The Importance of a well balanced diet teamed with adequate
exercise.
At Whitby
Holiday Park we understand how important it is to have a well-balanced, healthy
diet and a regular exercise plan as part of your daily routine. We have many
coastal walks and cycle hire routes in the vicinity of our park.
The
onsite café has many healthy options for you to enjoy.
We
need a healthy diet and exercise plan in our daily lives as it is important and
vital for our good health and
wellbeing.
Food provides our bodies with the
energy, protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals we need to live, grow
and function properly.
To ensure we get the right amounts
of nutrients for good health, we need a wide variety of different foods.
One of the great cultural
pleasures of life is enjoying a healthy diet, an unhealthy diet increases the
risk of many diet-related diseases.
Website links for information on coastal
walks and cycle routes:
The key
to a healthy balanced diet is to:
- Eat the right amount of calories for
how active you are, you should be balancing the energy you consume with
the energy you use.
- Do not eat or drink too much, as you will put
on weight.
- Do consume the correct amounts of food that
contain the correct nutrients and not too many calories and you will lose
weight.
- Eat
a wide range of foods to ensure that you're getting a balanced diet you
need to ensure your body receives all the nutrients it needs.
It is recommended that men
have around 2,500 calories a day (10,500 kilojoules).
Women should have around 2,000
calories a day (8,400 kilojoules).
Most adults are eating more calories than they need, they should eat
fewer calories to maintain a healthier lifestyle.
Potatoes,
bread, rice, pasta and cereals are starchy carbohydrates and should make up
just over one third of the food you eat.
It
is better for you to choose wholegrain varieties of pasta rice and bread, also
eat potatoes with their skins on as they all contain more fibre and help you to
feel full longer.
It
is recommended we eat at least 1 starchy food with each main meal, people are under
the impression that starchy foods are fattening, but the carbohydrate gram for
gram contains half the calories of fat.
You
must keep an eye on the fats you are adding during cooking and the fats you add
to your prepared food as this is what increases
your calorie consumption e.g. oil/fat on chips, butter/margarine on bread and
creamy cooking sauces on pasta.
Eat lots of fruit and veg:
We are advised to eat at
least 5 portions of fruit and veg every day, this seems impossible but it is
easier than you think, why not chop a banana over your breakfast, have a piece
of fruit for your mid-morning snack.
You can only ever count
unsweetened 100% fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies as a maximum of 1
portion of your 5 a day, for example, if you have 2 glasses of fruit juice and
a smoothie in 1 day, that will still count as 1 portion
Eat more
fish – including a portion of oily fish:
Fish contains many vitamins and minerals and is a
good source of protein, we should aim to eat at least 2 portions of fish a week,
one of these being an oily fish as oily fish contains omega-3 fats, which may
help to prevent heart disease.
Oily
fish include: Salmon, Mackerel, Trout, Herring, Fresh Tuna,
Sardines and Pilchards.
Non-oily
fish include: Haddock, Plaice, Coley, Cod, Canned Tuna, Skate and
Hake.
If you eat fish regularly you should eat a wide
variety from fresh, frozen and canned but do remember that canned and smoked
fish can be high in salt.
Cut
down on saturated fat and sugar
Although we
do need to have some fat in our diet it is important to be aware of the amount
and type of fat we are eating. The 2 main types of fat are saturated and
unsaturated fats, if you consume too much saturated fat it will increase the
amount of cholesterol in the blood, which will increase the risk of you
developing heart disease.
It is
recommended that the average man should have no more than 30g of saturated fat
per day and the average woman no more than 20g, children should have a lot less
than adults.
Foods containing saturated fats
include: Hard
Cheese, Cakes, Biscuits, Sausages, Cream, Butter, Lard and Pies.
Foods containing unsaturated fats
include: Vegetable
oils, oily fish and avocados.
You should
try to cut down your saturated fat intake, try to choose foods that contain
unsaturated fats instead.
