Tips for healthy eating habits

Avoid eating processed convenience foods as much as you can due to their high sugar, fat and salt content. These are very addictive, this means takeaways as well!

Eat smaller portions (as much protein as possible) regularly, don’t limit yourself to 3 meals a day. Try to eat at least 5 small meals, this will keep your blood sugar levels constant so you won’t have those peaks and troughs.Make sure you eat like a king and have a good breakfast.

Eat a minimum of 5 fruit and veg a day (preferably 8-10) more veg than fruit, preferably no more than 2 portions of fruit as even though it is natural, it is still high in sugar.

Drink as little packaged fruit juice and alcohol as possible as they contain high levels of fruit sugar. Avoid tea and coffee as you have to drink at least twice the amount to replenish the body with water from drinking one cup. Drink freshly squeezed juice or water – a minimum of 2 litres a day.

Make your meals from scratch with the best ingredients you can afford.

Do not sit in front of a television and eat. Your body and brain do not connect to what you are eating and you will always eat more than you should. Always sit and have a meal at the table, this is also good for social interaction.

When cooking, always cook with the leanest of meats, remove fat and skin then steam, bake or microwave your food – try not to fry!

Try to use unrefined carbohydrates; rye, millet, soya bread, brown or wild rice, buckwheat, bulgar wheat or quinoa and sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes.

Try to divide the dinner plate with half vegetables, a palm size of protein and carbohydrates and a matchbox size of fats.

Use food/nutrient supplements if you feel you are not getting enough from what you eat. Be careful as having too much of some vitamins is detrimental to your health, always seek advice before taking any.

Protein helps to stabilise blood sugar levels by slowing the absorption of glucose in the bloodstream. This, in turn, reduces hunger by lowering insulin levels and making it easier for your body to burn fat.

Power up your meals whenever you can with ginger, cinnamon, cumin, chilli, cayenne pepper, hot mustard or garlic. Any of these spices will heat you up, raising your metabolism a little bit each time you use them.

Ditch these foods:

Highly refined foods: white bread, pasta, rice
Butter and spreads, dressings and condiments that are high in saturated fats
anything that contains a word ending in ‘tose’ or ‘syrup’

Get more of these:

Vegetables of any and every variety, especially greens
Fruits such has berries
Legumes such as lentils, green peas, seeds and nuts