Got a question about your eating habits? nzgirl nutritionist Vicki has the answer for everything from the best breakfast to start the day, through to healthy dinner ideas.

To send a question through to her just click the button below...

Takeaway Addict
I am trying to lose weight but I have a weakness for takeaways. A lot of diet advice is to keep these sorts of foods as an occasional treat. My question is how often is occasional?

Unfortunately takeaway food is generally low in nutrition, and high in saturated fats and refined carbohydrates - two things which don't help those who are trying to keep a healthy weight. However, sometimes it is convenient at moments when time is short. I suggest that these types of foods be kept to once, or at the most, twice per week.

However if you regard these foods as yummy treats and don't see them for what they really are - food that doesn't support healthy energy levels and a healthy life, then you will have trouble letting them go. When you start to eat wholegrains, brown rice, low fat, high veg and fruit type foods it does take a few weeks to become accustomed, but after a little while as you see the benefits of healthy food, you will start to become picky about takeaway food.

Kick Starting a Healthy Lifestyle
Where do I start? I’m 23, never successfully dieted or stuck to exercise...I’m a wee bit overweight and need to get fit and start leading that healthy lifestyle that I dream of! The trouble is I don’t know where to start, as previously I have taken on too much and it all ended with binging on takeaways and choccies on the couch! Any advice for getting a kick start would be greatly appreciated!

The first rule is - don't diet. When you start to diet and cut your levels of food intake down and restrict yourself then it's only a matter of time before you binge. Take things easy and just focus first of all on the quality of the food you are eating and don't worry about the quantity. By just looking at the quality, you will build good eating habits that will last you a lifetime, and which will slowly but surely improve your metabolic rate, increase your energy, and assist you to your weight goal.

What are quality foods? Muesli, wholegrain breads, brown rice, all fruits and vegetables, pure fruit juices, and plenty of protein - lean meat, skinless chicken, eggs, low fat cheeses, tinned fish and seafood. Look at any food you are considering buying and question whether it has any vitamins and minerals in it. If it hasn't, then it hasn't got the quality you need. The other factor which must be added in to this equation is regular exercise. It needs to become as much a part of your life as brushing your teeth and having a shower. It should be able to be incorporated into your morning routine, your lunchtime, or after work time. Make it easy to do; big gym programmes which last for an hour or two may be ok once or twice a week but a ½ hour walk a day can really make a difference.

Losing Cup Sizes?
In the last year my breast size has gone from a 10C to a 10E/F. I haven't done any exercise for close to six months now, which I am aware is likely to have had an effect on the size change. What I was wondering is, how many cup sizes am I likely to go down when I start exercising again? I have just gotten a gym membership and plan to go a couple of times a week.

This is not a question that is easy to answer, as everybody's body reacts to exercise in so many different ways. The answer to this question is also dependent on what you are eating, and also if you are taking the oral contraceptive. If you want to maintain your breast size, then Healtheries Evening Primrose Oil capsules may help to maintain tissues and hormone levels in the breast and prevent size drop. Alternatively, pectoral exercises, which a gym trainer can give you, will help to firm and tone the muscle under the breast and giving more shape and definition as you lose weight.

Eczema or Allergies?
I’ve been getting a red rash on the front of my neck for three months now. It disappears for about three days, then comes back for a week in the same spot. I am wondering if it’s eczema but I’m not sure. I do think it’s something I’m eating…that’s all I can think it could be, I just have no idea how to find out what. I’ve tried cutting out dairy but it hasn’t really done anything.

This will probably need to be checked by a doctor, and I would suggest asking for a 'skin prick test'. This test is done on the forearms at a medical laboratory, and involves small samples of certain reagents e.g. grass pollens, cat and dog dander, and certain foods being tested on your skin to see if there is a reaction. You would be best to ask for the Eczema Group of reagents.

This test may give you an idea if there are any common foods, dander, or pollens which may be aggravating you. Alternatively you may have a fungal or mite infestation in the area. I would suggest using Healtheries Tea Tree Shampoo on this chest area in the shower regularly as this can help to reduce and clear any infestation. Finally, I find that inflammatory skin conditions can appear when alcohol, tea, coffee, cola, milo, and chocolate are eaten or drunk routinely. Avoid these where possible or cut them back as much as you can.

Rice Knowledge
I know that brown rice is better for you than white grain, but how does brown rice compare with other 'fancy' rice (red for example)? I love healthy rice with my meals but don't know much beyond brown and white! Any information to broaden my lack-of-rice knowledge would be fantastic!

