How To Get Started Eating Healthy: Balanced Meals

Once you have everything you need to cook healthy meals, you are well on your way to a better healthstyle. But first let’s stop and make sure we know what a healthy meal looks like.For many people the first big step in getting healthy is losing weight, and this means eating better and eating less. But my advice is generally the same (with a few exceptions) if you are not overweight. Healthy eating is the same for everyone–eating for fat loss and eating for health and longevity are the same thing.

How can you permanently eat better?
You cannot expect to let yourself go hungry and stick to that eating plan forever. It is therefore critical that you get the most out of your meals by making sure they have enough nutrients and flavor to keep you satisfied. I would go so far as to say you should love the food you eat and should walk away from it not wanting another bite. With balanced meals and wonderful ingredients, you can feel this way about what you eat.

Your body needs many things to function properly. It runs on complex carbohydrates, vitamins, fats, fibers, minerals, proteins and probably many more things we have not yet discovered. If you follow some trendy diet that encourages you to eliminate one or more of these, your body will feel deprived and ultimately find a way to get what it wants (usually in binge form). So let’s forget the starvation option and instead choose foods that give us all the nutrients we need. What we will reduce (not eliminate) are foods with fewer nutrients, the ones your body can be happy without. These foods will be addressed in a future post.

The best strategy is to give yourself a steady supply of what your body needs throughout the day. Every day. And because scientists have been unable to replicate a healthy diet with a pill, we need to focus on eating food. Real food. The kind that comes from the earth, not from a drive-thru.

The following is a guide to creating a perfect, healthy meal from food. It is only meant to be a blueprint, not a rigid plan. But I feel it is important to spell this out at the beginning because it is so different from how most people eat. I can assure you that it is very doable and more than satisfying. I eat this way, and I can say without hesitation that food is my favorite part of my day.

Eat Your Vegetables: Size Matters
The bulk of your diet must be vegetables if you hope to permanently lose weight and avoid heart disease, diabetes, cancer and dementia. The science is very clear on this point. If you do not like vegetables, I suggest you try and learn to like them. Chances are you have not eaten many high-quality vegetables from your local farmers market or that the ones you have tried were not prepared very well. Keep trying! Explore different recipes. Try different vegetables at high-end restaurants. Go out of your way to find vegetables cooked a way you like.

I recommend finding a friend who loves to cook and inviting him or her to explore your local market together–the enthusiasm of a chef at a farmers market can be contagious! You could even volunteer to help make a meal afterward with the fresh ingredients you found. It is amazing how quickly a kitchen becomes demystified when you spend a little time in one. Start with simple recipes. Delicious food does not have to be complicated if you cook with wonderful ingredients.

To reiterate, your first task is to increase your vegetable intake. Aim for about half of your (medium-sized) plate to be covered in vegetables. Make this happen for both lunch and dinner. If for whatever reason your choice of meal makes this difficult, try to get at least some green on your plate. Adding kale or spinach to whatever you’re making is usually pretty easy.

Diversify
You also want to try to get as much diversity as you can in the types of vegetables you eat. If you have seen those obnoxious lists of “superfoods,” you may have started to realize thatany fruit or vegetable can be considered super. The fact is that all vegetables have some unique benefit and you maximize your health by eating many kinds of them, not by eating a lot of one kind. I try to mix up my weekly shopping cart to reflect the diversity of the farmers market, and I usually try to buy something I have never eaten before.

One wonderful thing about seasonal shopping at your local farmers market is that vegetables and fruits come and go pretty quickly, so diversity comes with the territory.

Smart Protein
I mentioned above that it is important to feel satisfied by your meals, and protein can go a long way in helping you achieve this. However, there are many misconceptions about protein, particularly regarding how much and what kinds you should eat.

I’ll start by saying that virtually no one in the Western world is protein deficient. It is relatively easy to get the protein your body needs to maintain its muscle mass. I do not recommend counting protein grams unless you are a professional body builder, in which case this probably isn’t the best website for you.

Despite what some people may say, many vegetables and grains contain protein. For instance, a cup of brown rice has 5 grams of protein. A cup of black beans has 15 grams of protein (and 20% of your daily iron). Some will argue that these are not “quality” sources of protein because they are not “complete proteins,” meaning that they are lacking in some essential amino acid. However, this argument is irrelevant if you follow my advice above and enjoy diversity in your diet. Yes, if all your protein comes from brown rice then you may be deficient in lysine, but presumably you are eating more than just brown rice and the rest of your food will easily make up the difference.

Getting all your protein is important, but since it is relatively easy to get I find the biggest value of protein is helping you feel satisfied after a meal. Protein digests more slowly than carbohydrates and can help you feel full longer. From this perspective, it matters very little where your protein comes from.

Intact Grains
Carbohydrates, intact whole grains are essential to a healthy diet.Unfortunately, real whole grains are not very easy to come by in our culture. I have explained before, there is a tremendous difference between an intact whole grain that still looks like a grain and the “whole grains” in Lucky Charms that have been mutilated then reassembled. Real, intact grains digest slowly and are an essential source of fiber, vitamins, minerals and other wonderful things.

Like protein, whole grains should comprise about a quarter of your plate. However, since whole grains are rather difficult to get, I usually choose to make intact grains the bulk of my breakfast, and usually incorporate other grains such as brown rice or quinoa into either lunch or dinner. These will also go a long way to increase the satisfaction you feel from a meal.

Healthy Fats
One of the reasons the low fat diet from the 20th century failed so miserably is that it did not account for the necessity of healthy fats. Oils from plants and fish are critical for protecting against disease. And, like protein and grains, they contribute greatly to how satisfying your meal is.

