Chapters:
Index Page
Being a Digger and a Bloke
Choose Health - Be Active!
Talking to Your Doctor
Vascular Health and Diabetes
Mental Health
Your Lungs
Pills, Potions, Drugs & Alcohol
Cancer
Living with Chronic llness and Pain
Making Sense of Sensory Loss
Men as Carers
Dental Health
Healthy Driving

Other Resources :
Magazine
Feedback on the Men's Health Peer Education program. An e-mail address has been established to take feedback and comments on your experiences with the MHPE program. Click here to provide your feedback to us.

Choose Health - Be Active!

Balancing activity with healthy eating

Acknowledgments:

The National Health and Medical Research Council - Practical guide to the Dietary Guidelines for Older Australians.

Eat well for life

Enjoy a wide variety of nutritious food from the five food groups every day!
Keep your activity levels up to maintain muscle strength and a healthy body weight - if you have included new activity into your routine, try not to reduce the 'normal' amount you do in a day to compensate.
Eat at least three meals a day starting with a good breakfast!
Care for your food - prepare and store it correctly. Grill not fry fish or meat and try stir fries and microwave vegetables.
Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit - often those foods deepest in colour have the most nutrients.
Eat plenty of cereals, breads and pastas - great sources of energy, vitamins B&E and minerals like iron and zinc. Wholegrain breads and pastas are especially good.
Include foods that are high in calcium - including milk, cheese and yoghurt, almonds, broccoli, canned fish and tahini paste.
Eat a diet which is low in saturated fat - this is the fat that goes hard when cold and can be seen on edge of meat although hidden in sausages, meats, cheese, packaged biscuits and fast foods.
Choose food low in salt and use salt sparingly - to control blood pressure. Try using herbs and spices instead.
Use added sugars in moderation - the sugar in fruit and milk are fine but soft drinks, lollies, sweets and jam are almost entirely sugar.
Drink adequate amounts of water and other fluids - to prevent dehydration, prevent constipation, kidney infections.
If you drink alcohol, make it just a part of the mix in a healthy lifestyle that includes good diet and regular exercise - make it the right mix! Visit the DVA website www.therightmix.gov.au to assess your drinking patterns and get more information.

Weight control

If weight control is important to you, any exercise needs to be balanced with a healthy diet. Some of the good work spent on your activity program can be lost if you return home and eat too much or inappropriate foods.

That piece of chocolate mud cake or lemon meringue pie may take quite a few extra laps of the oval at brisk walking to balance out! Try snacking on fruit or nuts instead.

Try to balance the energy being used for physical activity with energy going into your body (as food and drink). It is this that will help you maintain a healthy body weight.

Energy in - must equal - energy out if you are to control weight!

Energy balance - picture of scales