A normal nutritious diet plan can be customized to suit your weight, health and fitness goals, as well as your tastes. Because greater variety brings greater nutrition, shifting among healthy diets is good for you and can keep you motivated to keep eating right. No matter which routine you choose, start with the five food groups and make choices that will help you hit your nutritional targets. Healthy choices, not food abstinence, are the mark of any good diet.
To Maintain Weight and Energy
Low-fat foods from the grain, fruit, vegetable, protein and dairy groups provide enough energy and nutrition to meet daily metabolic and activity demands without adding to your waistline. Vary your menus to get the full range of minerals, vitamins, dietary fiber, carbohydrates and healthy fatty acids. Trim meats and poultry of their fat and skin and consume low-fat milk to get your protein, potassium, calcium and vitamins A, B and D. If you eat a sweet or high-cal dessert one day, cut back the next.
To Lose Weight Safely
If you need to shed pounds, raise your activity level while selecting the lowest-calorie foods in each group. This means low-sugar bran cereal, lots of fruits and veggies, fat-free milk and fish instead of meats most often. Keep cereal, fruit and veggie servings to 1 cup or less and fish to 3 oz. or less. Tuna, perch, haddock and orange roughy all have about 100 calories or less per serving.
For Heart Health
To avoid or decrease the progression of atherosclerosis or high blood pressure, go as low as you can go on saturated fat, trans fat and sodium content in your normal diet. Eat greater amounts of fiber, found in oat and wheat bran cereals, brown rice and whole-wheat baked goods rather than sweetened bakery items, which may contain trans fat. Choose reduced-sodium canned soups, and season your foods with herbs or spices instead of table salt. Consuming fat-free milk and yogurt and fish in place of meats will decrease your saturated fat intake.
For High Activity
High calories aren't the answer to greater energy -- superior carbohydrate and protein sources are. Many high-cal foods have unhealthy fat contents that slow you down. Swap butter for peanut butter or almond butter on toast. Eat fish rich in beneficial unsaturated omega-3 fats, such as salmon and halibut. Enjoy the greater protein boost in whole grains such as whole-wheat pasta, cereal and brown rice instead of refined white-flour or white-rice products.
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