The main key to a healthy diet is to eat the right amount of calories for how active you are so you balance the energy you consume with the energy you use. It's simply... energy in - energy out.
But all too often we choose high fat, sugary or processed foods because it's quicker or we have a sugar craving, but we don't do the exercise to counteract it.
It's about balance - the key to a healthier diet, and a healthier and happy life, is about balance in everything we do.
Our top five tips to help you on your way to a balanced approach to eating:
Choose high fibre starches and carbohydrates.
Starchy carbohydrates should make up just over a third of the food you eat. They include potatoes, bread, rice, pasta and cereals. Choose higher fibre or wholegrain varieties, such as wholewheat pasta, brown rice or potatoes with their skins on.
Try to include at least 1 starchy food with each main meal. Some people think starchy foods are fattening, but gram for gram the carbohydrate they contain provides fewer than half the calories of fat.
Tasty tip for brown rice or pasta - simply drizzle our Sweet Chilli Dressing on either rice or pasta, chuck in cherry tomatoes, finely chopped red onion, chopped cucumber and grated carrot for a simple salad. Or roast onions, aubergines, courgettes, mushrooms or any of your favourite veggies in Balsamic, Sweet Chilli or our Cajun Marinade and stir through cooked pasta or rice.
Roast Butternut squash and onions in our Sweet Chilli and stir through pasta, drizzling more dressing on when serving. Season with black pepper, crumble of feta too if you like.
Our Lemon Dressing is amazing with pasta, simply cooking the pasta, through in some green veg with it to cook in the same pan. Drain and drizzle over the Lemon Dressing.
Fill up on fruit and graze on veggies
Eating your recommended 5 a day isn't as hard as it sounds. Chop a banana up and serve on your breakfast cereal, swap your mid morning chocolate biscuit for an apple, chop up carrots and have them ready in the fridge with some hummus for when the munchies hit.
Why eat Fruit and vegetables? They are a good source of vitamins and minerals, including folate, vitamin C and potassium. They're an excellent source of dietary fibre, which can help to maintain a healthy gut and help prevent digestion problems. A diet high in fibre can also reduce your risk of bowel cancer.
If you're struggling for ways to make veggies more appealing then we can help:
Make a veggie soup using our Sweet Chilli Dressing dressing to roast or fry the veg in as it adds a tasty, spicy kick.
Drizzle our Sweet Chilli Dressing over mushrooms and roast for 10-15 mins
Drizzle chopped med veg with our Balsamic Dressing and roast.
Drizzle our Orange & Ginger Dressing over parsnips or other root veg before roasting - sweet and delicious.
Use our Cajun Marinade to roast or fry off peppers, onions, mushrooms or any mix of veggies for a spicy mix.
And our Moroccan Marinade is great for onions, root veggies, potatoes and adds all the taste of mild, sweet Moroccan spices.
All our dressings will add a zip of taste to any salad veggies, from our Sweet, fruity Raspberry & Mint, to our Spicy Sweet Chilli to our rich and delicious Balsamic or to our zesty Lemon or Orange & Ginger.
Eat more fish, especially oily fish packed with Omega 3.
Whats good about omega 3? We are always extolling the virtues of this essential fatty acid which is one of the "good" types of fat. It may help lower the risk of heart disease, depression, dementia, and arthritis. Your body can't make it so you have to get it through your diet or take supplements. Rapeseed Oil is rich in Omega 3, and so are our dressings which use the extra virgin, cold pressed rapeseed oil grown in the heart of Lincolnshire.
Get an extra boost of this essential fatty acid by drizzling one of our dressings onto Salmon before grilling, baking or frying - it tastes good too. The Lemon Dressing is best, but Orange & Ginger works very well too!
Cut down on saturated fats.
We need some fat in our diet for our bodies to function properly. But pay attention to what type of fat you are eating. There are 2 main types of fat: saturated and unsaturated. Too much saturated fat can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which increases your risk of developing heart disease.
Choose foods that contain unsaturated fats instead, such as vegetable oils and spreads, oily fish and avocados. Rapeseed oil, which we use in all our products, is richer in Monounsaturated fats than other oils (including Olive oil) which help protect your heart by maintaining levels of "good" HDL cholesterol while reducing levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol in your blood.
Dry a drizzle of our Lemon Dressing or our Sweet Chilli Dressing to zest up Avocado - it's truly delicious!
Get active and be healthy
So our final tip for a healthier balance in life is to be more activity. It's not easy to fit exercise into an already busy day, but you try and fit it in as you will see and feel the benefits. Try these top tips:
Grab the lead and walk your dog. Your body — and your pooch — will thank you!
Take your kid (or your spouse) for a walk. ...
Try the 10-Minute Workout.
Walk and talk - if you have to talk on the phone, walk while you do it.
Dance like no one is watching - turn up that music and go crazy!
Ditch the car.
Take the stairs.
The NHS have come up with a series of 10 minute work outs to help you - https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/10-minute-workouts/ and provide you with a little inspiration to get moving every day.
So like all good things, a healthy approach is simple. Take a balanced approach to life, eat well, move well, take time out, and smile.
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