THE BALANCE OF GOOD HEALTH

Posted 07 November 2006

FINDING A HEALTHY BALANCE

Although your Fitbug nutrition target is a calorie recommendation, we're not advocating that you make these calories up by eating any old junk!

Instead we advise you to stick closely to the Balance of Good Health guidelines, which appear at the bottom of the nutrition update page.

We'll give you regular feedback on the nutritional content of your diet in your weekly report. Alternatively, you can see how your diet compares to the Balance of Good Health at any time by visiting the nutrition history page.

WHAT IS THE BALANCE OF GOOD HEALTH?

The Balance of Good Health is an outline of what to eat each day. It is not a rigid prescription but does offer a general guide to help you choose a healthy diet that's right for you.

It is better that you eat a variety of foods to get all the nutrients you need.

To help you lose, gain or maintain weight you need to eat the right amount of calories so it's important to eat the right number of portions from each food group and monitor your portion sizes.

The general guidelines for most people are:

• Total Fat: not more than 35% of your total intake
• Saturated Fat: not more than 11% of your diet
• Carbohydrate: 50 - 60%
• Protein: 10-15%

Variations to this include:

People who drink alcohol should have a maximum of 33% fat of which no more that 10% should be saturated.
Highly active people should derive 60-70% of their diet from carbohydrates.