Counting calories may be the key to losing weight, but it’s still important to make sure you’re getting good nutrition so you can be more active—and have more fun! Here’s how to bring balance and variety to your diet.
Fiber
Most Americans do not eat as much fiber as they should. Your daily fiber goal should be 20 to 30 grams, which includes soluble and insoluble fiber.
Insoluble fiber can be found in whole wheat and brown rice, while soluble fiber is a part of oatmeal, beans and barley. Soluble fiber helps to lower cholesterol, and insoluble fiber keeps your digestive tract healthy.
Along with aiding digestion, consuming the right amount of fiber each day can help lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes. The best part? Fiber helps keep you feeling full, which can help prevent you from overeating and keep you on track with your diet.
Tips to help boost your fiber
• Making soup? Add extra veggies.
• Add wheat germ or oat bran to yogurt and casseroles. You won’t notice the difference.
• Add a tablespoon or two of ground flaxseed to your morning smoothie.
• Leave the skins on when you eat fruits and vegetables.
• Toss some garbanzo beans or kidney beans in your salad.
• Choose whole grain breads and crackers. Whole wheat or whole grain flour should be listed as the first ingredient on the food label.
Protein
The body needs a constant supply of protein to repair and rebuild cells that are worn or damaged. About half of the protein we consume creates enzymes, which help cells carry out necessary chemical reactions. Proteins also transport oxygen to cells, help muscles contract and produce antibodies. Men should consume about 55 grams of protein a day, while women should consume about 45 grams per day.
Carbohydrates
Moderation is key when consuming carbohydrates. Carbs shouldn’t be feared when you’re on a diet, because they energize your body, which is necessary for your daily exercise.
There are two types of carbohydrates: sugar and starch. Sugars are in fruit, milk and granulated sugar, and starches include grains and potatoes. Your body converts all sugars and starches to glucose—a source of energy.
Positive carbohydrate choices include whole grains, reduced-fat dairy products and a variety of fruits and vegetables. Want to eliminate empty calories? Cut out packaged cakes, pies and cookies. These choices are highly processed and don’t contribute to a healthy diet.
Cholesterol
Although saturated and trans fats have a larger effect on blood cholesterol than eating foods high in cholesterol, you should still limit your daily intake of cholesterol to 300 mg. Cholesterol is found in foods from animals, such as eggs, meat and dairy products.
Fat
Believe it: There are some healthy fats! Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, which are found in olive and canola oils and nuts and seeds, are all healthier options. Adults should limit fat to about 30% of their calories each day. This means you should be eating no more than 50 grams of fat daily if you are consuming 1,400 to 1,500 calories per day.
Saturated Fat
While saturated fat is found mostly in high-fat meats and dairy foods, it is also found in coconut oil, palm kernel oil and some processed foods. Consume only 17 grams of saturated fat per day, which is 10% of calories following a 1,400 to 1,500 calorie-a-day diet.
Trans Fat
LDL (bad) cholesterol increases with saturated fat and trans fat, increasing your risk of coronary artery disease. Trans fats can also decrease HDL (good) cholesterol. Limit trans fat as often as you can, and try to stay below 1.5 to 2.0 grams per day. Foods that commonly contain trans fat include vegetable shortening, stick margarine, fried foods, processed foods and store-bought baked goods.
Sodium
Restrict sodium to no more than 2,300 mg a day—equivalent to about one teaspoon of table salt. The best way to reduce salt is to cut back on restaurant and processed foods like canned vegetables, deli meat and condiments.
Generally, a food product that has been prepared for you to buy—such as frozen dinners and convenience products—will contain a high amount of sodium. Read food labels and purchase lower-sodium products when you can.
Step up to the USDA’s new plate (or MyPlate) and change your eating habits for the better.
IT’S EASIER TO EAT RIGHT, thanks to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The government agency that built the long-standing Food Guide Pyramid has replaced it with a dinner plate in an effort to make following a healthy diet a no-brainer.
The aptly named MyPlate symbol (shown above) is divided into four sections—fruits, vegetables, grains and protein—with a “cup” on the side to represent dairy. What immediately catches your eye is that fruits and veggies fill half the plate, with protein making up the smallest portion.
If that isn’t the way your plate looks during dinner time, prepare for an appetite adjustment.
