A Whole Lifestyle Approach to A Healthy Heart

Healthy Eating for Your Heart is just one part of a complementary lifestyle approach towards better health – to help you get in shape, feel fitter and have more energy. You can make it easy for yourself by making changes gradually, rather than all at once. You’ll be surprised by how even the smallest of changes can make a difference.

Lifestyle Changes for A Healthy Heart

When it comes to eating, a balanced approach is the best – there are no good or bad foods and you can still enjoy the odd indulgence from time to time, guilt-free, provided that for the majority of time you eat:

plenty of fruit and vegetables including legumes, nuts and seeds
plenty of bread and other cereals (like pasta, rice) and potatoes
moderate amounts of milk and dairy foods, low-fat where possible
moderate amounts of lean meat and fish
small amounts of fatty and sugary foods

Not smoking and taking plenty of physical activity are also part of this lifestyle package.

If you enjoy keeping active and follow the key messages above, you will manage your weight and feel all the better for being in control.

Weight Management for Healthy Lifestyles

The concept is easy, the practice harder! Energy taken ‘in’ from the food we eat each day should equal the energy we expend ‘out’ in the energy needs of our body and in our daily physical activity.

If our ‘energy in’ is greater than our ‘energy out’, this will result in weight gain. Our energy balance is so fine that it only takes an extra biscuit each day to gain 2kg in a year!

We also have to eat 3500 calories less to lose 0.5kg and that is why losing weight is so difficult. It is much better to lose weight slowly – 0.5 – 1 kg per week – and maintain the weight loss than to do crash dieting only to regain the weight quickly, then diet again. Following the healthy lifestyle advice in this blog will help you to make the changes necessary to control your weight for good, by eating a cardioprotective diet and taking more physical activity.

Feeding the Family – Instill Good Eating Habits in Children from Young

We all want to give our children the best possible start in life. Making the best food choices for our children helps them to form good eating habits and attitudes to food that will influence their tastes and well-being far into the future.

Key Action Points to Instill Good Eating Habits in Children from Young

Get your children involved with choosing, planning and preparing meals and in shopping.
Hands-on cooking with children encourages a love of food and cooking and can be fun too.
Just cook one meal for the whole family which you can enjoy eating all together.
Always serve vegetables, bread and water with your meal.
Keep the fruit bowl well stocked with a variety of fresh produce to eat whenever you feel peckish.
Try new foods with old favorites.

Adapting Traditional Family Recipes to Health Diets

Reduce the amount of fat used.
Change the type of fat by using a monounsaturated or polyunsaturated variety.
Cut out the salt.
Reduce the amount of meat and add more legumes.
Replace pastry in pies with mashed potatoes, e.g. shepherd’s pie.
Reduce the amount of sugar used; sweeten instead with dried fruit or fruit juice.
Use yogurt or fromage frais instead of cream.
Use half-fat cheese or smaller quantities of stronger cheeses, e.g. Parmesan.
Grating cheese makes it go further.
Instead of high-fat roux-based sauces, make sauces with cornflour and skimmed milk; flavor with mustard and black pepper.

How To Prevent Heart Disease Naturally

Remember that forming good eating habits is just part of a lifestyle package and encouraging children to be more active and not to smoke is equally important. Living together in a pro-active environment and teaching by example is an invaluable lesson.