A healthy lifestyle means a good quality life
Breakfast
Eat your breakfast like a queen or a king. Your body needs enough calories, proteins, vitamins and water to function during the day. Include proteins, whole grains, fruits and water.
Lunch
Take a reasonable size portion to maintain good energy levels. Typically your ½ plate should consist of fruits and vegetables and other ½ plate proteins and carbohydrates.
Dinner
During sleep our body metabolism is lowered and less of calories are burnt. The extra food consumed is stored as body fat. Take a small portion of food during supper time and should contain plenty of salads and fruits.
Snack
In between meals, take a snack containing low calories e.g. fruits, soup, tea etc. This maintains a steady energy level and helps you avoid hunger pangs. Because of this, the next meal you will not have to eat a large portion.
Right choice of food stuffs
- Eat at least four servings of vegetables a day. Vegetables are loaded with vitamins and minerals, contain fiber, have no cholesterol, and are low in fat and calories. They’re a great source of phytochemicals, substances that appear to help reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Eat a variety to get all the health benefits.
- Eat at least three servings of fruits a day. Fruits are filled with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber.
Except for a few, such as avocado and coconut, they’re virtually free of fat. Fruits are a major source of flavonoids, substances that may help lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Choose a variety of fruits to get the most health benefits. - Eat foods high in omega-3s. Eating at least two servings (about 3 ounces each) a week of fish that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Plant sources of omega-3s include (macadamia nuts and oil), soybeans and walnuts (whole and oil).
- Choose whole-grain foods. Eating whole grains may lower your risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer. In addition to the more familiar whole-grain breads and cereals, add variety to your diet with brown rice, wheat, millet, quinoa, whole-wheat and pasta.
- Meat. Processed meat is now associated with the risk of digestive cancers. Reduce your meat intake and be in favour of white meat e.g. fish and chicken.
Exercise
Regular exercises helps maintain your weight, lowers your blood pressure, promotes good blood glucose control, improves your moods, lowers your stress, increases your muscle strength, enhances your mental alertness and improves your overall sense of well-being.
Aim for 30 to 60 minutes a day of low- to moderate-intensity physical activity.
Combine three types of exercise — stretching (flexibility), endurance (aerobic) and strengthening (weight training) — and three levels of intensity — warm-up, workout level and cool-down — in each exercise session.
Dos and Don’ts of Losing weight
- Don’t skip meals. During the day when you’re active, your body needs maximum calories and nutrients. Missed meals may result in an unhealthy diet and may increase your risk of obesity. Eating meals, including a healthy snack, at fairly regular times may reduce impulse snacking, meal size and calorie intake.
- Limit meat consumption. Meat is a major source of fat — keep portions under 6 ounces daily. Eat more servings of vegetables, fruits and whole grains.
- Don’t starve yourself. If you’re on a diet that’s too strict, eventually you’ll go back to eating regular food. Unless you’ve learned how to eat a variety of healthy foods and still lose weight, you won’t achieve long-term weight control.
- Exercise regularly. Any exercise burns calories. To promote weight loss from body fat, exercise at a moderate intensity for at least 30 to 60 minutes on most days of the week. Walking is a good form of exercise.
- Drink water. Drinking water with your meal can help fill you up. Drinking water also slows the pace of your eating — and people who eat fast tend to overeat.
- Weigh wisely. Daily weighing can be a helpful tool for some people who are trying to lose weight or prevent weight gain. But daily shifts in body water can show up as pounds on your scale. So keep this in mind and pay greater attention to trends in your weight.
Nutritional Supplements
Because diets of older adults are often short in more than one vitamin and mineral, a multiple vitamin-mineral pill taken once a day may make more sense than single-nutrient pills.
- Don’t take megadoses. Look for a supplement that contains a wide variety of vitamins and minerals in the appropriate amounts, usually no more than 100 percent of the Daily Value (DV). Check the contents to make sure you’re not getting too much of any nutrient, which can be harmful.
- Check the iron content. Some studies suggest that excess iron can raise the risk of heart disease and colon cancer for women beyond menopause and for men of any age. For these people, it’s probably wise to use a pill with little or no iron — 8 milligrams (mg) or less.
- Get enough calcium. People over 50 need 1,200 mg of calcium a day, but typically consume only 700 to 800 mg a day. A multivitamin can only include about 200 mg of calcium because a larger amount would make the pill too big to swallow.
- Get enough vitamin D. This helps the body absorb calcium and is essential to maintain proper bone strength. Because many older adults don’t get regular exposure to sunlight and have trouble absorbing vitamin D, taking a multivitamin with 400 to 600 international units (IU) will probably help improve bone health.
- Look for vitamin B-12 (cobalamin). Adequate levels of this vitamin may reduce your risk of anemia, cardiovascular disease and stroke. Older adults often don’t absorb this vitamin well. A multivitamin with at least 2 micrograms (mcg) may help.