How can the MyPlate symbol make healthy eating easier? Instead of encouraging you to figure out how many servings of this and that you should eat each day, as in the old pyramid, the plate helps you visualize the symbol when you dish up your meal. Figure out how to make your plate look more like MyPlate. Maybe it’s trading the potato chips for cut-up fresh fruit or splitting that huge steak with your spouse. You can even apply the symbol to a fast-food meal!
Say your typical drive-thru dinner consists of a hearty double cheeseburger, fries and a soda. Instead of eating from the bag, assemble it on a dinner plate and see how it compares to MyPlate. The bun and burger (grains and protein) may fill one half of the plate, but the cheese adds extra fat and sodium. The fries spill over the entire other half, and though they’re potatoes, they’re loaded with fat, calories and sodium—hardly a nutritious choice.
How do you make that fast-food meal look like MyPlate? You can still choose a burger and bun; just downsize to a single patty, skip the cheese and opt for a whole grain bun if it’s available. For the other half of the plate, order a side salad. Some fast-food restaurants also offer fruit choices. Don’t forget to swap out soda for milk. You’ll cut the fat, calories and sodium, add nutrients and jumpstart a habit that will do your body good.
Want to learn more about the USDA’s guidelines and how to make them work for you? Visit choosemyplate.gov.
The key messages of the USDA’s revised dietary guidelines are:
• Enjoy food, but eat less
• Avoid oversized portions
• Make half your plate fruit and vegetables
• Make at least half your grains whole grains
• Drink water instead of sugary drinks
• Choose fat-free or 1% (low-fat) milk
• Check the sodium in foods—and aim low
More ways to save on calories and fat when eating out:
• Ask for condiments on the side
• Choose packets of light dressings
• Skip the salt and fat (like bacon and cheese)
• Avoid supersized portions and buffets
• Don’t eat on the run
• Check out fast-food restaurants’ nutritional information for their menu items on their websites before you go
Large restaurant portions and super-sized fast-food meals make it hard to remember how big a standard healthy serving really is. Keep these visuals in mind when estimating a proper portion size.
• 1 teaspoon butter, a postage stamp or the tip of your thumb
• 1 cup beans, a tennis ball or a cupped handful
• 2 tablespoons dried fruit or nuts, a golf ball or a small cupped handful
• 1 small muffin, the round part of a light bulb
• 1 small bagel, a hockey puck (3” diameter)
• 3 ounces meat, a purse pack of tissues or your outstretched palm
• 1 dinner roll, a bar of soap or half your palm
• 1 pancake, a music CD
• 1 tablespoon salad dressing, a silver dollar
• 1 cup chips, a tennis ball or a cupped handful
• 1 3x3-inch piece of cake, a tennis ball
The nutrition information found on packaged foods makes it easy to buy the healthiest food for your family.
Regulated by the Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Food and Drug Administration, Nutrition Facts panels are found on nearly every item in the grocery store. And while food labels can be a bit confusing, they’re not impossible to translate once you understand them.
Serving Size
The top of the Nutrition Facts panel (see example) lists serving information. Food manufacturers follow guidelines that ensure the serving sizes of like products are comparable. This makes it a cinch for shoppers to determine which brand of orange juice offers the most vitamin C per serving, which spaghetti sauce has the least calories and so on.
CALORIES. The panel lists the number of calories each serving contains—and how many of those calories come from fat. In the example above, there are 200 calories in one serving, and 150 of them come from fat. Remember, however, that if you ate ½ cup (or 2 servings), you’d take in 400 calories, of which 300 would be fat.
FATS. Also listed is the total number of fat grams per serving and how many of those grams come from saturated and trans fats (the “bad” fats).
CARBOHYDRATES. The Total Carbohydrate figure lists all of the carbs contained in the item. Since dietary fiber and sugars are of special interest to consumers, their amounts are highlighted individually as well as being included in the total carb number.
The sugars listed include those that occur naturally in foods, such as lactose in milk, as well as sugars that are added during processing.
Percent Daily Value
The Percent Daily Value listed on the nutrition panel indicates how much each component in the product contributes to a 2,000-calorie-per-day eating plan. In the example at left, the total fat for a serving comprises 26% of the daily value, whereas the sodium comprises 5%.
Manufacturers must list the Percent Daily Value of vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium and iron on every food label, so consumers will know how the product fits into a well-balanced diet. Other vitamins and minerals may also be listed, depending on the space on the label and the manufacturer’s preference.
