Healthy Eating – the obvious first step
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Posted by Abby
The easiest way for most people to improve their diet is to increase the amount of fruit and vegetables that they eat. Here in the UK, people are told to aim for 5 portions a day but in some countries the target is as high as 17.
Some people find this thought quite intimidating but, if you bear in mind a few tips and tricks you’ll find it easier than you thought.
There are three things to remember though:
- Potatoes don’t count
- Lentils & beans only count once, no matter how many portions you have
- Fruit juice only counts once, no matter how much you drink
1. To get off to a good start add a handful of berries or some chopped fruit to your breakfast cereal or porridge. Making your own muesli with lots of dried fruit in the mix is also a good strategy, which has the added bonus of being able to provide you with valuable essential fats, vitamins and minerals from nuts and seeds.
2. If you’re not a fan of fresh fruit, how about trying dried fruit as a snack during the day - a handful of raisins counts as one portion.
3. Hummus is a good savoury snack especially if you dip something like carrot or peppers into it rather than crisps or bread. If you make your own, adding tahini (sesame seed paste which you can easily get from a health food shop) and watching the oil content, again you increase the nutritional value.
4. If you eat sandwiches for lunch, make sure they have salad in them. Alternatively, why not have a bean salad for lunch? Or a rice salad to which you’ve added chopped vegetables?
5. Thinking about main meals, always serve some vegetables or a salad. Perhaps make chips using parsnips or sweet potatoes for a change.
6. If you’re cooking for someone who’s not keen on vegetables, things like chilli and bolognaise are good as you can add finely chopped, onions, mushrooms, courgettes etc and their individual tastes won’t stand out.
7. Obviously, eating meals where vegetables are the focus, such as salads or a vegetable stirfry will help as will fruit salad for pudding.
8. Finally, and this is what makes life easy for me, try making a smoothie. Blitz together one banana, one apple, a handful of berries and some fruit juice and you get at least 3 portions in a delicious drink. You can also freeze this mix to make fruit ice-lollies.
Are you interested in contributing to The Daily Tiffin? Drop us an email: blogmeeta@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing your ideas.
This Post was written by Abby from eat the right stuff
Some people find this thought quite intimidating but, if you bear in mind a few tips and tricks you’ll find it easier than you thought.
There are three things to remember though:
- Potatoes don’t count
- Lentils & beans only count once, no matter how many portions you have
- Fruit juice only counts once, no matter how much you drink
1. To get off to a good start add a handful of berries or some chopped fruit to your breakfast cereal or porridge. Making your own muesli with lots of dried fruit in the mix is also a good strategy, which has the added bonus of being able to provide you with valuable essential fats, vitamins and minerals from nuts and seeds.
2. If you’re not a fan of fresh fruit, how about trying dried fruit as a snack during the day - a handful of raisins counts as one portion.
3. Hummus is a good savoury snack especially if you dip something like carrot or peppers into it rather than crisps or bread. If you make your own, adding tahini (sesame seed paste which you can easily get from a health food shop) and watching the oil content, again you increase the nutritional value.
4. If you eat sandwiches for lunch, make sure they have salad in them. Alternatively, why not have a bean salad for lunch? Or a rice salad to which you’ve added chopped vegetables?
5. Thinking about main meals, always serve some vegetables or a salad. Perhaps make chips using parsnips or sweet potatoes for a change.
6. If you’re cooking for someone who’s not keen on vegetables, things like chilli and bolognaise are good as you can add finely chopped, onions, mushrooms, courgettes etc and their individual tastes won’t stand out.
7. Obviously, eating meals where vegetables are the focus, such as salads or a vegetable stirfry will help as will fruit salad for pudding.
8. Finally, and this is what makes life easy for me, try making a smoothie. Blitz together one banana, one apple, a handful of berries and some fruit juice and you get at least 3 portions in a delicious drink. You can also freeze this mix to make fruit ice-lollies.
Are you interested in contributing to The Daily Tiffin? Drop us an email: blogmeeta@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing your ideas.
This Post was written by Abby from eat the right stuff
Fabulous! Really great first post full of very useful tips.