Keep it simple

By following some basic rules, having a healthy nutrition intake should not be difficult or time consuming.

Draw a basic table & complete it throughout the week, create your own but make sure it has the following headings:

DAYS OF THE WEEK - make sure its a 7 day week

TIMES - from when you normally get up in the morning to the latest you go to bed e.g. 6am to 11pm

COMMENT BOXES - place a free section or an empty box at the end of each day & at the end of each week.  This is for your self analysis.  Remember, 'KEEP IT SIMPLE', using simple sentences or bullet points.  For example: Bad day-too much sugar this week-felt great today-lots of fruit-not enough veg etc...

CALCULATION BOX - Again at the end of each day & week leave a space.  In this extra space add the following sub-headings: Fruit & veg, Fluid, fish/meats, carbohydrates, fats & sugars. Everytime you eat a portion of of fruit or veg place 1 point under that heading, do the same everytime you have some fish, or chocolate or water.

At the end of each day & week total your points up.

This is not CALORIE COUNTING, calorie counting puts pressure on us

Using this simple table & scoring format lets you see in a very basic but understandable way what you are putting into your body, after a couple of weeks you can start to look at what you need to add or subtract from your intake.

Understanding your score:

Fruit & veg=5 points is perfect but mostly unrealistic, a more realistic amount is 3 to 4 points (Portions).

Fish, meat, poultry, eggs, dry nuts etc...(Protein)= 2 points is perfect but again sometimes unrealistic.  Realistic target is 1 point (Portions).

Dairy Products (Milk, Yoghurt, Cheese etc...)=3 points is perfect.   Some people do eat too many dairy products per day but depending on your lifestyle a realistic amount is 2 points (Portions)

Bread, cereal, rice, pasta etc...(Carbohydrates)=7 points is perfect.  Realistic amount is 5 points.

Fats, oils, sweets=0 to 1 point is perfect.  Realistic amount is 1 to 2 points.  Treat your self but not all day everyday.

Water, herbal tea, fruit juice (Fluids)= click here to understand water intake

Dont forget too much is just as bad as eating too little & vive versa.

BALANCE IS THE KEY

FLUID - Look at our water page for a better understanding of fluid intake & the reality of drinking 2 litres everyday.

COMMON SENSE - We all know that eating too many takeaway meals is bad for us especially without exercising.  So dont let your self get preassured into eating 5 portions of fruit or veg, drinking 2 litres of water, 4 to 5 servings of meats, poultry, seafood, 2 to 3 servings of dairy products, 6 to 8 servings of carbohydrates & as little sugary products as you can EVERYDAY!...its fine to have a day off. As long as that 1 day off doesnt turn into 3 or 4 days off in a row!

PORTIONS - Eating larger portions expands the stomach, simply cutting down the size of each meal will help take the feeling of hunger away & therefore train the stomach to cope with smaller amounts being spread more often throughout the day.

All our programmes are designed specifically for your lifestyle & tailored for your personal needs.

Join us & your very own on-line personal trainer will design you a healthy nutition intake plan NOW