Food falls into 5 categories:
Milk and Dairy
Fruit and Vegetables
Starch & Fibre
Meat & Protein
Fats and sugar
Although
some of these groups are better than others for us, a
body requires different amounts of all of these food groups
to flourish. Being overweight can be a part of not balancing
these food groups effectively and eating more of the wrong
type of food than you need.
The body uses food as fuel - much like a car uses petrol
- the food provides us with the energy we need to function,
like walking, running, even sitting down watching TV requires
energy and without it we wouldn't get very far.
That's why food is measured in Calories or Kilocalories
- this is a measurement of how much energy will be released
by the food when it is eaten and digested. This information
can usually be found on the packet of the items you are
purchasing, and will give you an idea of how good or bad
a food is for you. If there are many calories - you will
need to do lots of exercise to burn them off - so it might
be better to reduce the calories you are eating if you
are not active for most of the day.
A woman looking to lose weight should ideally eat between
1000 and 1500 calories a day - however if you are at all
uncertain you should consult your doctor. Your doctor
will be able to tell you if you are overweight and will
ensure that you lose weight in a healthy way - he or she
will tell you how many calories to eat and advise you
on how to tackle the weight loss. They will also be able
to give you details of any support groups that operate
in your area - so it always wise if you can to ask your
doctor first.
A good way to lose weight without trying too hard is to
look at the snacks that you are eating - if your eat one
or two chocolate bars or packets of crisps per day and
you can replace these snacks with fresh and healthy options,
like fruit you are already helping yourself. If you can
eat brown bread instead of white you are doing even more
good!
If you are interested in knowing more about your body
and eating habits - have a look at the calorie
counting chart - this is a rough guide to give you
an idea of the calories contained within some common foods.
Then, using the printable
diary fill in your diet for a day
and add up your calories - you may be surprised at how
easy it is to eat more calories than you need.
As a rough guide you should be eating the five food groups
in approximately the following proportions:
Fruit and Veg 40% of your diet
Starch forms 30%
Milk and Dairy forms 13%
Meat and protein 10%
Fats and sugar 7%
If you can see from these figures that you are eating
more foods from a group that you shouldn't - you can change
this to improve your health and start the losing weight
process.
