Achieving a good nutritional diet
Paula Dewar takes a look at the part nutrition plays in achieving overall well-being

In the last issue we looked at the benefits of leading an active lifestyle and the fact that the weather may seem a littler crisper should not deter us from being active. However, lets turn our attention to diet. Now when I say diet, I am talking in terms of general nutrition and not the latest diet fad! My clients will testify to the fact that I do not believe in dieting unless directed by a dietician or nutritionist. For most of us a healthy balanced diet can be achieved by following a few simple guidelines:

1.Eat a variety of foods - especially a good variety of colour. Think of fruits and vegetables that are green, yellow, red, orange and even purple and experiment with them!

2.Choose a diet with plenty of grains for example, wholemeal bread, wholemeal pasta, brown rice.

3.Limit intake of foods containing fat and saturated fat like butter, cheese, crisps, cream. We can gain our essential fatty acids from oily fish, seeds and nuts.

4.Moderate intake of sugars - be aware that many processed foods may contain high levels of sugar.

5.Limit intake of salt and sodium - high intake has been associated with high blood pressure.

6.Take alcohol only in moderation - high in sugar 'empty' calories and research has shown it 'strips' the body of vital nutrients

7. Supplementation with good quality multivitamins and minerals

The above may seem all well and good on paper but we all have distractions of family, work, social lives etc and perfect eating habits are difficult to stick to. The good news is that many health and fitness professionals understand this and advise the 80/20 rule. If for 80% of the time you follow your healthy eating and exercise plan, don`t beat yourself up when you slip up 20% of the time!

If this still seems like too much of a challenge then I suggest taking just one aspect of your diet you are not happy with and set about changing that - it does not matter how small the change is. Follow the new healthy dietary habit for 3 weeks then choose another aspect you might want to change and concentrate on that for 3 weeks. This breaks down the change to healthier eating habits into manageable chunks and making it more achievable. It is proven that goals are more likely to be achieved if broken down into small steps and this applies to adopting healthy eating habits too.

I will leave you with a thought: "Food is our friend, it is often regarded as our enemy. It nourishes our bodies and without it our bodies do not function, so lets use it to our advantage!"

Paula Dewar is a Personal Trainer based at Peak Fitness,Tonbridge and can be contacted for lifestyle consultations on 07855 417850 or at paula@dewar854.fslife.co.uk