Healthy living

You only get the one body. No refunds, no exchanges. Best look after it then!

Eat well
Eat well!

• Food provides the energy (calories) you need to function during the day. It varies, but rough guidelines are 2500 calories per day for men, 2000 for women. Rubbish food does you no good at all.
• Eat lots of wholegrain cereal and bread, potatoes, fruit, pulses and vegetables. These foods give you energy, fibre, and essential vitamins and minerals.
• Eat moderate amounts of milk and dairy products, meat, fish, eggs, nuts and pulses (like kidney beans). These will give you the protein you need for growth as well as vitamins
  Keep hydrated!and minerals. Veggie? www.vegsoc.org can help with healthy eating.
• Eat at least five portions of fruit and veg a day. This includes fresh, frozen, canned, dried or 100% fruit juice. Hit www.5aday.nhs.uk for more information.
• Eat very small amounts of fatty foods like butter, cream, chocolate, cake, biscuits, crisps and ice-cream. As well as being loaded with calories that convert to fat, the sugar will rot your teeth away. 
• If you don't drink enough water, dehydration will make you feel tired, grumpy and short of concentration. Aim for at least 1.5 - 2 litres a day.
• Limit the amount of salt you sprinkle on your food, the maximum should be 6 grams a day. Too much can lead to heart disease, kidney disease and strokes.

Short of money?
A cheap way to exercise

In an ideal world, we'd all have personal trainers. Press-ups and sit-ups are free, and running is pretty cheap once you've got the shoes. www.runnersworld.co.uk will get you started safely, and the BBC's website is ace too www.bbc.co.uk/health

Exercise

• 
  Why not try a dance class?The health education authority (HEA) recommends that you should get one hour of moderate exercise a day. This will mean getting off the sofa, but if you avoid heart disease it's not such a bad thing. Talk to your general practitioner (GP) first, and start with half an hour a day if it's new to you.
• Moderate activity is anything that makes you breathe harder than normal and warms you, including brisk walking, swimming, dancing, cycling, and most sports.
  Do some moderate exercise.
• At least twice a week your exercise routine should also include activities to maintain muscular strength, including circuits, resistance exercises, gymnastics, yoga and body conditioning. 
• You also need to include some weight-bearing activities to improve bone health. Have a go at dancing, aerobics and sports like basketball and athletics.
• You can break your hour of exercise down into shorter sessions during the day, like walking or cycling to college or work.
• Look cool while you get fit by taking up an action sport like surfing, wakeboarding, windsurfing or mountain biking.

Disabilities?

A disability needn't stop you getting exercise. The English federation of disability sport is there to help, go to www.efds.net or call 0161 247 5 294.