Top ten tips for starting your diet

Our top ten tips to help you achieve a happy and healthy start to your diet.

1. Achieve a balanced diet

Eat the correct amount of calories for how active you are.

According to the UK Department of Health:

A woman should have an average intake of 1940 calories per day.

A man should have an average intake of 2550 calories per day.

However, your intake of calories should be adjusted according to changes in your level of activity. If you have a fairly inactive lifestyle, you may not need so many calories. Whereas, if you're doing exercise on a regular basis you many need extra calories to give you the energy you'll need.

Eat a variety of foods.

A healthy balanced diet should include:

Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Carbohydrates such as wholemeal bread and wholegrain cereals.
Some protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, eggs and lentils.
Some dairy foods.

When planning your diet programme, make sure you include foods from all of these groups. Achieve this by introducing new and interesting foods to your diet to try alongside some of your favourites:

Try brown rice with chilli or curries.
Have a piece of fruit with your breakfast.
Add an extra portion of veg to your evening meal.
Snack on nuts, seeds and dried fruit.

2. Choose wholegrain foods

As well as being nutritionally better for you than white or refined starchy foods, wholegrain foods also contain more fibre. Foods high in fibre take longer to digest so make us feel fuller for longer.

Try swapping some of your usual ingredients for their wholegrain alternatives. Choose wholemeal rather than white bread, whole-wheat pasta or brown rice, whole grain cereals such as porridge or muesli.

3. Eat more fruit and vegetables

Aim to eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

This can be easier than you think. Swap some of your usual snacks for a fruit or vegetable alternative, or make a vegetarian version of some of your favourite foods e.g. vegetarian chilli, vegetable curry etc.

Try some of our delicious vegetarian recipes.

4. Swap meat for fish

Rather than eating meat, which has a high saturated fat content, try one of the many delicious varieties of fish instead.

Oily fish is high in omgea 3 fatty acids, which help keep hearts healthy. Try salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, fresh tuna, sardines, pilchards, eel.

White or non-oily fish include cod, haddock, plaice, coley, tinned tuna, skate, hake.

It's recommended that you have at least two portions of fish a week, one of which is oily fish.

Try some of our delicious fish recipes.

5. Cut down on saturated fat

A balanced diet requires some fat. But what is important is the type of fat you eat.

Saturated fat should be avoided as this can lead to increased blood cholesterol levels, which is linked to an increased risk of developing heart disease.

These fats are mainly found in animal products such as meat, dairy, eggs and seafood. As well as in some plant foods such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernal oil.

Instead choose mono-unsaturated or poly-unsaturated fats. These have been found to help reduce levels of cholesterol in the blood and lower the risk of developing heart disease.

These fats can be found in nut, canola or olive oils, seafood (particularly oily fish high in omega 3), corn, soy and sunflower oils.

6. Lower your salt and sugar intake

Most of us eat too much salt or sugar. Cut down by:

Always checking food-packaging labels for sugar and salt content.
Controlling what you add to your drinks and meals. Try seasoning your meals with alternatives. E.g. herbs, ground black pepper, artificial sweeteners.
Satisfy sweet tooth cravings with fruit.

7. Enjoy exercise

Find fun ways of getting active and burning off those excess calories.

Doing exercise doesn’t have to mean slogging it out down the gym on a treadmill. Try to find a way of exercising you enjoy, which will allow you to do a little everyday.

Fit in as much walking as you can into your daily routine
Take up tennis
Start swimming
Park your car and use your bike
Swing into shape with salsa

8. Drink plenty of water

To avoid dehydration you should aim to drink around 6 to 8 glasses (1.2 litres) of water every day.

Cut down on:

Fizzy drinks and anything that has a high sugar content.
Alcohol - always drink in moderation and follow advice on recommended limits.
Drinks high in caffeine.

Instead:

Drink more water when exercising or during hot weather.
Have a fruit or herbal tea instead of tea or coffee.
Make your own smoothies or fruit juice.

9. Don’t skip breakfast

Reduce your mid-morning food cravings by making sure you start the day with a healthy breakfast.

Go for a bowl of wholegrain cereal and a piece of fruit, or a bowl of porridge to make sure you body has the energy it needs to start the day.

Look at these delicious breakfast ideas

10. Have Fun

Don't make yourself miserable. People who enjoy their diets are far more likely to achieve their goals than those who see weight loss as a punishment.