Eight tips for healthy eating

Eating a healthy, balanced diet is an important part of maintaining good health, and can help you feel your best. It can be simple, too. Just follow these eight diet tips to get started.
The two keys to a healthy diet are:
Eat the right number of calories for how active you are, so that you balance the energy you consume with the energy you use. If you eat or drink too much, you’ll put on weight. If you eat too little you’ll lose weight. The average man needs around 2,500 calories a day. The average woman needs 2,000 calories. Most adults are eating more calories than they need, and should eat fewer calories.
Eat a wide range of foods to ensure that you’re getting a balanced diet and that your body is receiving all the nutrients it needs.
Get started

The eatwell plate
To help you get the right balance of the five main food groups, take a look at the eatwell plate (PDF, 120kb)
To maintain a healthy diet, the eatwell plate shows you how much of what you eat should come from each food group
These practical tips cover the basics of healthy eating, and can help you make healthier choices:
Base your meals on starchy foods
Starchy foods include potatoes, cereals, pasta, rice and bread. Choose wholegrain varieties when you can: they contain more fibre, and can make you feel full for longer. Starchy foods should make up around one third of the foods you eat.
Most of us should eat more starchy foods: try to include at least one starchy food with each main meal. Some people think starchy foods are fattening, but gram for gram they contain fewer than half the calories of fat. Learn more in Starchy foods.
Eat lots of fruit and veg
It’s recommended that we eat at least five portions of different types of fruit and veg a day. It’s easier than it sounds. A glass of 100% unsweetened fruit juice can count as one portion, and vegetables cooked into dishes also count. Why not chop a banana over your breakfast cereal, or swap your usual mid-morning snack for some dried fruit? Learn more in 5 A DAY.

Diets and weight loss: separating facts from fiction.

Welcome to The science behind weight loss, a new Conversation series where we separate the myths about dieting from the realities of exercise and nutrition. In our first instalment, renowned nutritionist Rosemary Stanton explains how diets draw you in, but can’t deliver.

Let’s start with a few facts. Australians' waistbands have increased over the past three decades, with recent data showing 68% of men, 55% of women and 25% of children are overweight or obese.

Excess body fat is a problem for the individual. And it’s ultimately a problem for society because it overloads the national health budget.

Health problems due to excess body fat include an increased risk of type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, asthma, sleep apnoea, musculoskeletal conditions (including osteoarthritis) and certain types of cancer (especially colorectal and breast cancer in post-menopausal women).

There is good evidence to show genes play a role in obesity and explain why some people gain more weight than others when their energy intake exceeds their body’s needs. But genetic factors can’t explain the rapid increase in excess body fat over the past 20 to 30 years.

So what has changed? Two obvious factors stand out.

Physical activity has decreased as we have embraced labour-saving devices and sedentary behaviours. Changes in urban design and the use of cars for transport also play major roles.


An increased reliance on cars means we’re not getting enough incidental exercise. Flickr/esposd
What we eat and drink has also changed. We eat more. We snack more often. We quench our thirst with sweetened beverages. Portion sizes for drinks, meals and snacks have all increased and foods and drinks that were once kept for special occasions are now daily “treats”.

In spite of calculations showing that our increased food intake and decreased exercise output have increased our national girth, we continue to ignore such obvious factors.

Instead we look for a magic bullet cure-all, with diets high on the list of possible saviours.

The 10 Best Weight-Loss Tips Ever

Losing pounds doesn't have to be torture (we're looking at you, cayenne-pepper cleanse). Adopt at least three of these behaviors — they're simple to integrate into your day-to-day routine, and all are enthusiastically backed by nutritionists — and you'll be thinner and healthier in days. (Plus, the weight will stay off.)

1. SNACK, BUT SMARTLY

Grazing between meals used to be on the weight-loss hit list. But nutritionists now know that it's better to satisfy a craving with healthy grub than ignore it and risk a junk-food binge later. The best picks are filling, protein-packed snacks, such as one stick of string cheese, a tablespoon of peanut butter on a piece of fruit, or a medium-size bowl of edamame.

2. TURN OFF THE TV

Dining while viewing can make you take in 40 percent more calories than usual, reports a new study. And texting, driving, or any other distracting activity during a meal can also result in your eating too much. Instead, make each meal something you put on a plate and sit down to, even if you're eating solo.

3. STEP ON THE SCALE DAILY

If your regular weight increases several days in a row, it's a red flag letting you know you need to cut back a little or beef up your workouts slightly.

4. SCULPT THREE TIMES A WEEK

Doing 5 minutes each of push-ups, lunges, and squats (in 30-second intervals) will help build and maintain muscle mass. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism will be, so you'll torch more calories as you go about your day.

5. REACH FOR YOUR CELL

Next time your mind gets stuck on a certain food, call a friend and redirect your brain by asking how her day's going. Research shows that cravings only last about 5 minutes, so by the time you hang up, the urge to devour junk will have subsided.

