I need advide on healthy life style.

LegacyUser

hey guys, First off i'm not fat and I don't have any medical issues I am really just doing this because I want to be healthy and look my best (kinda lol)

I am 20 and all my life I lived on bad foods,drinks and was very lazy. The past couple of week thought I have really changed my lifestyle (in small ways i suppose) for example I have started to drink 3 750ml of bottled water everyday and I have started to eat a blend of fruits in the mornings. This is from a person who had take aways every night and had about 20 cans of coke a week.

What I wanted to know has anyone got any dietry advice or advice in general on what I should eat every day to help me keep up with my ''health kick''?? I am not a very sporty person atall though I'm afraid. I am mad into cars,motorbikes, well anything with wheels basically lol which really doesnt help with my situation...

Advice would be much appreciated.

dudara

You might like to check out the Nutrition & Diet forum (Rec > Food & Drink > Nutrition & Diet) or the Fitness forum (Rec > Fitness) for tips and information.

Grawns

health kick wrote: »

I am not a very sporty person atall though I'm afraid. I am mad into cars,motorbikes, well anything with wheels basically lol which really doesnt help with my situation...

You might like cycling then

dan_d

Check out the nutrition and diet forum....


Otherwise, here's a few quickies..

No sugary cereals. Muesli if you can,maybe porridge. Pancakes are good (make with egg/flour/milk), no chocolate spreads etc.

Try and eat brown bread - wholemeal, soda bread etc.

Grill food instead of frying. If you want a fry for breakfast - grill sausages, rashers, mushrooms, tomatoes etc. They still taste the same, and all the fat runs away into the tray underneath, not into your stomach.

Check labels on food. In ingredients are listed by weight. If sugar is first/second/third (high up) on the label, then the food has lot of sugar in it. To be really extreme also check saturated fats. I think a rough guideline is that above 10g of sat fat per 100g in a food is a lot. 5g or above per 100g is a good bit, and below 3g per 100g is a small/ok amount (I can't find the link to that, think it was the world health org). They're the cholesterol-causing fats.

Eat a lot of veg. Try and have 5 portions of fruit and veg in a day. the easiest way for me to do this is have maybe some grapes and a banana at lunch and say, potatoes, green beans, carrots, peas with my dinner. Again for extremes, steam veg instead of boiling. Don't overcook veg if you want to get the most out of it, it should be a bit crunchy.

Finally...everything in moderation! Take aways maybe once/twice a month, cut out sugary drinks. I usually have the dilutable stuff, when I drink, mix it so it's fairly weak. Good luck!

Agent J

As others have said, wander over to the fitness/health forums and read their stickies.

One of my favourite podcasts is www.fat2fitradio.com . Lots of good sensible advice there.

The most important thing which it seems like you have already started.

Make small changes. Trying to change everything you do all at once is too much to expect any reasonable person to do. Make one change a week or whatever number you wish.

Listen, read and absorb as much good advice as is out there. Decide for yourself what will work and what won't. You will make mistakes, have set backs but dont beat yourself up. It happens to everyone.

Good luck.

forestfruits

for healthy eating look up a "food pyramid" online its foolproof eating! shows your how many portions of each food group you need in a day!

simples

TommyKnocker

forestfruits wrote: »

for healthy eating look up a "food pyramid" online its foolproof eating! shows your how many portions of each food group you need in a day!

simples

In fairness the Food pyramid is pretty outdated and would not be what's recommended today. One of the main problems with the food pyramid is that it recommends 6-11 portions of starch based cards.

Firstly most folks have no idea what consitutes a "portion/serving" and end up over eating on these, which leads to weight (fat) gain and bloating. 6-11servings of starched carbs is IMHO crazy.

Secondly the food pyramid does not take a persons lifestyle/activity level into account. A couch potato eating according to the food pyramid will simply get fat.

To help maintain a low bodyfat % it seems that a diet of 40%-45% protein, 30%-35% healthy fats and 20%-25% carbs (mostly from fiberous sources, veg and some fruit) to be most beneficial for the majoriuty of folks, providing that they are not eating more calories thay they require, as excess calories whether from doughnuts or brocolli will be stored as body fat.


Best Regards,

M

Susie_Q

The best basic advice I've ever been given as regards healthy eating is this: Don't eat anything your granny wouldn't have eaten. No junk food, no processed stuff, nothing that comes in big shiny packages.

The basis of a healthy diet (in my opinion) should be vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, nuts, seeds, wholegrains, eggs. If you don't know how to cook, learn. It will be the best thing you can do for your health.