How important is a healthy lifestyle for you?
It’s one of the most important things for me because I want to feel good and to enjoy life. If you
don’t have good health then everything else in life is a struggle.
Part 2
Describe a change you have made to improve your health and that you would recommend to
others.
You should say:
what it is
why you decided to do it
how you have benefitted from it
and explain why you would recommend it to others.
I often make changes to my lifestyle to try and look after my health but the one I’d like to tell you
about is cutting down on how much meat I eat.
There’s been a lot of stuff in the media about how unhealthy it is to eat too much meat, especially
red meat and processed meat. I was already fairly healthy and ate a balanced diet, but when I took
up a new sport, which involved vigorous exercise, I started to think that maybe I should try to cut
down on it a little. I was particularly concerned about the increased risk of heart disease and of
having a stroke. I know a healthy diet can help to prevent these.
I started by cutting out meat one day a week and making a vegetarian meal instead. This was easy
so I started doing it twice a week and then for three days. Soon I began to look forward to my non-
meat days as I was discovering many delicious foods that I’d never tried before. I also started to eat
more fish which has many health benefits.
Within two months I’d lost nearly half a stone in weight. Although I hadn’t actually had a weight
problem, it was a nice surprise. Even better, my cholesterol level went down which I was especially
pleased about. I certainly felt as fit as a fiddle. Many of my friends who still eat lots of red meat
suffer from high cholesterol and I’m sure there’s a connection.
Over time, I’ve found that the less meat I eat, the less I want to eat, and I’m now down to just
cooking meat dishes at the weekends. Maintaining this diet is made easier by the fact that I live on
my own so can cook and eat whatever I want to without being influenced by anyone else. If I had to
cook a chicken casserole or steak pie for my family I don’t think I’d be strong enough to resist
eating it myself.
I don’t think I’ll ever cut out meat altogether as I enjoy it too much. I can say, however, that going
partly vegetarian has definitely saved me money as meat has gone steadily up in price over the past
few years. For this reason, as well as all the others I’ve mentioned, I would definitely recommend
cutting down on meat.
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