4. Eating the Healthy Food

If you feel fat, your body is trying to tell you something: lose weight. You can get to your ideal weight and stay at your ideal weight - and be and feel healthy - and enjoy food. Perhaps you're a diet expert, you've tried everything and your weight has gone up and down like a yo-yo. Or maybe you've never been on a diet before, now you need to lose some weight but are confused by the conflicting advice when you flick through diet books and magazines. Or perhaps you're interested in your family's health and their weight and you want to understand about healthy food as well as slimming food.

No one can claim we know all there is to know about healthy eating as there are still gaps in our knowledge. But the healthiest diet - the one which most reduces the risk of a wide range of diseases - is also the safest and most effective one to return you to your ideal weight and keep you there. This is good news after all; everyone wants to be slim and healthy, not thin and ill. Don't be fatalistic about being fat: it may be harder for you than for others, but if you want to be slim, and commit yourself to it, then you will succeed.

If you cut down the amount of fat you eat, you will take in fewer calories. If you cut down the amount of sugar you eat, you will take in fewer calories. If you increase the amount of fibre you eat, you will be able to cut down fat and sugar without feeling hungry. If you increase your amount of physical activity, you will burn up more calories. If you follow these principles, you will lose weight.

You are in charge of your own body, your own health, and your own life.

If you feel fat, your body is trying to tell you something: lose weight.

5. Answer the questions:

1. Who does the writer think should read his book?

2. How can people lose weight while eating as much food as they are eating now?

3. What kind of diet is the healthiest, according to the text?

4. How can being overweight be explained?

5. What two ways are indicated of cutting down on calories?

6. Why is fibre useful in a diet?

6. Roleplay. Work in pairs. Interview your partner and find out:

• what he/she does to keep fit

• what he/she does when he/she falls ill

• how often he/she calls the doctor in or goes to the doctor

• if he/she goes in for sports

• what kinds of sports he/she prefers

• how much time he/she spends watching TV

VII*. To Be or Not to Be... A Veggie

FOR AND AGAINST

Peter. Some people still believe that you can't live without meat. But modern scientific research shows that all the nutrients (питательные вещества) we need for a healthy life can lie round in plants.

Ann. My family and I are vegetarians — we don't eat meat. We eat lots of vegetables, fruit and nuts. Sometimes we eat a few eggs or a little cheese but we never eat any meat. I think that being a veggie is good for health.

Kate. The thought of eating a dead animal actually makes me sick.

Mary. I don't think it's necessary to kill to eat. It's cruel to let animals suffer so much.

Simon. Why is killing an animal different from killing a human?

Christopher. If you went to see how animals are killed, you wouldn't eat meat.

Natasha. Animals don't wish to be killed and would like to enjoy life to the full, just as any human would. Killing animals is a crime.

John. I'll never become a vegetarian. I love fast food, so I eat lots of hot-dogs and hamburgers.

Andrew. Vegetarianism is silly. You can't live forever on cucumbers and apples, can you?

Paul. Organic foods are full of pesticides. What's the use of becoming a veggie?

Lena. I don't really care if I eat meat or not, but my parents say I must.

Ivan. Our grandparents and great grand-parents and great-great grandparents ate meat and were happy. So why should I become a veggie?

Olga. It's stupid to say everybody must be a vege­tarian. In some places, it's very difficult to get enough to eat. People have to eat what they can get.

Stephen. You never see a tiger or a lion feeling sorry for its victim, do you?

Michael. People should eat both meat and plants. This is how it has always been, and will be in the future for all living things.

VIII^*. Some people live long lives and feel really well, some people suffer from illnesses. What helps a person to keep fit and to remain healthy? You know some rules already. Read the dialogue and discuss what people should/shouldn't do to keep fit. Make some mini-dialogues from the following one.

David: Hi, Steve. You look fantastic! I have not seen you for a long time and you haven't changed a bit. You really look healthy.

Steve: I guess I do. I hardly ever get a cold, maybe once in 2 or 3 years and that's all about my illnesses. I never suffer from anything.

David: No headaches, backaches, pains in the stomach?

Steve (laughs): No, and my legs don't hurt and my arms don't hurt either.

David: Do you think that's because of your diet or the exercises you do?

Steve: Oh, I don't know. I mean I like food, and I think I eat healthy food—fruit, vegetables, lots of salad. But I also enjoy fried food, meat, and fish. And I like dairy products – milk, cream, sour cream, and cottage cheese. I eat bread and I’m fond of pancakes. In fact, I like neither bitter nor sweet things. So, as you see, I can't say I keep to a diet.

David: No, definitely not. Do you take regular exercise?

Steve: Not enough I think. My work keeps me busy. In summer I play volleyball, swim and ride a bicycle. Last summer I tried to ride a horse.

David: Do you go in for any winter sports?

Steve: Not really. I mean I walk a lot. But no jogging or playing indoor games. So that's the exercise I do. By the way I don't smoke and never drink alcohol, only soft drinks.