Nutrition 101: How to build meals that help you thrive!
A sustainable way to making healthy meals
To feel our very best, there are multiple factors we need to take into account. Sleep, hormones, stress, mood, movement and of course nutrients are the factors we can influence by what we eat, do and how we think. A holistic approach is therefore key to success! But while working with people in practice, most of the time they prefer to start with having a look into what to eat. As a Reg. Nutritionist of course this is one of the aspects I enjoy talking about very much, so let’s dive into this!
One of the biggest pitfalls I see people making around food, is following a meal plan. Not because they’re not achieving results, this is very well possible. But because following someone else’s meal plan is usually a temporary solution after which they fall back into their usual eating and lifestyle habits. This typically leads to feelings of hopelessness, shame and weight regain to just name a few unpleasant aftereffects. If you’re familiar with diet plans, then you’re probably nodding your head right now!
Besides this, meal plans are often quite restrictive which makes them difficult to implement consistently, especially while eating with others. What we really need is learning how to eat well in a way that feels familiar, according to your own taste preferences, budget and other lifestyle factors, but adjusted to maximize health benefits. This is a much easier, pleasant and sustainable way of eating.
So how to go about this? We all know that eating plenty of vegetables, some fruit and higher quality protein such as fish or lean meat are supposed to be good for us. What we often don’t know, or at least are not aware of, is how to build meals that give us the nutrients and energy in the right proportions which helps us towards our goals. There is no need to include “super foods” or to eliminate any food completely from your meal repertoire, but balance is important.
The key is to not overcomplicate your meals. Enter the Plate Model Framework.
Most people find this framework easy to follow and are able to build their meals like this on a daily basis. Not just for a week or two, but long term, getting closer to their wellbeing goals every day!
Let me take you through how to put this framework into practice, but first, if you’re new here, welcome! I’d like to invite you to subscribe to a weekly boost of insights, recipes and hope so that you too can reach your wellbeing goals:
Step 1:
Base your meal on non-starchy vegetables. These types of vegetables should be about half of your plate. Think of all your leafy greens such as spinach, collard greens and kale, green beans, zucchini, capsicum, cabbages, broccoli etc. Sounds like a lot of work? Make it yourself easy with ready-to-eat bags of salad or frozen vegetables such as green beans which are ready within minutes. A lot of non-starchy vegetables require very minimal preparation and can be eaten raw, such as cucumber, tomatoes and capsicum. They are an easy way to bulk up your meal! An easy vinaigrette of olive oil, vinegar/lemon juice, pressed garlic, salt and pepper as a flavour booster goes well with most non-starchy vegetables.
Step 2:
Then choose a good quality (as in less processed) protein to fill one quarter of your plate. This is for example fish, eggs, poultry, lean red meat (less than 5% fat), eggs, tofu, nuts & seeds. Cheese is also a protein source, but because of its high saturated fat and energy content, use cheese sparingly, more to give the meal a bit of a flavour boost than as your main protein source of the meal.
Step 3:
The remaining quarter of your plate is reserved for (minimally processed) carbohydrates. This is for example the starchy vegetables like (sweet) potato, parsnip, beetroot, legumes like peas, beans and lentils, wholegrains such as corn, brown rice or high fiber bread/crackers/wraps, fruits, milk and some yogurts. Usually we use carbohydrates as the bulk of our meal and often these are the more refined kind of carbs such as low fiber bread and white rice. This causes an imbalance in both nutrient and energy intake, standing in the way of your goals whether that is blood sugar balance, feeling more energized, beating brain fog or getting to your happy weight.
So here we are, a well-balanced plate model framework that you can use as a guideline for your meals. Most likely you can still eat those foods that you’re used to and that you like, but you’ll have to change the ratio between the different food types or make some tweaks in the quality of the chosen foods.
For example, if on today’s menu is a stirfry, bulk this up with non-starchy vegetables so that the whole meal consists of half of these type of vegetables, a quarter can be a protein of your choice such as chicken pieces and the remainder quarter you can make brown rice (rather than your go-to white rice), corn and/or peas.
Ok, but where do my biscuits and crisps go?
Of course there are also a lot of other foods, which I like to call “fun foods”, that we eat outside of meal times. These are, for example, sweet and savoury treats. Last week’s newsletter looked into how to fit these kinds of foods into your life without them standing in the way of your goals. However, if that feels too challenging at the moment, then tweaking your main meals is a great start of your journey!
Should all my meals look like this?
If you’re just starting out with this framework, I understand that creating meals like this three times per day, seven days a week can feel overwhelming! If that’s the case, start with the meal that feels easiest to adjust, for example start with dinner on Wednesday nights. Then step-by-step expand on the number of meals or days that you’ll be making adjustments. Start with what feels doable.
Feel free to download and print the graphic below as a great summary and reminder (it has some extra notes on fats and oils as well).
You can do this, look forward to feeling a difference!
Still unsure how to put nourishing meals together? In upcoming newsletters I’ll be sharing recipes according to this plate model framework, so stay tuned if you need some inspiration.
💚 Sanne
No-nonsense Diet & Lifestyle