There are many tools available to support healthy eating habits. When using guides or resources that detail nutrition planning, there is no “one-size- fits-all” method. Be sure to be flexible and account for your own personal goals, hunger levels, body type/weight, physical activity levels, age, food preferences and any other contributing factors.
In an effort to create healthy eating habits and manage weight, fad diets are not a long-term solution and can in fact be detrimental. A fad diet is just a quick fix weight-loss method, and is typically not a healthy way of eating that can or should be maintained over time. A diet should be considered as a part of your everyday lifestyle. It’s about making positive lifestyle choices around food and eating habits, rather than going on a temporary diet to reach a specific goal.
It is important to eat a variety of foods from each food group, and to pay attention to serving sizes.
Three to 4 ounces of whole grains are recommended daily — an ounce is a slice of whole grain bread, or a half cup of cooked brown rice or cooked oatmeal. Five to 6 ounces of protein is recommended daily — an ounce is one egg, 12 almonds, one tablespoon of nut butter or a quarter cup of cooked beans. A small chicken breast or steak is 3 to 4 ounces. Six ounces or three cups of vegetables are recommended daily. A cup could be a large pepper, a large tomato or mix of chopped vegetables such as carrots, broccoli or spinach. One and a half to two cups of fruit are recommended daily. One cup could be an apple, a banana or about eight strawberries.
One helpful resource is MyPlate. This is the current nutrition guide put out by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is the updated version of the food pyramid, and it suggests a well-balanced plate made up of about quarter protein, quarter whole grains, quarter (or more) of vegetables and quarter (or less) of fruit.
Precision Nutrition, a nutrition and health coaching business, suggests a simple trick: use your hands to build your meals. For women, they recommend one cupped handful of complex carbohydrates (whole grain foods like brown rice and quinoa, and starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes) one palm of protein (fish, chicken, beans, lentils), one closed fist of vegetables and a thumb sized amount of fats (healthy oils like olive oil, nuts and seeds) as a way measure calorie intake during meals. For men, larger body types or highly-active persons, these amounts might be doubled. Your hand is a good indicator of your body size, so larger people will have larger hands to base portion sizes off of. Precision Nutrition emphasizes that this is a starting point, and it’s important to adapt based on what works for you.
The fact of the matter is that there is no perfect amount, plan, magic number, or quick fix that works across the board. The goal is to focus on a clean, whole foods diet (not the store, but food that is in its original form with very few modifications) that is low in processed foods, while also tuning into what works and feels good for you.
The 80 to 20 percent plan is also recommended for people. This means that you eat a very balanced healthy diet 80 percent of the time and allow yourself small pleasures (like ice cream and other processed foods) 20 percent of the time. Just be good to you.
For more tools and support for healthy living, visit www.LakeCountyBeWell.org.