Rice is considered one of the least allergenic foods and it supplies good quantities of complex carbohydrate (the brown variety, anyway). It's great for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, both as a sweet or a savoury, and lends itself to all kinds of foods.

Red rice is a bright reddish purple fermented rice, which acquires its colour from being cultivated with the natural mould Monascus purpureus. It has achieved fame because it seems to help lower cholesterol levels. It can be used just the same way as other rice, but beware that it may turn white coloured foods such as tofu a bit red as the dye from the mould leaches into the food. I would suggest the following websites for more info and recipes: www.sunrice.co.nz plus look for 'Varieties of Rice' in Wikipedia.

Lacking Energy
Ever since I was 14 I have never been able to go to bed till 11 and struggled to get out of bed in the mornings. I lack energy and I’m always feeling tired during the day. I’m 20 now and this has a major impact on my life, as I always want to sleep. My friends tell me I should get a blood test, but I’m afraid of needles. Please do you have any advice for me?

A blood test would be a very good idea. The laboratory nurses who take blood are very used to people like you and can make things absolutely painless and you don't have to see a thing - tell them of your problem when you go to get your blood tests done.

It sounds to me like your diet isn't keeping pace with your growth, if this all started when you were aged 14. Often we forget to expand our diet range and variety when we are this age, and so stick to the same kinds of foods that we know and love from age five. But this does not help our health, energy, or development. You are going to have to step outside the narrow little dietary world you occupy and try some new dietary patterns. First of all start increasing your protein intake. Protein is milk, yoghurt, cheese, eggs, chicken, fish and seafood, and meat.

Start with a large helping of muesli in the morning (try Healtheries yummy Bircher Muesli) and smother it with the best yoghurt you can find. Then have a piece of wholegrain toast with tuna, or cottage cheese, or a boiled egg. At lunchtime have a large wholegrain sandwich with lots of ham, chicken, or tuna topped with green salad ingredients. Then for dinner make sure you have a large handful of meat, fish, or chicken with at least three vegetables. Avoid all sugar snacks and desserts and leave coffee, tea, cola, and milo out of the picture. Fill up on as much fruit and pure fruit juice and water as you can find. You should feel the benefits of this diet within a week.

Which Milk?
Does soy milk have any health benefits over cow's milk if you're not lactose intolerant?

More research now is telling us that there seem to be many health benefits from consuming soy milk. Two thousand years of consuming it by millions of Asian people has shown us that they have lower cholesterol levels, less heart disease, less osteoporosis, and less prostate and breast cancer.

The important thing for women is that the phytoestrogens (natural antioxidant factors) in soy milk seem to help prevent menopause symptoms which are so uncomfortable - especially hot flushes. Some research indicates that the earlier in life that women start consuming soy, the less likely they are to have a problematic menopause. And lastly soymilk contains the highest levels of iron and calcium of any plant food, it’s also a great food for vegetarians.

Putting on Weight the Healthy Way
I have always had a really fast metabolism and I am forever eating as a result. But I am underweight for my age and height, and when I do gain a little I can't seem to keep it on! I would very much like to gain about 5kgs but I want to gain weight the healthy way so I was wondering if you were able to make any suggestions? Would be much appreciated!

Many of the old ideas about putting weight on involved getting thin people to eat lots of high sugar and high fat foods. Nowadays we know that even thin people can develop diabetes and heart disease, so this is not the way to go. I would recommend increasing your protein intake, and making sure you have a large helping at each meal of the day - milk, yoghurt, cheese, fish and seafood, eggs, meat, and chicken. If you are hungry at breakfast consider eggs on toast or yoghurt and muesli or both. Make extra of everything for dinner and take it all for lunch. Starchy vegetables such as carrots, pumpkin, kumara, and buttercup are the veggies to indulge in. Also make sure you have plenty of brown rice - not white.

In between, eat wholegrain bread with peanut butter, pate, avocado, cheeses, or hummus. High protein whey powder drinks blended with fruit juice and fruit are great in-between meal fillers or desserts. Try Aussie Bodies Perfect Protein powders. Do avoid filling yourself with lots of sugary foods, and lots of high fat foods such as crisps and chips - these will all help short term, but you will find yourself starving again in a matter of an hour or two after these foods. Along with these dietary strategies, it would be a good idea to increase your weight by building muscle. Pumping iron and weightlifting definitely help to build curves and promote health.

Vicki Martin RD, ND. Nutritionist, Naturopath