A healthy meal is one that contains vitamins, minerals and other nutrients that our bodies need without containing bad fats, bad carbs and loads of calories. How can you tell when a meal is healthy? It’s easy with these 5 tips.
Keep It Simple
Don’t get too caught up counting your calories or your carbs. While calories and carbs are important you can easily lose track of your ingredients if you’re doing too much math. A general rule of thumb to keep in mind to create a healthy meal is to keep it simple. You don’t need six different side dishes and you don’t need a ton of ingredients to make something healthy as well as tasty. All you need are a few fresh, quality ingredients instead.
Eat Small Portions
Healthy meals are not huge meals. Eating a few higher quality ingredients in a small portion will fill you up much better than eating a large amount of processed junk food. Along with keeping your meals simple, keep them small. It’s better for you to eat more small, healthy meals throughout the day than a few bigger, but less nutritious ones. Look at the example plate setup from choosemyplate.gov.
Use Colors
Greens as well as other colorful food ingredients are a good indicator of whether or not you’re eating a healthy meal. Mix light and dark green lettuces and other leafy vegetables in your salads. Greens like spinach, kale and bok choy are loaded with vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Also try to incorporate other brightly colored vegetables and even some fruits into meals – beets, carrots, tomatoes, sweet potatoes and squash are just a few of the many possibilities to consider.
Whole Grains
Whole grains have healthy carbohydrates. You need carbs for energy and you should really shoot for healthy ones. Along with hearty portions of whole grains you can also get good carbs from beans and your colorful fruits and vegetables. Healthy carbs fill you up and keep you full for longer. Quinoa, brown rice, barley and millet are preferred whole grains for healthy meals.
Drink Water
Your beverage of choice for a healthy meal should always be water. Water is the best way to hydrate yourself and it doesn’t contain sugars and chemicals like sodas. Fruit juices have extremely high amounts of sugar and should only be consumed in moderation. Proper hydration is important to your health and is also important when you are dieting.
For more helpful tips to keep you on the right track with your healthy lifestyle, contact Mediplan. Our team will help you to create a personalized dietary and fitness plan to reach your goals.