Nutrition is ever evolving; with new recommendations and crazy fad diets, “eating right” can be confusing. Ultimately, portion control is a great place to start and it can be your guide to making healthy choices to fill up your tank with the good stuff.
If you think back to your first exposure to nutrition in the school setting, it’s likely you recall the food pyramid. That pyramid made sense, in theory, but while it told us how many servings of food groups to eat, it didn’t really divulge into what a serving was and it also didn’t discuss the differences in healthy versus unhealthy items within each food group. Since then, plate method has been created. There are still downfalls to this guide. It again lacks details in terms of each food group, but it does provide a better visual in terms of how are plates should look.
source: https://www.choosemyplate.gov/
With the plate method in mind, we are going to dig a bit deeper to help you find your balance, and guide you to make healthy or healthier choices. After you read this, I want you to think about the last meal you had, what did that look like? For me, it was a Chick-fil-a sandwich (no, not grilled…when in Rome…) and one of their superfood sides. Let’s break that down: take off the bun, put it on the grains side, the chicken goes on the protein side and my superfood side (that’s a kale salad if you’re unfamiliar), could potentially cover the other half of my invisible plate. If I were to have fries and a milkshake with that, the ratio of healthy to unhealthy is diminishing. And that my friends, is how I look at nutrition. It’s a simple balancing act…my bun was white and offered no whole grains whatsoever, but at breakfast I had oatmeal and tonight’s dinner is filled with beans and veggies, so ultimately, I’m keeping things well rounded.
I hope this colorful example from my day offers you a simple explanation of how to keep things balanced on your end. If you’re more structured though and need things to be more specific, keep reading.
Grains
Also known as carbohydrates. The ones with the bad reputation. Of course, cake, donuts, and white bread are going to add some lumps to your lady humps, but not all carbs are created equal. I recently read about a study where participants who ate three small servings of pasta each week (instead of other carbohydrates) did not gain weight and some even lost weight. Note the key word there: “small servings”. That’s the thing about carbohydrates, you do need to ensure you’re not overdoing it.
Technically, one slice of bread is a serving, but who wants to eat half of a sandwich? And foods such as cereals and cooked grains (rice, pasta), a serving is ½ cup, but is that realistic either? If spaghetti noodles are your only grain for dinner, I think 1-1.5 cups is fair, but if you’re loading up on breadsticks and cake for dessert, then maybe you need to cut back on the noodles. If you just couldn’t help yourself and you went wild and had lots of pasta, bread, and cake, it’s not the end of the world. You just need to be aware that if this is your lifestyle on repeat, you will have negative results (aside from being really full and happy). When it comes to carbohydrates, it’s wise to start small—start with a small serving and wait 20 minutes before going back for seconds—it can take that long to actually feel full.
While carbohydrate servings can be confusing, looking at your meal as a whole can help you gauge how much you should be eating or not eating of a certain item. I can tell you one very small 1-ounce muffin is a serving, but that leaves you guessing what an ounce looks like and then you’re questioning how many servings you can actually have at one meal. Instead, think of a muffin in terms of your muffin pan, allow yourself one and not 3 (totally guilty over here—it is pumpkin spice season after all), and add some protein on the side so you can properly fuel. And if it’s a bakery sized muffin, like those giant ones that Costco sells, that should be a treat and perhaps not your daily breakfast. Balance mamas, balance.
Protein
When it comes to fueling your body, there is very little argument that protein is a top contender. To find out more about protein and how many grams your body needs each day, click here. In terms of serving sizes and your plate, it’s important to ensure that you are at least having a protein item at every meal and snack. Think about breakfast, are you just eating whole wheat toast with butter or oatmeal with cinnamon? While those are good grains, the protein component is missing and will result in hunger and lack of energy later in the day. When it comes to cuts of meats, the traditional rule of thumb was the “size of your palm”, which is roughly 3 ounces. Think about going out for a steak or burger: they boast 8, 12 or even 16 ounce cuts of meats—doing this on the reg may not be your best bet. But if you are splurging on that giant steak and baked potato, it wouldn’t hurt to add a side salad as well. Aside from animal proteins like chicken and beef, beans and lentils provide protein as well and you can happily make those ¼ of your plate.
Vegetables
Eat them. All of them. Do I need to say much more?
Fruit
There are diets out there that forbid fruit. Yes, right now, in 2018. Just walk away. Fruit does contain sugar, but it’s natural sugar and the benefit of vitamins and antioxidants that fruit provides far outweighs the sugar they contain. But how much fruit is a serving? Think of it in simple terms: an apple, an orange, a handful of strawberries. Of course we could get into specifics of how many blueberries constitutes a blueberry but what’s the point when I’m telling you to revel in natures tasty treat?! It’s important to eat at least 2-3 servings of fruit in a day.
Dairy
If I’m being honest, I think we’d all be okay without any dairy servings. The calcium and protein dairy provides can be found in other healthful foods, but for those who live for their milk and yogurt, a serving of milk is 1 cup, or 8 ounces, a serving of cheese is about an ounce (picture 3 stacked dice) and a small container of yogurt counts as a serving. In general, 3 servings per day is sufficient.
Every time you eat a meal, look at your plate and ask yourself, “is this balanced, am I getting enough veggies, is this food fueling me?” Food for us is like gasoline for your car: we need it to keep going and some gas (food) is better than others. Do yourself a favor and fill up with premium. You deserve it.
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