Women of all ages are gearing up to participate in the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon and are beginning to make positive changes to their diets and lifestyles to get race fit. For many dedicated participants, June has now become their healthiest and fittest month of the year! Now is the time to overhaul your diet and kick start your training programme.

According to Flora nutritionist Dr. Particia Heavey, your body needs a variety of nutrients to function properly and no single type of food can provide all of them - we need a range of different amounts of foods to stay healthy.

It's not hard to create a healthy diet that's tasty and interesting and which will also be enjoyed by the rest of the family. Eating a nutritious, balanced diet can help you:

• Reduce your levels of bad cholesterol
• Control your blood pressure
• Achieve a healthy weight and shape

The basic rules for a healthy, balanced diet for you and your family are:

• Eat a variety of foods from each of the food groups, including at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day.

• Base meals on starchy foods such as bread, pasta, rice or potatoes. Choose wholegrain varieties when possible.

• Eat smaller amounts of meat or other protein, choosing lower-fat versions when possible.

• Eat two portions of fish each week, one of which should be oily.

• Swap high-fat dairy foods, like full-fat milk and cheese, for lower-fat versions.

• Eat small amounts of fatty and sugary foods.

• Cut down on saturated fats and trans fats, which are ‘bad’ as they can raise blood cholesterol levels

• Replace ‘bad’ or saturated fats with ‘good’ or unsaturated fats. Saturated fats are found in fatty meat, dairy products, cakes, biscuits and some savoury snacks. Try and avoid these foods and instead eat foods that contain unsaturated fats, such as nuts, avocado’s, oily fish such as mackerel and salmon, vegetables oils and spreads, such as Flora

• Eat less salt

• Drink alcohol in moderation