It is often said that we need to eat a healthy balanced diet, but why is that? Well it is because of all the vitamins and minerals that we gain from eating healthy foods, and the need for our body to obtain them in order to keep it in balance and harmony. This allows us to do the things we wish to do during the course of the day. Of course we can obtain the energy from any food we eat but not necessarily the correct healthy vitamins or minerals our body needs.

Food is also the fuel our body uses as energy to enable us to function as human beings.

I once read that a man was asked: "If you had a 5 million pound prize winning racehorse, what would you feed it?" "Only the best food and drink to keep it in tip top condition, of course" he replied. "You are priceless and unique but yet you eat takeaways and junk food"

How many of us are guilty of that?

There are so many different diet plans out there, but what I always start with as a very rough guide is if it does not FLY, GROW or SWIM do not eat it (so just go for food in its natural form as much as possible) and your diet will be a lot better than most.

Also I keep using the word diet and when most people think of this they think of a one to two week quick fix, instead re arrange the letter from DIET to EDIT. Edit your nutrition as a lifestyle change over a period of time and not as a quick fix, you only have one body and if you do not look after it, it will slowly deteriorate.

Follow these simple rules every day to help keep your body healthy:

• Do not skip meals. Eat three meals a day with two healthy snacks (for example fruit or yoghurt) in between.
• Eat breakfast within an hour of waking up. Never skip breakfast.
• Try to have at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day.
• Try to drink 6-8 glasses of water every day.