New Year – New You

What better way to start the New Year than with a new and healthier you?

Whether you want to lose weight, cut down on salt, be more active or eat less processed foods, the New Year is the perfect time to start. To help you this New Year, here are some simple swaps to start you on the road to a healthier year.

• Swap the car or bus for walking

Increasing the amount of physical activity in your life is a great way to boost your health. Being physically active helps maintain a healthy body weight and helps prevent a number of serious conditions, including cancer. Try swapping your daily commute for a brisk walk.

• Swap white for brown

Wholegrain foods like oats, brown rice, and wholegrain breads and pasta are a good source of fibre and release their energy slowly. They help you to feel fuller for longer, and can help you avoid weight gain. Try swapping white bread for wholegrain or wholemeal and white rice and pasta for brown.

• Swap sugary drinks for water

Don’t forget that sugary drinks are high in calories so you could be consuming far more calories than you think. Sugary drinks include fizzy drinks like cola and lemonade, as well as cordials and squashes, and contain virtually no nutrients. Try swapping sugary drinks for water or unsweetened tea or coffee and allow yourself one glass of fruit juice a day.

• Swap unhealthy snacks for healthy alternatives

Snacks like crisps and biscuits are said to be ‘energy-dense’ because they contain more calories weight for weight than other foods. Energy-dense foods tend to be high in fat and/or sugar and contain more than about 225-275kcal per 100g. As part of a healthy diet for cancer prevention, try to limit these foods. Try swapping crisps for sticks of fresh vegetables like carrots, celery or sugar snap peas and biscuits for fruit.

• Swap processed foods for home cooking

Consuming too much salt can increase your risk of stomach cancer and can lead to high blood pressure. Over 80 per cent of the salt in our diets is hidden in processed foods. Cooking meals from scratch allows you to control exactly how much salt goes into your food. Try swapping processed ready meals for home cooked versions and choose tinned or packaged food with no added salt, where possible.

For more great tips why not download our Healthy New You Plan – a practical healthy living plan that shows you how to improve your diet and be more active this New Year.