Top 10 diets review

With so many diet options to choose from it can be hard to find a weight loss plan that’s right for you.
To help, the British Dietetic Association (BDA) looks at the pros and cons and gives its verdict on the 10 most searched-for commercial diets.
Many of the diets listed here are quick fixes and may not be sustainable or healthy in the long term. They could make your weight more likely to fluctuate or ‘yo-yo’. The key to losing weight and keeping it off is to reduce your calorie intake and be more active. Read Start losing weight for more information.
Dukan diet

The Dukan diet is a low-carbohydrate (carb), high-protein diet. There’s no limit to how much you can eat during the plan’s four phases, providing you stick to the rules of the plan. During phase one, you’re on a strict lean protein diet. This is based on a list of 72 reasonably low-fat protein-rich foods, such as chicken, turkey, eggs, fish and fat-free dairy. This is for an average of five days to achieve quick weight loss. Carbs are off limits except for a small amount of oat bran. Unlike the Atkins diet, Dukan’s phase one bans vegetables and seriously restricts fat. The next three phases of the plan see the gradual introduction of some fruit, veg and carbs and eventually all foods. The aim is gradual weight loss of up to 2lb a week and to promote long-term weight management. There’s no time limit to the final phase, which involves having a protein-only day once a week and taking regular exercise.

Why Is Slow Weight Loss Better Than Quick Weight Loss?

In America, about 68 percent of people age 20 years and older are obese or overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority of these people want to lose weight or have considered losing weight. The question they face is if they should lose weight quickly or slowly.
Slow Weight Loss
To lose weight and keep it off, you should lose between 1 and 2 lbs. a week, advises Dr. Michael Hall, a family practitioner in St. Marys, Pennsylvania. Therefore, it can take between 25 and 50 weeks to lose 50 lbs.
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Benefits of Slow Weight Loss
While slow weight loss can take months or even years, this pace will help you maintain your weight loss, according to MayoClinic.com. Slow weight loss also increases your chances of losing fat. Your body can only burn so much fat within a week. After this, it has to resort to burning lean muscle tissue. Hall explains that slow changes to your diet and exercise allow you to make healthy eating and exercise lifetime habits.

Start losing weight

If you're overweight, losing weight will bring you a range of important health benefits. The key to success? Making realistic changes to your diet and level of physical activity that can become a part of your daily routine.
Evidence shows that the best way to lose weight is to make long-term changes to diet and physical activity that result in a steady rate of weight loss. Aim to lose weight at around 0.5kg to 1kg a week (1lb to 2lb), until you achieve a healthy BMI
This guide can help you to start your journey towards a healthy weight. Once you’re on the way, there is lots of information and advice that can help you keep going in our Lose weight section.
Along the way, you can monitor changes in your body mass index (BMI) using our Healthy weight calculator.
Commit to change

Why is gradual weight loss better than a crash diet?

Crash diets don't work for long-term weight loss, and most aren’t healthy.
It’s best to lose weight gradually:
at a rate of 0.5-1kg (1-2lbs) a week
by eating a healthy, balanced diet combined with regular physical activity
Crash diets

Many crash or fad diets:
radically restrict your daily calorie intake, or
miss out entire food groups
Diets like this are not recommended for weight loss.
Depending on the type of crash diet, it may:
slow down your metabolism: the rate at which your body turns food into energy
prevent you from getting important nutrients and vitamins that your body needs to work properly
reduce your intake of carbohydrates (such as pasta, bread, and rice) that are an essential source of energy
increase your intake of protein and fat: too much saturated fat can raise your cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease and stroke
Fast weight loss

Ten weight-loss myths

So much is said about losing weight that it can be hard to sort truth from fiction. Here's the truth about 10 common weight-loss myths.
Recommended physical activity levels for adults

Adults (19-64 years) should do 150 minutes every week
Older adults (65+ years) should do 150 minutes every week
Adults who are overweight are likely to need to do more than the recommended amount of activity in order to lose weight, and this activity should be accompanied by changes to diet.

1. Starving myself is the best way to lose weight
Crash diets are unlikely to result in long-term weight loss. In fact, they can sometimes lead to longer term weight gain. The main problem is that this type of diet is too hard to maintain. Your body will be low on energy, causing you to crave high-fat and high-sugar foods. When you finally give in and eat those foods, you will often eat more calories than you need, causing weight gain. Learn more about a healthy diet in Eight tips for healthy eating.

Healthy food swaps

Choosing healthier foods is easier than you may think. By changing just a few eating habits you can make a big difference to your diet.

Making small changes to your diet can help you to shed excess pounds and achieve a healthy weight.
It can also help you to achieve your five daily portions of fruit and vegetables: learn more in Why 5 A DAY?

It's all about eating fewer foods that are high in calories, fat, salt and sugars and swapping them for something healthier, including more fruit and vegetables and wholegrains. Remember, small changes can add up to make a big overall difference to your diet.
You can learn more about a balanced diet in The eatwell plate.
Food and drink swaps

Try these small changes when you have your next meal or drink, or when you open the cupboard or fridge for a snack.
Once you've got started, try thinking of your own healthier swaps, too. Food labels can help you to choose healthier options: learn more in Food labels.
Breakfast