Healthy Lifestyle

Healthy Lifestyle 

How much physical activity should you be doing?

According to new research published by the British Heart Foundation National Centre (BHFNC), nearly two thirds (62.3%) of adults do not know the physical activity guidelines.

Current recommendations in the UK, from the chief medical officer, advise adults to accumulate 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per week, yet only 57% of people in Leicester-Shire and Rutland report to achieve these levels of physical activity.

The Chief Medical Officer has released a number of guidelines on the amount of physical activity we should be doing throughout our lifecourse.

• Early Years (PDF Document, 0.36 Mb)(Under 5's)
• Children and Young People (PDF Document, 0.37 Mb) (5-18 years)
• Adults and Older Adults (PDF Document, 0.53 Mb) (19-64 years)
• Disabled Adults (PDF Document, 0.35 Mb)
• Pregnant Women (PDF Document, 0.36 Mb)
• Women after childbirth: birth to 12 months (PDF Document, 0.51 Mb)

Whatever your age, there is plenty of scientific evidence that being physically active can help you to lead a healthier and happier life. Adults should aim to be active daily. Over a week, activity should add up to at least 150minutes (2½ hours) of moderate intensity activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more.

One way to approach this is to do 30 minutes on at least 5 days a week. You can tell when your activity is moderate intensity because you will breathe faster, experience an increase in heart rate and feel warmer. Shorter sessions of physical activity offer an easier starting point for people who have been inactive for some time, and for those who have busy lives and find it hard to prioritise activity.

Why should you be doing physical activity? Most people know that exercise is good for your health, but here are many more benefits to getting physically active.

• Health Benefits: prevention and control of numerous illnesses, helps to maintain strong and healthy bones/joints/muscles, helps with weight control.
• Social Benefits: meet new people, take up a new hobby, do activities with your friends and family.
• Wellbeing Benefits: improve your mood, improve your confidence, reduce stress, gain more self-esteem

For information on Physical Activites locally visit: North West Leicestershire Physical Activity Services

For more information, visit Make your Move: Leicestershire and Rutland Sport 

Healthy Eating

Healthy eating should be enjoyable as well as being good for you. We know you’re busy so we want to help you make healthier food choices and enjoy doing it too. It’s about making simple changes that you can stick with to keep your heart healthy and look after yourself and your family.

There are lots of good reasons for you and your family to eat well.

A good diet, together with being physically active, is an important part of staying healthy and feeling your best.

NHS guidance on healthy eating

Eating well is for everyone who wants to look after their health, eat more healthily and help reduce their risk of heart disease, strokes, diabetes and certain forms of cancer.

Download the Healthy Eating booklet from the British Heart Foundation and you will find all the information you need to eat healthily and improve your health, there is even a food diary to help you plan your meals and to record what you eat.

We also have a comprehensive range of activities to help people take regular exercise to improve their health in conjunction your new healthy eating plans.

Maintaining a healthy immune system 

It is important to look after your immune system, particularly as you get older, to improve your body's ability to fight off infection. 

This short video tells you more about how you can maintain a healthy immune system.

You can also find more advice on looking after your immune system naturally from Holland and Barrett's online information page.

Mental Health 

Improved mental health and wellbeing is associated with a range of better outcomes for people of all ages and backgrounds.

For more advice and tips on mental health please visit our mental wellbeing page.

Stopping smoking

It may not be easy – but it is possible!

And as there has never been a more important time to quit smoking, make today the day for taking your first step on your quit journey.

Visit Quit Ready's today is the day website, or their homepage for more information and to see the wide range of support they provide to help you break the habit. Or call the Quit Ready stop smoking service on 0345 646 66 66. 

There is also lots of useful information on how to stop smoking and you can download the Stop Smoking booklet from the British Heart Foundation.

How healthy are you?

Find out how healthy you are by completing the NHS One You Questionnaire which only takes a couple of minutes.

Other resourses:

Health advice booklet (PDF Document, 1.49 Mb)