Bressie’s tips for healthier eating

● Healthy eating is understanding the food groups and educating yourself on the fact that everybody is different and has different needs when it comes to food and a good place to start is avoiding processed food.

● There are mental health benefits of eating and cooking healthy food. Take a look at some of the research around good gut health and brain health and that’s a really good area to start. Also, preparing, cooking and eating your own food can be really rewarding.

● Try to use as much fresh ingredients as possible when cooking. I always try to be seasonal and using fresh, seasonal veg is also a great way to ensure you’re getting the best value in your weekly shop. I cook a lot of curries and soups using lots of in-season veg, which are very cheap.

● The best advice I would give here is to try to understand what’s in your food. If you’re buying something that’s processed, know what has been put into it. The internet has made it really easy for us to Google what’s in foods now and, ultimately, know what we’re putting into our bodies. Where you can cook from scratch — you can never beat fresh fruit and veg!

● It’s OK to pig out sometimes. I’m not necessarily a really super healthy eater; I just understand what eating healthy does for me. Like everyone else I like to pig out, I think it’s important to pig out every now and again. For me it’s doing that in a social situation. We need to have that positive relationship with food. When you start to understand your food, you can be aware that it’s alright to do it sometimes.