You want to be healthy, it doesn't mean you have to live on just salads and carrot sticks.
At first my definition of a "balanced eating" was to lay off all the comfort foods we all love. Straight away I was eating salads, don't get me wrong this is healthy but it needs to be balanced.

The little step you guys need to take is just to move towards a healthy eating plan. Including eating more fruit, vegetables, bread, cereals and pasta.
You don't need to be a professional chef to cook up delicious meals and desserts.

Why should we eat balanced?

A balanced eating plan helps to stay healthy
Makes our body function properly
Keeps us fit and healthy
Prevents us from certain diseases e.g. heart disease
It helps us live for a long time

Meat, dairy, fruits/veg, fats/sugar & carbohydrates.

Meat - eat 2 to 3 servings a day.
Dairy - eat 3 servings a day.
fruits/vegs - eat 5 or more servings a day.
fats/sugar - 2 and a half servings a day.
carbohydrates - 3 to 5 servings a day.

Brilliant breakfasts

Breakfast is a very important meal. You’ve probably heard that before, but want to know why?

After going 10 - 12 hours overnight without food, your energy reserves are low. Your body and brain now need fuel!

Breakfast keeps you going until lunchtime. This helps you do better at school. It also stops you feeling hungry mid-morning. This is the danger zone when you might be tempted to eat crisps or chocolate at break time!

YUMMY!! =D

How will you ‘break the fast’ of the night? Here are some healthy brekkie ideas to kick-start your day

Pick porridge, muesli, wheat or bran cereals with semi-skimmed milk. Try to avoid cereals with added sugar and fat.

Boil an egg and have it with wholemeal bread soldiers.

Launch your day with a lean grilled bacon sandwich.

Make fab fruit smoothies with plain low fat yoghurt or semi-skimmed milk.

Smart Snacks

If you are hungry mid-day, make sure your snack is at least a healthy one! Don't snack TOO much.

A pot of low fat yoghurt [pick your favourite flavour! :D]
Apple slices dipped in yoghurt or peanut butter.
A small pot of dessert mousse

This could stop you from stopping at the shops on the way home reaching for junk foods. But you can have a 'pic'n'mix' once in a while.

Lovely Lunch.

Your lunch-box should contain:

Carbohydrates,
Some salad and a piece of fruit.
A bit of dairy such as yoghurt, yoghurt drink, low-fat yoghurt and a piece of cheese.
A drink - avoid fizzy drinks and go for a flavoured water or fruit juice.

School meals?

Try and eat the healthier meals. Here's what you should take and leave.

Take Leave

Jacket potatoes with baked beans or cottage cheese	Roast Potatoes
Pasta with tomato sauces	Chips
Hot pots, stews and casseroles	Pasta with creamy sauces
Baked, grilled or steamed fish	Fish in batter or breadcrumbs
Vegetable bakes	Fried chicken or chicken nuggets
Tuna, chicken or ham salad	Pizza
Vegetable curry with boiled rice	Sausage Rolls

Dinner delights

Dinner doesn't have to be massive. Your body does not need a mountain of food before you go to bed. This is because you won’t need much energy while you sleep.

The majority of food should be eaten during the day, this fuel keeps you going throughout the day.

Steps to a decent dinner:

Start with carbohydrates like pasta, noodles, rice, potatoes, yam, plantain.
Throw in lots of vegetables or salads. Aim to eat different vegetables with every dinner. Try steaming and stir frying to keep all the goodness in.
Then add protein such as lean meats, poultry, eggs, fish, reduced fat cheese, beans, nuts or pulses.
Use healthy cooking methods like grilling, baking, steaming or boiling.
Finish off with a nice and healthy pudding!

Prize-Winning Desserts.

Fresh fruit salad
Fruit sorbet
Rice pudding
Frozen yoghurt

Scrumptious Recipes you guys should try out.

Remember You don't need to be a professional chef to cook up delicious meals and desserts.
I love something with chicken in it so I tend to prepare a Vietnamese style chicken salad for lunch. It is long lasting, smells tasty, looks like a beauty and it is mouth-watering as soon as you see it prepared. For every lunch meal I always have to have a fruit salad and smoothie.

You must be thinking I will get bored of this? Well I won't because the simple solution is to change the fruits and flavour of the smoothie.

I have put in a link below about this chicken based, scrumptious recipe. Trust me it's beautiful, try it out.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/vietnamesestylechick_90311

Turn your fav fruit into a
refreshing smoothie!

Have an exotic smoothie. It's quick and cheap, what more could you want? =D.

Mango is my favourite! But if you don't like these fruits pop to the local shop and get some.
Sometimes I add bananas too - to make it the ultimate, thick and tasty smoothie. It never gets old, when I drink this, for a moment I feel like I'm tasting a bit of India. Where the freshest mangoes were born. My friends and family absolutely loved this smoothie made by me. And they're not just saying they love it because they're close to me [;. It's just so easy to make, go ahead and try it out! I included a link down below if you want to find out more about this natural and lovely drink.
http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/516843
For more tasty recipes click Teen Recipes.

You guys should really try eating a bit of everything. Don't eat things that are deep fried because there's always an alternative way of cooking it. Such as putting it under the grill or oven. Now you know some imformation on eating balanced, go ahead and start eating this way.

Stay Healthy,

Super Sophia,x