5 tips for healthy living

Our busy lifestyles, rushing to and from work and school, can make it hard to eat a healthy diet and get enough exercise. Sometimes, the easy option is to choose unhealthy snacks and takeaway foods and spend too much time in front of the TV or computer. But there are better choices for our health.

There are some simple habits that can help you lead a healthier lifestyle and help your kids develop lifelong healthy habits.

1. Choose water over soft drinks:

• Serve water with meals.
• Freeze water bottles for school and avoid juice poppers.

2. Eat more fruit and vegetables:

• Aim for 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables every day. Aim to make fruit and vegetables part of all your meals and snacks. See how easy this can be in our blog Do you know how much fruit and veg you should be eating?
• Drink fruit juice occasionally (half a cup is a serve) and dilute it with ice or water.

3. Choose fruit, vegetables, yoghurt and wholegrain bread or crackers as snacks:

• Avoid snacking on crisps, hot chips, biscuits and cakes as these are low in nutrients and high is saturated fat and sugar. Check out our snack inspiration here.

4. Limit takeaway food high in saturated fat, salt and sugar:

• Use the nutrition information on the menu at most fast food restaurants and choose items with less kilojoules, small serve sizes or share a serve and go for those that have some salad. See our Healthy takeaway blog.
• Stock the pantry and fridge with healthy convenience foods like salad mixes, tinned beans, tuna and precooked brown rice which you can use to make quick meals.
• Try making your own easy pizza and burgers and add extra vegetables.
• Keep some home-cooked meals in the freezer for days when there is no time to cook

5. Get active:

• Turn off screens and get moving.
• Make time for a walk.
• Plan activity into your day.
• Use active transport – can you walk or ride to work or school?
• Take the stairs.

Aim for at least an hour of physical activity every day and no more than 2 hours of screen time. Two-to-five year olds should have less than 1 hour of screen time.

Not sure about the recommended types and amounts of foods for your family? See the Healthy lunch box builder or the Eat for Health website. The recommendations for children of different ages can be found in this Eat for Health brochure.

See the Exercise Guidelines for information on physical activity.

© Cancer Council NSW 2024 Head Office Address: 153 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011. Cancer Council NSW is registered with the Australian Taxation Office as an Income Tax Exempt Charity: Charitable Fundraising Authority No. 18521.

Some images on this site have been supplied by Cancer Council Western Australia's Crunch & Sip website