fitness and health

Vocabulary list and definitions

balanced diet: eating a sensible mix of different foods

conscientious about my health: watching and caring about your heath

flavoursome and appealing: good to eat and looking attractive

convenient take away: food which you can eat at home

healthier eating habits: eating less sugar or salt

productive at work: achieving more, better results

processed meat: meat in which there are additives or chemicals

function successfully: to work, perform in a great way

tempted by diets: interested in other ways of eating

adopted a vegan diet: a vegan does not eat meat, or dairy foods

broad minded: open to other ideas

Sceptical: not believing something

over production of meat: factories or agricultural methods which are focused on this

Public service education message: advice from the government

Positive reinforcement: rewarding people for doing the right thing

IELTS speaking part 1 style questions

Examiner: In what ways do you try to stay healthy?

Candidate: I try to have a balanced diet as often as I can which means including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and I also try exercise regularly – either running or going for a bike ride, but I admit that with all my studies at the moment, I am not always as conscientious about my health as I should be.

Examiner: Do you and your friends each much junk food?

Candidate: I’d like to say no, as I am aware of how important it is to be healthy, and obviously junk foods contain large amounts of salt and sugar to make it flavoursome and appealing to taste. However, as a student, I am often tempted by a quick and convenient take away, and in recent times, it’s been really useful to have ready meals delivered without having to leave home!

Examiner: What part of your lifestyle would you most like to make healthier?

Candidate: That’s a hard question! Every year I make a resolution to do more exercise, to adopt healthier eating habits and to go to be earlier in order to be more effective and productive at work and when I study but this is much easier said than done.

I have recently taken up ballroom dancing with some colleagues from work, and this has given us the opportunity to keep fit, learn new skillful dance techniques, and have lots of fun simultaneously! I’d love to be as good as the dancers on Strictly Come Dancing which is a very popular TV show.

IELTS speaking part 2 style question

Describe a change you have made to benefit your own healthy lifestyle

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

Candidate:  I have always been interested in Health, Diet and Nutrition as I am aware that this is extremely important to function successfully, sleep well and to prevent illness. I have been tempted by diets over the years, but my determination usually fluctuates quite a lot and they can be pretty boring, as well as rigorous. However, recently one of my flatmates adopted a vegan diet and, because we share a kitchen, I decided to be as broad minded as possible and learn from her!

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 started to read about veganism and the potential benefits of eating meat, I was hooked and determined to make some changes myself.

In fact, I recently watched a documentary on Netflix about a professional sportsman who was even more successful after becoming vegan, and this was revealing and surprising, as I had imagined that he would have needed vast quantities of meat to be strong. (note – grammar third conditional which is quite unusual!)

At first, the cooking was both time consuming and challenging, involving a vast range of new ingredients, techniques and recipe books, but it was fun at the same time, and our kitchen soon became a hub of not just friends but delicious odours!

After a few months, I decided to make this change and, whilst I do occasionally miss not enjoying a large steak, I feel healthier, have lost weight, feel energised and much more alert at work. I know too that have cut down my risk of serious disease such as a stroke or heart attack and this is reassuring.

I would definitely recommend cutting down on red meat and processed food to all my friends, even those who are rather sceptical about vegans and argue that this diet is too complicated and limited. We all know that the over production of meat is damaging to the environment and as an added bonus, being partly vegan has definitely saved me money as the price of meat has risen steadily in price over the past few years.

IELTS speaking part 3 style questions

Examiner: Do you think more could be done to encourage health in your country?

 Candidate: I think, in my country that the policy makers should have more initiatives and implement stricter policies when it comes to activities that affect people’s health. For example, the banning of smoking in public places would not just benefit the smokers, but the non-smokers as well as there is much evidence about the dangers of passive smoking and air pollution. Also, there is a well-established link between better education and health care so education in school is important.

Examiner: How can individuals take more responsibility for their own health?

Candidate:  For me, this links back to education which should really start at school and then continue throughout one’s life. The more we look after ourselves and make the correct decisions surrounding food, health, exercise and so on, the less we might need from our overstretched health services and hospitals. 

For example, campaigns to eat less sugar, cut down on fizzy drinks and sugary snacks, and eat more fruit have been very successful recently and by educating the young, they, in turn, will influence their own families increase their vegetable and fruit intake.

Examiner: What could be done to halt the rise of obesity globally?

 Candidate: In my opinion the government has a huge responsibility to try to persuade people to live more healthily and the rise of obesity or overweight children as well as adults is very worrying. It is very distressing to see young children in pushchairs being given cans of fizzy drinks and sweets as a reward to good behaviour.

As well as education in school, governments could educate adults through as series of TV programmes, magazine adverts or public service education messages to raise awareness of the risk and dangers of obesity and a poor diet. A positive reinforcement message would be more effective than more negative messaging. For example, free gym membership, recipe cards and access to more playing fields, parks and green spaces which would contribute to making exercise not only accessible but fun too!