Because fats have a high caloric density, a little really goes a long way and there is no definitive space on your plate that I allot to them. However, generally I recommend dressing or cooking all your vegetables in minimally processed oil, such as cold-pressed olive oil. I also recommend cooking with nuts (many different kinds, of course) regularly and enjoying avocado and other oily plants frequently.

Fish provide a different kind of oil than plants, and both are important. But if you are eating substantial amounts of fish you should be aware of the dangers of mercury contamination.

Strive to eat a diverse array of fresh vegetables, healthy proteins, intact grains and plant and fish oils as a part of your daily healthstyle, particularly in the meals you have control over. However, this is not something you should approach as all-or-none. Any meal can be made more healthy by adding these ingredients, and it is worth it to work them in if possible.

But most important, be sure that whatever you eat you enjoy. None of this is “diet food” and all of it should make you happy.

How to create a balanced meal

The carbohydrates, fats and proteins in the foods we eat provide our bodies with energy to fuel our physical activity and digestion, as well as powering our energy-hungry brains.

While our bodies can derive energy from all three of these food components, consuming each in the proper proportion will help you achieve balanced nutrition, maintain energy levels throughout the day, and contribute to longer-lasting satiety.
Below are the categories for each food group:

VEGETABLES AND FRUITS
Half of each major meal you consume should be vegetables or fruits. Because fresh fruits and vegetables are high in both water and fiber, and low in fat, these foods are typically low in overall calories. Thus, meals that are composed primarily of vegetables and/or fruits can help you control your total calorie intake. Also, fruits and vegetables provide high concentrations of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, compounds that facilitate cellular repair, can help to prevent cancer and maintain overall health. Particular group of nutrients are associated with each vegetable or fruit color group. For example, dark leafy greens are typically high in both iron and folic acid, while orange and yellow fruits and vegetables often contain potassium and vitamin C. Thus, by consuming a wide range of colors, you are more likely to achieve optimal levels of each vitamin and mineral.

GRAINS AND FIBER
A quarter of your main meals should be comprised of grains, but these come in a number of forms, so you’ll have to be an attentive shopper to be sure you choose ones that give you nutritional benefit. There are two kinds of carbohydrates we’ll discuss here. The first is refined, or “simple”, carbohydrates, which means the sugars are broken down and therefore are much more quickly absorbed by your body. Simple sugars can lead to blood sugar spikes right after the meal, and these levels can then quickly fall after your body stores or uses the energy from the sugars you consume. Sugar is one form of energy for your body, and so when your blood sugar goes up, you’ll typically feel energized…aka a “sugar high”. But, when it falls quickly, you can be left feeling tired, and craving the high level again, which can propagate a vicious cycle of consuming more food and more calories to re-achieve that sensation. Steady levels of sugar in your blood are much more desirable, they can help reduce overeating and help you avoid the roller coaster feelings associated with oscillating high-then-low blood sugars.

Complex carbohydrates are the second type of carbohydrate we will discuss and are consumed in a less broken-down form. Therefore, it takes your body longer to digest them, keeping your blood sugar levels more level, and leaving you feeling fuller for a longer period of time. There is a standardized scale, called the “glycemic index” which rates foods on the degree of blood sugar elevation a person experiences after consuming certain foods. Using this scale may help you to choose foods that keep your blood sugar levels more steady.

Fiber is another component you can add to your diet and has many health benefit including helping you feel full and slowing sugar absorpt

PROTEIN
The keys to optimal protein consumption are quality and moderation. Most North Americans consume more than the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for protein. Rich sources of protein include meats, soy, legumes and nuts. However, it is important to bear in mind that many other foods in the diet, including grains and dairy, also contain protein, and thus contribute to overall protein intake. In selecting high quality meats, look for unprocessed meats and limit those meats that are high in saturated fat. (i.e. beef, lamb and pork other than tenderloin). A good rule of thumb for meat-eaters is to limit meat intake to one serving per day (or two small servings).

Some proteins such as salmon, nuts such as walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts, along with some oils such as flaxseed oil are loaded with Omega-3 fats. Intake of these fats have been suggested to decrease heart disease and stroke risk.1 The data is mixed on whether Omega-3 fat intake can help decrease the risk of cancer, with the most convincing data revolving around breast cancer reduction, according to the American Cancer Society.2 In order to enjoy the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, consider incorporating regular consumption of fish into your diet.

FATS
Appropriate levels of healthy fats in the diet are important for many reasons. Our bodies use fats in many ways. The membranes of all the cells in our bodies are made of fats, a layer of fat under of skin keeps us warm, and, fat stores provide energy when supplies of glucose run out. As with protein, quality and moderation are crucial. In addition, fats called “trans fats” and are added to extend the shelf life of processed foods.

Consumption of these fats may increase your “bad” or LDL cholesterol, and lower your “good” or HDL cholesterol. Avoiding this sort of fat as much as possible will have heart-protective qualities. Look for unprocessed oils (such as extra virgin olive oil), and steer clear of processed foods in order to avoid trans fats as much as possible.

BEVERAGES
Water, and unsweetened tea and coffee are better choices than sweetened beverages. Teas can include herbal infusions, which offer caffeine-free options. Many sweetened beverages contain high fructose corn syrup, which is a simple carbohydrate, and, as above, can lead to blood sugar spikes, adds extra calories and typically won’t keep you feeling full for too long.

If you follow the basics of creating this healthy plate, you'll be on your way to feeling your best and obtaining optimal health! Stay tuned for more articles on healthy eating and tips to help you make good dietary choices!