Okay, today, August 12,  is my birthday and all day people have been asking me if I’m going to have some cake…and then laugh…they know me too well.  It’s prompted me with some inspiration to tell you about my “life-long” philosophy to how I eat.

For the past 20 years I have followed a “healthy eating” mindset, making sure I get the right amount of protein, carbs and fats into my meals.  This doesn’t mean that I measure every gram of everything I eat, but because I’ve been doing it for so long now, I can easily visualise the quantities of what I should be eating.  I’ve outlined below a snapshot of how I approach my week:

*  Make sure I get in 6 meals per day.  These comprise of breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as morning tea, afternoon tea and evening snack
*  Each meal is eaten approximately 2.5 to 3hrs apart.
*  Make sure that my 3 main meals comprise about 30 grams of protein (in the form of fish, chicken or lean red meat), complex carbs (in the form of rice, pasta or potatoes) and plenty of colourful vegies
*  Make sure my snacks comprise some fibre and / or protein (eg fruit, salad sandwich, protein shake, etc)
*  Make sure I drink 1.5 to 2 litres of water per day
*  Make sure I take my supplements (I take fish oil, multi vitamin & mineral tablets and glucosamine)
*******  Now, the most critical part!  I stick to this approach 6 days per week.  On the 7th day (Saturday for me) is what I call my “free” or “cheat” day.  This is the day when I essentially eat whatever I like – yes, that could even be cake!  I don’t worry about what I eat, then get back on track the very next day.  What this does is helps prevent any “binges” which may cause longer term blow outs.  This is the strategy that I suggest all my clients follow once they’ve started to form new healthy habits.  It works an absolute treat…..so give it a go yourself!