A long-term commitment to eating healthfully can provide you with many physical and emotional benefits. A healthy and balanced diet can give you more energy, decrease your stress level, improve digestion, improve your sleep, decrease your risk of disease and illness, improve your skin and hair, and improve your overall well-being. A healthful diet consists of a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, lean proteins, low-fat dairy products or dairy substitutes, beans and lentils, and fats from olive oil, avocado, nuts and fish. A 2,300-calorie meal plan is appropriate for young active adolescents, active men, adult women looking to gain weight and breastfeeding women.
Meal Planning Strategies
Eat a good breakfast. Include snacks between meals to help to keep your energy level up and prevent hunger cravings. Include a combination of carbohydrates and protein at each meal and snack to help you feel satisfied and keep your blood sugar stable.
Carbohydrate choices should be whole grains or fruits. Vary your grain intake to include brown rice, barley, rye, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth, millet, bulgur and couscous. Good sources of protein are peanut or almond butter, nuts, cottage cheese, yogurt and low-fat cheese.
Including a fruit or vegetable at every meal and snack will help you to feel satisfied and ensure you are eating adequate vitamins, minerals and fiber. Stay away from partially hydrogenated fats. Drink water throughout the day.
Serving Sizes
Familiarizing yourself with serving sizes can help you to keep portions under control. Certain foods can be placed in more than one food group, which can change the size of a serving. For example, almonds can be considered a protein or a fat. If they are eaten for protein in a snack, the serving size will be 1 oz. or 22 nuts. If they are added to a meal or snack as a fat serving, the serving size will be ½ oz. or 11 nuts.
This 2,300-calorie meal plan includes four servings of fruits per day. A serving is one medium whole fruit or 3/4 cup of 100 percent fruit juice or ½ cup cut up fruit. The goal for vegetables is five servings a day. One serving is ½ cup vegetables or 1 cup green leafy vegetables or ¾ cup vegetable juice.
The plan allows 12 servings of whole grains per day. One serving is one slice whole-grain bread, ½ cup brown rice or whole-grain pasta, ½ cup whole-grain cereal, one corn tortilla or 1/2 whole-grain tortilla.
There are three servings of dairy or calcium-rich foods a day. One serving of dairy or dairy substitute is 1 cup skim or 1 percent milk, 1 cup low-fat yogurt, 1 oz. low-fat cheese or 1 cup soy milk or almond milk.
The goal for protein is 8 oz. daily. One serving is ½ cup cooked beans, 1 oz. meat or fish, one egg, ¼ cup egg substitute, three egg whites, 1 oz. cheese, 1 cup low-fat yogurt, 1/3 cup low-fat cottage or ricotta cheese, 1 oz. nuts, 2 tbsp. peanut or almond butter or ½ cup tofu.
Added fats should be limited to three servings per day. One serving of fat is 1/8 avocado, 1 tsp. olive or canola oil, 1 tsp. regular butter, 2 tsp. margarine with no hydrogenated fat, 2 tsp. whipped butter, 1 tbsp. light mayonnaise, eight olives, 2 tbsp. low-fat salad dressing, ½ oz. nuts or 2 tsp. peanut or almond butter.
Breakfast
Choose two servings of fruit, one serving of protein, two servings of whole grains and one fat. An example meal is ½ cup cantaloupe, 6 oz. orange juice, 2 slices of whole-grain toast with 2 tsp. whipped butter, and 1 hard-boiled egg.
Mid-morning Snack
Eat one dairy or dairy substitute serving, two whole grains and one fruit. For example, choose 1 oz. low-fat cheese, 8 whole-grain crackers and 1 cup strawberries.
Lunch
Choose two servings of vegetables, three whole grains, three servings protein, one serving of dairy or dairy substitute and one fat. An example meal is a chicken sandwich on a whole-grain bun, 3 oz. chicken, 1 slice of cheese, lettuce, tomato, 2 slices of avocado, 10 whole-grain pretzel sticks, and ½ cup baby carrots
Mid-afternoon Snack
Choose one whole grain, one protein and one fruit. An example is ½ cup whole-grain cereal, 1 cup low-fat yogurt and ½ cup blueberries.
Dinner
Select three servings of vegetables, four whole grains, three servings of protein and one serving of low-fat dairy or dairy substitute. An example meal would be 2 turkey tacos using 2 corn tortillas, 3 oz. lean ground turkey, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, salsa, ½ cup corn, 1 cup brown rice and 1 cup of skim or 1 percent milk.
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