Eating Well

Maintaining a diet of three balanced meals a day, with at least five portions of fruit or vegetables, will boost your energy levels, make you feel healthier and help you get through your busy day. The NHS Eatwell Guide gives a good overview of how to achieve a balanced nutritional diet. 

We understand that eating healthy can be easier said than done. Here are some tips to try and make it more convenient for you: 

• If you need to prepare a meal for the person you care for, you could use it as an opportunity to make a healthy meal for you both. You could even sit down and eat together, making it a nice social activity too. 
• It can help to plan your meals for the week ahead, and then buy the ingredients needed in advance. This can take the stress out of having to decide what to eat every day. Plus, if you know that you already have everything you need for the meal, you are less likely to either skip the meal or order a takeaway. 
• Or you could try batch cooking, where you prepare food for multiple meals in one go. You could make a big pot of soup, stew, chilli or curry, for instance, then divide it into smaller portions and freeze them. That way you have a meal that is ready to grab and reheat on particularly busy days. This is just as easy as a ready meal, but is likely to be much healthier. 

• If what is stopping you from cooking a healthy meal is not being able to find the time to go to the supermarket, why not order your shopping online? It can take a little longer the first time, but once you have set it up it can be much quicker and easier than going to the shop. Alternatively, you can get healthy meals delivered to your door from companies such as ‘Hello Fresh’ and ‘Gousto’.