My Plate

Above is the new dietary guideline designed by the United States Department of Agriculture.  How many of you are aware of the “My Plate” guidelines? Some of you might remember the previous dietary guidelines, “My Food Guide Pyramid”. In my opinion, the “My Plate” dietary guidelines , while they are sending the same overall message as previous guidelines, the picture of the plate helps  give people a better visualization and understanding  of how they should be eating at their lunch and dinner meals.

Many people are surprised to see that there should be a source of dairy at every meal. Most people think of milk or yogurt as being a part of just breakfast. Remember the average American needs at least 3-4 dairy servings per day, which is equal to 900-1200mg of calcium. It is recommended your dairy servings be fat free or low fat. This is to help limit the amount of trans fats and saturated fats found in dairy. Dairy products that are high in fat can increase your bad cholesterol and contain more calories per serving. If you need a reminder on the importance of calcium and what a serving of dairy is please refer to my previous blog titled “Milk: It Really Does Do a Body Good”!

When looking at the picture of the plate, it is made clear that fruits and vegetables should be at least half of our calorie intake at each meal. While this is true, I want to point out that it is still all about portion control of both categories. Notice that technically the green triangle that represents vegetables is larger than the red triangle that represents fruit. The reason is because vegetables have a tendency to be lower in calories and in overall carbohydrates but higher in fiber and nutrients versus fruit.

Remember that there are two different categories within the “vegetable” umbrella. You have the non-starchy vegetables, which are very low in calories and carbohydrates and can be eaten in large amounts, and you have the starchy vegetables, which need to be eaten in moderation and portion controlled, especially if you have diabetes and/or insulin resistance.  Non-Starchy vegetables include the vegetables that I listed on the blog titled “Miracle Foods to Weight Loss”, which are the following:

Artichokes	Green Onions or Scallions	Tomato/Veggie Juice
Artichoke Hearts	Kohlrabi	Turnips
Asparagus	Leeks	Water Chestnuts
Green beans	Mushrooms	Watercress
Bean Sprouts	Chayote	Zucchini
Beets	Okra	Kale
Broccoli	Onions	Greens (all)
Brussels Sprouts	Pea Pods	Radishes
Cabbage	Peppers (all)	Bok Choy
Bamboo Sprouts	Salad greens	Daikon
Carrots	Sauerkraut
Celery	Spinach
Cauliflower	Summer Squash
Cucumber	Tomatoes (all)
Eggplant	Jicama

These foods are unlimited in my opinion. I believe that you can eat all you want of these all day long and still be able to lose weight as long as you do not fry them or add more than 1 serving of fat to them. Starchy Vegetables are more common in the American diet. Examples of starchy vegetables are: corn, any kind of bean, peas, potatoes, winter squash, hominy, parsnips, plantain, pumpkin, and lentils. For most starchy vegetables 1 serving equals ½ cup.

 For many of you following the popular weight loss program, you have been instructed in the program fruit is free and does not cost any points. However for people who are insulin resistant, have a genetic tendency towards Diabetes, who have a diagnosis of Diabetes already or who have PCOS, fruit is not free. As the plate diagram shows, there should a serving of fruit eaten at every meal. The key is understanding what a serving size of fruit looks like. The visual that I use for what a serving of fruit looks like is a tennis ball. For most fruits, a tennis ball shaped serving  is 60 calories and/or 15 grams carbohydrate.  Another important thing to remember when eating fruit is the more variety the better. Different colors and types of fruit bring different nutrients and health benefits to your diet. It is also important to eat fruits that you consume the outer skin because they usually have more fiber. Examples of 1 serving of Fruit or 15 grams Carbohydrate are: a small apple,½ cup of applesauce, a Clementine,15 grapes,10 cherries,2 TBS of most dried fruit,a half of a small banana ,a half of an orange or grapefruit, ¾ cup of berries,1 small kiwi, 1 ¼ cup of watermelon cubed, and a small peach or plum. Any fruit that is the size of a tennis ball or can fit into a tennis ball is probably 1 serving of fruit.

The other half of the plate is made up of grains and protein. Many people were surprised to see that the purple triangle that represents protein is smaller than the orange triangle that represents grains. In fact a majority of the calories on the recommended dietary guidelines come from carbohydrates. This is opposite from what many fad diets that are out on the market lead us to believe. Like I have discussed before, carbohydrates themselves are not what has made America overweight. It is our overconsumption of calories in general that have caused the weight gain and carbohydrates are just easier to over consume than fat and protein. It is all about calories in versus calories out. As I have stated before, it is all about portion control when it comes to grains. Examples of grains are: rice, pasta, any kind of bread, barley, bran, bulgur, cereal, couscous, grits, muesli, millet, polenta, quinoa, tabouli, and wheat germ. For most grains, 1 serving, which is 15 grams of carbohydrate/ 60 calories, is between a ¼ cup to ½ cup. It is recommended that more than half the grains you consume should be whole. I recommended that a majority of the grains that you consume should have more than 4 grams of fiber per serving. To refresh your memory on fiber look back at my blog on the benefits of fiber.