If the Daily Value for calcium, iron, vitamin A, etc. is more than 10%, the product is generally considered to be a good source of that particular nutrient.
At the end of the nutrition label, you’ll find an ingredients list—a requirement on all food products that contain more than one ingredient. Ingredients are listed in order, with the most major component (based on weight) of the product listed first and other ingredients following in decreasing order.
By Richelle Fry
Springdale, Arkansas
I lost 65 pounds in a year and gained better health and the confidence to take control of my life!
I have struggled with my weight all my life. When I was growing up, I was always a little bit bigger than the other kids. And I continued to gain weight into my 20s until 215 pounds were packed onto my 5-foot-1-inch frame. When I was 23, I had to have back surgery. At 26, I had back surgery again. The extra weight I was carrying continued to be a big problem.
A few years ago, I lost almost 70 pounds in a very short time and in a very unhealthy way. Around that time, I met my best friend and husband, Terry, and I gained all the weight back. I lost my job and I wasn’t sure what my next step was going to be. Terry encouraged me to pursue my lifelong dream of earning my college degree in history, which I love.
For the first time, I felt happy. I had a happy home, a wonderful husband who found me beautiful and a great new direction in my life. I knew I weighed too much, but I wasn’t inspired to do anything about it.
Baby steps toward success
When I returned to college, I was determined to succeed, so I worked really hard. But that left me with little time for eating. Each day, I ended up having one large, unhealthy meal late in the evening. That’s when I realized that my habits had to stop. I wouldn’t be able to do my best in any area of my life if I wasn’t feeling my best. So I decided to make some healthy changes.
I started by incorporating more fruits, vegetables and yogurt into my diet. Rather than one huge meal a day, I tried to eat several small meals. I drank less diet soda—which was very difficult for me—and more water.
Exercise is not my favorite thing, but I made a conscious decision to walk more, especially around campus. Then Terry and I started walking through our neighborhood in the evenings; this is something we still do. Our walks serve two great purposes: we get daily exercise, and we have a chance to reconnect after a busy day. Even when I’m tired or don’t feel like walking, Terry encourages me to go with him since it’s a great way to spend time together.
Terry’s mother also lives with us. As I started losing weight and wanted to continue, we made the effort to eat better as a family. We shared big salads loaded with vegetables. We ate leaner meats. Now, chicken shows up on our menu at least four times a week. Terry makes the best meat loaf, so we switched out the ground beef for lean ground turkey. Now we have a lighter way to enjoy our favorite comfort food. We avoid fatty foods and all fast-food.
Even snacking got healthier. My current favorite snack is popcorn, especially when it’s air-popped. I often put some fat-free butter and cheese seasonings on it, but it’s also great plain. And I find that I really do love salads. I usually eat a small salad four times a day or whenever my stomach starts rumbling. And my top way to get going in the morning is with a serving of oatmeal sprinkled with a pinch of cinnamon.
Little indulgences
My sweet tooth has been an obstacle along the way, despite my newfound love for salads. I adore cookies and desserts, so it’s hard for me to walk through our kitchen and not indulge in the sweets. I have to ask myself if I really want the cookie or if I just want it because I see it. It’s kind of like going to the grocery store when you are hungry—you don’t need all that junk food, but you see it and it looks good, so you buy it. Then you get home and instantly regret going overboard.
I strongly believe that you should not deprive yourself. When I want a cookie, I break off a small piece to satisfy my craving—and that’s it. Having a small portion of what you are craving will not ruin your day or throw you off your healthy path. If you’ve watched your food choices and portion sizes the last few days, a little indulgence will not be the end of the world. If I have a weak moment and eat too many calories, I try not to beat myself up over it. I’m human and make mistakes. I just get back on my healthy path again the next day.
In one year, I have lost 65 pounds and know that I’ve done it gradually by watching what I eat and working exercise into my day. Now I have tons of confidence and higher self-esteem. My back feels better than ever. I’m happy to know that Terry and I can continue to have fun visiting many historical sites, since our healthy lifestyle will ensure a long life together.
Richelle’s Easy Changes
• Find someone to encourage you
• Drink less soda
• Drink more water
• Put flavor packets in your water to keep your taste buds interested
• Cook with lean meats
• Go for a walk—relax and exercise at the same time
• Indulge only a little bit
• Don’t be hard on yourself