Healthy eating is about choosing foods that nourish your body and provide your body with both emotional and physical benefits that lead to an increased well-being. Creating and following a healthy diet menu can help ensure that you are feeding your body optimally.
Benefits of a Healthy Diet
A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, lean proteins and beans/lentils will provide you with essential nutrients that can increase your energy, decrease stress, improve digestion, improve your sleep, decrease the risk of disease and illness, improve your skin and hair and improve your overall well-being.
Guidelines of Planning a Healthy Menu
Mini-meals during the day can help control food cravings and regulate blood sugar. As a general rule, you should eat approximately every 3 hours. Eat a good source of protein with each meal or snack. Examples include peanut or almond butter, raw nuts, cottage cheese, yogurt or low-fat cheese. Include a fruit or vegetable at every meal. Fruits and vegetables provide vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants and phytochemicals. Include a variety of whole grains in your diet such as brown rice, barley, rye, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, millet, bulgar and cous-cous. Avoid partially hydrogenated fats. Eat healthy fats from olive oil, nuts, avocado and fish. Drink water throughout the day.
Sample Healthy Diet Menu
Breakfast
1 cup sliced strawberries
½ cup cottage cheese (top with five almonds and cinnamon)
1 slice whole grain toast
2 tsp. whipped butter or margarine (no hydrogenated fats)
Coffee (creamer with no hydrogenated fat) or tea with lemon
Mid-morning Snack
6 oz. low-fat yogurt
1 cup blueberries
Lunch
Quesadilla
1 sprouted grain tortilla
2 slices of low-fat swiss cheese
1/8 avocado
Salsa
1 cup jicama
Mid-afternoon Snack
1/4 cup trail mix (raw nuts and dried fruit)
Dinner
Spinach salad
2 oz. chicken breast
2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
½ cup tomatoes
½ cup cucumbers
1 oz. fat free feta cheese
1 tbsp. olive oil and red wine vinegar
½ cup quinoa
Evening Snack
String cheese
Apple
Nutritional Breakdown
This healthy menu is approximately:
1,600 calories
96 grams protein
195 grams carbohydrate
48 grams fat
Considerations of This Healthy Diet Menu
This is just one example of a healthy diet menu. Some people will need more food than what is shown on this menu and some will need less. What is most important is that you learn to pay attention to your body's signals (i.e. hunger and fullness cues) to determine what and how much you need and naturally eat the right portions for your own body's needs.
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