When it comes to protein at a meal, you want it to be lean. A serving a protein is usually 2 to 4 oz per meal depending on your body weight.  Despite what the fad diets might lead us to believe, we consume too much protein. It is recommended that protein make up only 20% of your total daily calories. It is also recommended that more than half of the protein we consume should come from plant based proteins not animal. Don’t get me wrong, protein is important when it comes to muscle building, iron storage and other vitamin storage, such as riboflavin, but a little goes a long way. You want to make sure that you choose good quality and low fat protein.

The “My Plate” dietary guidelines really are a good outline to overall healthy living. They show that there is a place for all of our macronutrients. Remember it is all about portion control. We need to start eating for overall nutrition and health, not for the sport of it.

Next time you serve your plate for lunch and dinner, remember “My Plate”.

XOXO! The Dietnista

Make Valentine's Day Even Sweeter

Another empty calorie and sugar filled holiday is just around the corner, are you ready? The good news is that the bulk of the holiday season has come and gone. Valentine’s Day is usually the last major holiday of the season that revolves around food.  Let me give you some tips on how to make it through Valentine’s Day without moving the notch out on your belt.

Tips to get you through Valentine’s Day:

1.       If you are going to eat candy, try to eat dark chocolate. Try to avoid all of the sugary based and high fat calorie candies such as milk chocolate.

Unlike other candy, dark chocolate contains antioxidants, which have health benefits when eaten in the right amount. Antioxidants are different minerals, and vitamins that are found in a variety of foods that significantly slow and/or prevent one of the processes that damages our body and it’s DNA.  This damaging, oxidative process forms free radicals, which are thought to contribute to the progression of disease states such as cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes and other diseases that are associated with an aging body. When you consume foods that are high in antioxidants, they counteract the damaging effects that the free radicals have on the body. In fact, it is thought that antioxidants actually convert free radicals to harmless waste, which is then removed from the body. There is still a lot that we need to research and learn about antioxidants and their health benefits before we start recommending that you add supplements of them to your diet.

2.       If you are making desserts for that special someone, try to reduce the amount of fat and sugar in the recipe and increase the fiber.

To increase fiber, use whole wheat flour/pastas/bread and rice in recipes where these products are needed. You can also add in fiber supplements such as Benefiber, Metamucill and Konsol Psyllium fiber to increase fiber content.  In some instances you can use products such as, Fiber One, All Bran or oatmeal to enhance your crust or breading in your recipes.

To reduce fat in recipes, lighten up the ingredients when there are lower fat options available (i.e skim milk/low fat sour cream/fat free condensed milk/2% cheese/light butter/light cream cheese).  Try using pureed fruits, such as prunes, or applesauce as half of the needed oil/shortening/margarine/butter in the recipes. Instead of using fat in recipes to add flavor, try calorie free seasonings and herbs.

To reduce the sugar and keep the recipes sweet, use artificial sweeteners instead of sugar to reduce the overall calories in the recipe. Make sure that you are using the version of sweeteners that can be used in baked goods. Splenda and Equal both make a version of sugar and brown sugar that can be used in cooking.

3.       Portion Control, Portion Control, Portion Control!

Every food can fit into a healthy, weight loss diet when eaten in the right quantity. Just remember that Valentine’s Day is only 1 day out of the year. No need to go overboard.  Moderation is the key!

4.       Try to think outside the box when it comes to Valentine’s Day gifts.

Communicate with your loved one or significant other. Explain to them that this year you are trying to improve your health, eat right and lose weight. Suggest getting each other Valentine’s Day gifts that do not involve junk food.  Consider getting each other gifts that are outside the box yet still romantic, like gift cards or passes to a cooking class you both would enjoy or passes to a dance class that you can learn together or a private boat ride on a lake. Why has candy become the standard gift given at Valentine’s Day? What is romantic about candy? Show your loved one or significant other that you love them by helping them to get healthy and eat right too.

5.       Throw any leftover candy/holiday food away within 2 to 3 days of the holiday.

Remember that the average American will usually gain over 5 pounds between October and March. How did you do?  Many people are shocked when they realize that they have gained weight over the holidays.  It seems like such a short period of time to increase your waist line. The scary thing is that it is not as hard to do as it might seem. As I have said before it takes 3500 extra calories on top of the normal amount of calories that you consume to gain 1 pound of weight. As a result consuming just 120 more calories a day over a 1 month time frame will easily put on 1 pound of weight. This could be the calorie equivalent of eating 2 regular pieces of candy per day. If you have gained some weight over the holidays, there is no time like the present to get rid of it.  There is no need to add extra weight on over Valentine’s Day.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all!

XOXO! The Dietnista