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Adequate Nutrients with Calorie Needs: When it comes to nutrient intake it is healthier to reduce or cut out foods that contain saturated fats like sugar, cholesterol, alcohol and salt. This will help towards developing a balanced meal plan.

Fruit and vegetables are a necessary part of anyones daily diet. The equivalent of two cups of a variety of fruit and vegetables is sufficient to meet your nutritional needs. There are 5 vegetable sub-groups that each you should include in you weekly diet. These subgroups include starch based vegetables, dark green, and orange vegetables. This should provide you with 2,000 calories. Milk is an important part of a healthy diet. Try to drink 3 cups a day. It's advisable to drink, low-fat or better still, fat-free milk. Whole grain products should also be consumed. There are no strict rules but including them in your weekly meal plan will give you a healthier diet.

Try to restrict fat intake to sources such as vegetable oils, nuts and fish. Try to keep your total fat intake to 20% to 35% of calories. Chose lean low fat or fat free meat, poultry and milk products where possible. With carbs, you should restrict your intake to whole grains, vegetables and fruits rich in fiber. Avoid adding sugar or artificial sweeteners to prepared food. You should restrict your intake of sodium where possible and avoid using salt in food preparation. Foods with potassium like fruit and vegetables should be encouraged.

Keeping within your recommended body weight can best be achieved by ensuring your caloric intake matches or is balanced by your energy levels. To help stay within your recommended body weight, you should cut back on portion size of food and drink that contain marginally higher calorie content. Also perform physical exercise such as running, walking, resistance training in the gym regularly. Often, three times a week is adequate but you may want to tailor a routine that best suits you.

Physical exercise should be a routine part of your plan to stay in shape and lose weight. The basic elements of an effective workout plan include activities that require cardiovascular fitness such as running, swimming and aerobics. You should also include weight training or resistance training into your routine. It has been proven that light to moderate weight training increase fitness levels and weight loss. If you are wanting to simply stay in shape it is recommended that you exercise for at least 30 minutes, at least three times a week. For those wishing to lose weight, a higher pace and length of activity will be needed to ensure your caloric intake is not converted into fats.