Leading a healthy lifestyle

TASK 1: Read the text below and answer the tasks that follow.

To maintain a healthy weight, the first step is to be mindful of the principle of energy balance — the amount of energy in the foods you eat and the amount of energy you burn off from being physically active.

If the energy you consume from your food intake is more or less the same as your physical activity, you will maintain a healthy weight.

If your energy intake from your food is more than the energy used for your physical activity, you will gain weight. Being overweight increases your risk factor for lifestyle-related diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular heart disease and cancer.

If your food intake is less than your physical activity, you will lose weight. Being underweight is not healthy as well as it causes a loss of lean muscle tissue, weakens your immune levels and can cause brittle bones.

Know how much you need to eat

The foundation of building a lifestyle that helps you achieve a healthy weight starts with knowing how many calories you should have in a day. This depends on several factors, such as your age, gender, height, weight and level of physical activity.

If you are trying to lose weight, aim to eat between 1500 and no more than 2000 calories per day. Plus get more physically active to create a slight energy deficit so your weight will go down.

Be mindful of food portions

Being consistent in making better food choices and being more active is the key to successfully losing weight, and keeping it off permanently. But many eat much larger portions of food than what is suitable for them.

By knowing the portion sizes of the various food groups, you can build a day’s meal within the calorie level that is suitable for you to lose excess weight.

Do get yourself a set of measuring cups, the kind that you use for baking. For the first few weeks, use the measuring cups to measure out your food whenever you eat at home.

Plan ahead

Now that you are more aware of the suitable types of foods and portions to have, plan your meals well so you can stay on track. The advantage of pre-planning allows you to stock up on foods so you can make quick and convenient meals at home.

By doing so, you can reduce eating out where it would be harder for you to resist the temptation of high fat and high sugar foods that can cause you to overeat.

Adapted from: https://www.nst.com.my/lifestyle/heal