The
healthier choice is to use small amounts of vegetable oil or reduced-fat spread
instead of butter, lard or ghee. Choose lean cuts of meat and cut off any
visible fat
Sugar in our diet:
If you often consume
foods and drinks that are high in sugar you will have increased risk of obesity
and tooth decay.
Sugary foods, drinks and
alcoholic are often high in energy, these are measured in kilojoules or
calories, and can contribute to weight gain if eaten too often, they can also
cause tooth decay, especially if eaten between meals. Most packaged foods and drinks
do contain shockingly high amounts of free sugars, these are sugars that
are added to foods and drinks or are found naturally in honey, syrups and
unsweetened fruit juices.
Foods with added sugars include: Sugary Fizzy Drinks, Alcoholic Drinks, Sugary
Breakfast Cereals, Cakes, Biscuits and Pastries.
The above sugars are the
kind of sugars we all should be cutting down on, rather than natural sugars
that are found in fruit, milk, honey etc.
Always use the food
labels to check how much sugars the product contains. If there are more than
22.5g of total sugars per 100g this means the food is high in sugar, if the
foods are 5g or less this means the food is low in sugar
Eat
less salt – no more than 6g a day for adults
Too much salt in your diet can lead high blood
pressure, if you do develop high blood pressure you are more likely to develop
heart disease or even have a stroke.
It is possible you could still be eating too much
salt even if you don’t add any extra to your food. The food we buy already has
salt content and can add up to at 3 quarters of the recommended daily
allowance.
Use the food labels to guide you in your daily salt
intake and try to cut down the amounts you consume. If there are more than 1.5g
of salt per 100g this means the food is high in salt. Adults and children over
11 should not eat a lot of salt, it is recommended no more than 65g per day and
young children should have even less.
Don't
skip breakfast:
Some people think if they skip breakfast they will
lose weight, this is wrong. Research has shown that people who eat breakfast
regularly are less likely to be overweight.
It has also been shown that children who eat
breakfast have increased concentration throughout the morning and it does have
a positive effect on their mental performance.
A healthy breakfast provides some of the vitamins
and minerals we need for good health and is an important factor of a balanced
diet. Wholegrain or low-sugar cereal topped with fruit makes a tasty and
nutritious breakfast.
Don't
get thirsty:
As part of a healthy diet we also need to drink
plenty of fluids, it is recommended we drink 6-8 glasses every day, this is in
addition to the fluids we get in the foods we eat.
We should try not to consume too many sugary drinks
(soft and fizzy) as these are high in added sugars and calories, they are also
We should try not to consume too many sugary drinks
(soft and fizzy) as these are high in added sugars and calories, they are also
bad for our teeth. Unsweetened fruit juice, vegetable juice and smoothies are
high in free sugar and the combined total amount recommended for daily
consumption is no more than 150ml.
When we are exercising and when the weather is warm
we will need more fluids so we do not risk becoming dehydrated.
Be a healthy weight:
If you are overweight or obese it can lead to
serious health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, heart
disease and stroke. It is also important not to be underweight as this can also
lead to health issues.
It is important to eat a healthy balanced diet as
this is essential to maintaining a healthy weight to ensure you have a good
overall health, if you are wanting to lose weight, you should try to consume at
least 500 calories less of your RDA (recommended daily amount), you need to cut
down on foods that are high in saturated fat and sugar and eat plenty of fruit
and vegetables.
The
importance of physical activity:
To promote weight loss and maintain a healthy
weight it is as important to partake in regular daily exercise as it is to
follow a healthy diet.
You do not need to spend hours in the gym, it is
possible to fit activity into your daily life, E.G get off the bus 1 stop
early, go for regular short walks, don’t use lifts if you only have a couple of
flights of stairs to ascend.
Being physically active reduces the risk of many
diet-related diseases.
Always remember after you have done any form of
physical exercise it is not an excuse to reward yourself as this will
contradict the exercise.
If you are hungry choose foods that are filling but
low in calories and sugar.
Collette
Reception
Collette
Reception
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