How fit are you?
How many minutes activity do you do each day? Think back to what you did yesterday. It doesn’t have to be sport. You can count a brisk walk to the shops, heavy gardening, vigorous housework, dancing, anything that causes your body to breathe more heavily than usual.
The aim
Your aim is to build up to 30 minutes moderate activity a day.
- If you can’t manage 30 minutes a day, anything more than what you’re doing now is a step in the right direction.
- If you can’t manage 30 minutes in one go, two 15-minute sessions are just as good.
- If you are doing 30 minutes a day already, keep it up - and do more if you want to.
Remember – Even a little is better than nothing! (If you just started with 30mins every Monday say, that would be 20% increase in exercise straight away!)
Health concerns
If you have any concerns about your health, or any illness or injury check it out with your doctor or practice nurse before becoming more active. There many different ways to be more active, but it is important to find activities which are safe and right for you.
Sitting here at my computer trying to find inspiration for my scribbling, I’m tucking into a bit of lunch. Today it is a ham and tomato granary sandwich stuffed with fresh sealed leaves, followed by low-fat yoghurt and an apple, washed down with freshly squeezed orange juice. Most people would recognise that to be a healthy meal, but does it fit in with the idea of a balanced diet?
A combination of food types
The term “balanced diet” is one of those health mantras that is constantly heard but rarely explained. What it means is a diet that includes a combination of several different food types, including grains and pulses, fresh fruit and vegetables, eat, dairy products, fats and oils.
Food fact
Eating at least three servings of wholegrain foods each day could reduce your risk of heart disease and certain cancers by up to 30 percent.
All in proportion
Crucial to the idea of a balanced diet is including foods in the right proportions; the aim is to get all the nutrients your body needs while maintaining a healthy weight. The US government provides a basic idea of what nutrients we need at www.nal.usda.gov . (These are guidelines for Americans, but we Brits aren’t much different!)
Balancing Act
In the UK, the Food Standards Agency has developed a programme called The Balance of Good Health to show people what proportions and types of foods make up a healthy balanced diet.
This divides foods into five different groups:
- Bread, other cereals and potatoes
- Fruit and vegetables
- Milk and dairy foods
- Meat, fish and alternatives
- Foods containing fat and foods containing sugar
The largest groups are bread and vegetables, followed by milk and meat. The smallest by far is the salt and sugar group.
Fresh fruit and vegetables are low in fat, calories and salt, and an excellent source of vitamins, minerals and fibre, Most of us don’t eat enough to meet the current recommendation of three to five servings of vegetables and two to four serving of fruit a day.
Protein-rich foods and dairy foods and needed in more moderate amounts. Your diet should include two to three servings of milk or dairy produce a day. Take care that protein-rich foods don’t take a lot of fat with them; trim the fat off meat and take the skin off chicken. Think about how you cook foods too; meat fried or in breadcrumbs adds extra fat.
How much is a serving?
The size of a serving of some foods, especially fruits is easy to work out; common sense is also a good guide. More specifically, the USDA Food Guide Pyramid outlines standard serving sizes for many foods, based on the American imperial system of cups. For example, one cup of milk counts as one serving, as does half a cup of pasta and one slice of bread. How many servings of each food group everyday depend on our age, gender and level of activity?
Combining foods
It’s not too difficult to keep track of how many servings of certain individual foods we eat each day, such as an apple or a piece of cheese. But what happens when you throw a number of foods together in a meal?
All you need to do is break a meal down into its individual ingredients. For example, shepherds pie with a cheesy crust combines foods from two or more groups, depending on how you make it, including:
- Minced lamb or beef (Meat)
- Potato, carrot and onion (Fruit and Vegetables)
- Cheese (Milk and Dairy)
Starting Early
The earlier the message about eating a healthy balanced diet is drummed in, the better. Children form habits very quickly and, once set, bad ones are difficult to shift. If you need inspiration for healthy meals, or recipes that your children can cook with you, try BBC food.
The Goal
Don’t forget what you’re trying to achieve:
- A variety of foods
- Plenty of grain, vegetables and fruits
- Low fat intake, especially saturated fats
- Moderate sugar intake
- Moderate salt intake
- Keep a lid on alcohol intake
Think Ahead
Whether you’re getting started or building up to a higher level of activity, it’s important to work out what your exercise aims are for the coming month.
- Think about how many minutes of exercise you get everyday. Aim to increase this gradually over the next month.
- If you’re just getting started, think about ways in which you can work more activity into your daily routine.
- If you’re already quite active but want to build up to the next level, think about which activities you could introduce to your exercise programme.
Are You Woking Hard Enough?
You are working at the right level if:
- Your heart is beating faster than usual, but not racing.
- Your breathing is deeper and more rapid than usual, but not uncontrolled.
- You’re warmer than usual and slightly sweaty, but not dripping.
- You feel you could comfortably continue exercising at the same level without stopping.
- You can carry on a conversation while doing the activity.
Sensible Precautions
If you have any concerns about your health, or any illness or injury, check it out with your doctor or practice nurse before becoming more active. There are many different ways to be more active, but it’s important to find activities which are safe and right for you.
Remember To:
- Build up gradually.
- Warm up and stretch before you start any sport and cool down afterwards.
- Stop exercising if you get any pain, or feel dizzy, sick, unwell or very tired. If the symptoms don’t go away or come back later, see your doctor.