Eat a Healthy Diet - Help Weight Loss, Fight Obesity and Protect from Heart Disease

criticize people for being overweight, there is no getting away from the fact that in general, overweight parents raise overweight children. If the family eat the wrong foods at the wrong times then a child will tend to follow suit. In the past ten years obesity has doubled in 6 year olds and trebled among 15 year olds.
If we continue to make excuses and
   don't begin to deal with the issues head       on these figures will continue to rise.

         These statistics are alarming
          because being overweight and
             especially being obese, can not
              only shave an average of nine
                years from our lifespan, but
                 can increase risk of many
                 health problems including
                 Type 2 diabetes, heart
               disease, certain cancers,
          strokes, back and joint pain,
      osteoarthritis, high blood pressure, gallstones, infertility, breathlessness, depression, snoring, difficulty sleeping and excessive sweating.

Being obese is not an issue of vanity. It can stop us getting the best from life and put our health at serious risk.

Obesity is increasing worldwide and is fast becoming the world's biggest health problem.

Recent reports suggest that it may soon overtake smoking as a serious health risk. The level of obesity has tripled
in the past 20 years and is still rising.
The worldwide increase is also spreading to areas of developing countries
where there's easier access to an
over-processed diet and less
need to be active in daily lives.

Headlines in the news recently
have highlighted the fact that in
the UK, about 66% of adults are
now overweight or 'clinically'
obese (at least 2-3 stone
overweight). Of these, 22%
of men and 23% of women
are obese meaning their
weight is putting their health at considerable risk! The way things are going in the UK, by 2010, 1 in 3 women and more than 1 in 4 men will be obese.

Unsurprisingly, obesity is rising among children too! In an era where we don't like to attribute blame or it's 'un-PC' to

A healthy lifestyle is something everyone is recommended to follow but sometimes seems difficult to achieve. Being overweight can seriously affect your health but often people have their own reasons for losing weight. At PureTrain we believe making long term changes to your lifestyle can bring huge rewards. Whether you want to look good on the beach, play football with your children without feeling out of breath or complete that DIY project without the aches and pains, losing weight and keeping it off is well worth the effort.

The following are some general rules to what constitutes a healthy diet.

Eat little and often...Avoid skipping meals (especially breakfast) and spread your breakfast, lunch and evening meal at regular intervals throughout the day as this will help control your appetite.

Eat starchy carbohydrate foods
...For a healthy balanced diet it is important to include starchy carbohydrate foods such as pasta, bread, potatoes, noodles, rice and cereals at each meal. Diets that say otherwise are wrong!

Cut down on fats...Fat is the greatest source of calories so eating less fat and fatty foods will help you lose weight. Reduce the amount of fat you eat, particularly saturated fats as this type of fat is linked to heart disease. Choose unsaturated fats or oils, especiallly monounsaturated fat (eg olive oil and rapeseed oil) as these are better for
your heart. If you can, aim to reduce or better still cut out foods such as cheese, butter and fatty meat, try to use lower
fat dairy foods such as skimmed milk and low fat yogurts and grill, steam or oven bake instead of frying or cooking with
oil or other fats.

Eat more fruit and vegetables ...Aim for at least five servings in total a day to provide you with vitamins and fibre as well as to help you balance your overall diet.

Aim to eat at least two portions of oily fish a week...Oily fish contains a type of polyunsaturated fat called omega 3 which helps protect against heart disease. Eat oily fish such as mackerel, sardines, salmon or pilchards.

Limit sugar and sugary foods
...It is important to limit the amount of sugar in your diet but it does not mean you need to eat a sugar-free diet. Sugar can be used in baking as part of a healthy diet.

Reduce salt in your diet...You should reduce the salt in your diet to 6g or less a day as more than this can raise your blood pressure which can lead to a stroke or heart disease. Limit the amount of processed foods you eat and try flavouring foods with herbs and spices instead of salt.

Drink alcohol in moderation only...That's a maximum of 2 units
of alcohol per day for a woman and 3 units per day for a man. At PureTrain we don't preach total abstinence because
we appreciate that life is for living! However, if you are serious about losing weight then you should cut out all alcohol during this period...remember alcohol contains empty calories! Once you are down to, and are in controlled of, your desired weight then the occasional drink is acceptible. Never drink and drive.