You come
home, it’s supper time. You’re not too sure what to eat because who had time to
meal prep on Sunday, honestly? Well, here is a nice tool to help you construct
a hearty, healthy meal: the balanced plate
There are
three main parts to a balanced plate, with three extras added on. Each part of
the plate plays an important role, which will be discussed below. This tool is
an easy guide that covers all the essential parts of a complete diet. Following
the balanced plate at every lunch and supper is a HUGE step towards leading a
healthier life, despite how simplistic it might seem.
I’m sure
you’ve often heard that your body is like a car and food is like fuel. One of
my personal favorite sayings is that you are what you eat. So if you are a car,
what should you be made of?
Half
a Plate of Veggies
The first
part of your plate is vegetables, which should cover half your plate or
represent two large handfuls. This includes carrots, broccoli, peas, green
beans, bell pepper, lettuce, mushrooms, tomatoes, cucumber, eggplant and many
more. Vegetables are excessively important, which is why it should cover most
of your plate. If vegetables are not the main part of your meal, it isn’t quite
balanced. Veggies are renown for being low in calories, but they are also
filled with vitamins and minerals as well as antioxidants, which act like a
rust treatment for your body. Vegetables also have lots of fiber. Fiber has
four roles: it brings satiety (making you feel full for longer), stabilizes
your blood sugar, helps reduce cholesterol levels and regulates your bowel
movements. Plus, veggies add color to your plate!
Next, a
quarter of your plate should have meat or alternatives. This includes poultry,
pork, red meat, fish, legumes, tofu, nuts and seeds, cheese and eggs. Your
serving of meat should be the size of the palm of your hand. Meats and
alternatives are essential for your body as they are your primary source of
protein. Protein acts as extra parts for your car, rebuilding your muscles
after having used them, and it is also useful for satiety. It’s important to
have protein throughout the whole day. We currently have a nasty habit of
having very low protein for breakfast and lunch and fill up on protein for
supper, but your body will be lacking its building blocks earlier in the day.
The last
quarter of your plate should be starch. This includes bread, pasta, potatoes,
sweet potato, corn and legumes (yes, they count as starch AND protein!). This
serving should be the size of your fist. They are your main source of energy,
turning into glucose (sugar) in your body. In simple terms, it is like fuel for
your car. Carbs are important to have daily, but we have a choice to make. We
can either choose poorly-nutritious carbs with white sugar quickly absorbed and
quickly utilized, which will leave you craving sugar shortly after your meal,
or you can feed your body supreme gas: sources of carbs with fibre, once again
acting as a satiety enhancer. This can be achieved by opting for whole grains:
brown bread, brown rice, keeping the peels on your potatoes, eating lots of
legumes, etc.
Now for
the extras: fruit, dairy and fat.
Your
balanced plate should have a whole fruit, a serving the size of a tennis ball.
Fruit are a good source of energy (fuel), vitamins and minerals, antioxidants
(anti-rust) as well as fiber when eating a whole fruit. Unlike what Canada’s
Food Guide suggests, juice does not count. Why? Because juice includes A LOT of
sugar and no fiber, even in the “No Sugar Added” kinds. Think of it this way:
it might take me four oranges to get enough juice to fill one cup, which I will
drink easily. However, I would have a lot of difficulty eating four oranges! I
would be stuffed! This is because all the fiber is left behind while making
juice, and then you get four oranges worth of sugar in that one cup.
It is
recommended to have a dairy product with your meal, which could be milk, yogurt
or an alternative. Dairy products are a good source of energy (fuel), protein
(extra parts) and calcium, acting as the body of your car. Calcium is used by
your bones to rebuild themselves.
Finally,
your plate should also include some good sources of fat. Fat is beneficial for
your brain development as well as being a compact source of energy (fuel).
Refer to my upcoming article on good sources of fat for more detail!
How
About My Meal Tonight?
In a
nutshell, next time you want to have a whole bowl of spaghetti with tomato
sauce, try adding some meat to your sauce, reduce the portion of pasta to a
quarter of your plate, add a salad or other vegetable of your choice, and have
yogurt and a fruit for dessert!
Now that
you know what to have for lunch and supper, what’s for breakfast? Stay tuned
for my next article in two weeks, where you’ll learn how to make a delicious,
healthy breakfast!
Sources:
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