital that we have a balanced diet for our bodies to gain all of the nutrients that they need and to give us energy. A balanced diet consists of some key elements:
- Carbohydrates (eg, bread, cereals, potatoes); this is by far the largest food type we need to eat, 60 percent of our daily intake needs to come from this group
- Fats (solid such as butter or oils); this is also very important at 30 percent of our daily intake
- Proteins (eg, meat, dairy, beans); this is quite a small proportion at 10 percent
- Minerals and Vitamins (from various food types, including vegetables and fruit); a balanced diet will usually contain the required amounts of these
It is also important that we eat the right proportion for the amount of energy that we expend. In other words, input must equal ouput, if the input is more, we will gain weight.
Fluid intake is also important. A sedentary person will lose approximately 2.5 litres of water a day through sweating, breathing and waste products. An active person who takes regular exercise will lose much more, possibly as much as 5 litres! We need to replace that water on a regular basis otherwise we will become dehydrated, which can lead to headaches, constipation, tiredness, calcium stones and poor exercise or sports performance. You can find more information on this topic in the Fitness Info article, Are You Drinking Enough Water?.
How do you know you are eating the right diet and in the correct amounts?
The USDA website MyPyramid.gov (www.mypyramid.gov) offers a lot of basic advice on the correct balance of food types and the approximate daily intake. On this site you will find a calculator to work out your daily intake, recommended amounts of each food type and record sheets for you to print off.
Additionally, as part of your program, I can provide you with more detailed advice specific to you. A starting point to help this might be to complete a food diary for seven days, which will enable me to analyze your current diet and make some recommendations. You may wish to use the Sample Food Diary (in Microsoft Excel), which sets out each day and from which I can then use to automatically calculate your individual needs.
Recommended reading
- The GI Diet: The Easy, Healthy Way to Permanent Weight Loss
- by Rick Gallop
- This book was the first to cover the subject of GI and is a very good, practical start to maintaning a balance diet - this is not really a diet book, just a good way to eat sensibly! You can purchase The GI Diet: The Easy, Healthy Way to Permanent Weight Loss at Amazon.
- Antony Worrall Thompson’s GI Diet
- by Antony Worrall Thompson
- This book gives some more upmarket recipes based around GI. This is not really a diet book, just a good way to eat sensibly! You can purchase Antony Worrall Thompson’s GI Diet at Amazon.
