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| What is a healthy diet? What does it consist of? A diet is anything we consume or are used to consuming during our day, week. Anything we eat. A healthy diet is what the USDA considers is balanced diet -containing foods from the 5 main food groups. The following table is based on the food pyramid and it is meant as a guide to those of you who want to eat healthier. To personalize this diet find out how many calories you need to consume in order to mantain your current weight or to healthily lose/gain more by visiting the calculations page. The following also provides examples of what one serving of i.e. fibre mean. These servings are universal. Finally I have included a small table of the rough amount of calories one finds in everyday food. |
| BREADS AND STARCHES |
| 6 |
| 1 slice of bread 1 oz of ready to eat cereal 1/2 cup cooked rice, pasta, cereal 1 mini bagel 3 cups air popped pop corn |
| FRUITS |
| 1/2 cup cooked, chopped, canned fruit 3/4 cup juice 1 medium fruit 2 tbsp raisins |
| VEGETABLES |
| 1 cup raw leafy vegs 1/2 cup cooked, chopped, frozen or other raw vegs 3/4 cup juice |
| 1,600 |
| 2 |
| 3 |
| 4 |
| 5 |
| DAIRY |
| 1oz, 28g lean meat, fish or poultry 1 egg 2tbsp peanut butter 1/2 cup legumes 4oz, 113g tofu 3/4 cup nuts 1/4 cup cheese |
| 1 cup milk 8 oz, 220g yoghurt 2 oz, 57g cheese |
| 2-3 |
| MEATS, EGGS, LEGUMES, SOY, NUTS |
| 2,200 |
| 2,800 |
| 9 |
| 2-3 |
| 2-3 |
| 6 |
| 7 |
| 5 |
| 3 |
| 5 |
| 11 |
| 1,600 |
| 2,200 |
| 2,200 |
| 1,600 |
| 2,800 |
| 2,800 |
| 1,600 |
| 1,600 |
| 1,600 |
| 2,200 |
| 2,200 |
| 2,200 |
| 2,800 |
| 2,800 |
| 2,800 |
| FATS |
| 30% of total calorie intake. Choose unsaturated over saturated fat. 1 serving is 5 grams of fat 1 tsp oil 1 tbsp salad dressing 1/8 avocado |
| 53g |
| 73g |
| 93g |
| FOOD GROUP |
| 1 SERVING EQUALS TO |
| # of Serv Allowed |
| CALORIES |
| TO LOSE WEIGHT To lose weight healthily you need to lose between 1-2 lbs a week. We can lose the calories by dieting or more healthily, by a combination of diet and exercise. So we can run for 30 mins that is 300 cals and cut 200 cals from our daily caloric allowance. Look at the chart and aim for the 1,600 cal diet. TIPS: Drink lots of water, eat 4-6 times a day, space your meals no more than 4 hours apart, eat slowly to avoid overeating, switch to wholegrains- bread, rice and pasta to make you feel fuller, don't deprive yourself, eat in moderation, allow 100-200 calories for your favourite food. Enjoy your meals. REMEMBER: It is recomended that caloric intake does not go below 1,200- 1,400 cals a day. |
| TO GAIN WEIGHT To gain weight healthily you need to gain about 1-2 lbs a week. We can gain by adding around 750 cals daily. It is also important to start weight training as this sort of training will add muscle and weight to your body. TIPS: Eat 5-6 meals a day, pick foods from the five food groups but shop around for the highest calorie products.Have a look at the 2,000 cal diet. REMEMBER: Only 30% of your daily calorie intake should come from fat. You want to avoid increasing risk to your heart. Aim for unsaturated fats such as olive oil, olives, avocados, nuts, peanut butter, salad dressings and fatty fish. |
| BASICS OF WEIGHT MANAGEMENT 1 pound of fat is equal to 3,500 cals. To lose/gain 1 pound we must decrease/increase our calorie intake by 3,500 cals a week.We can do so by cutting off or adding 500 - 1,000 cals a day. To be realistic aim for something in between so you are not changing your diet too much to be overwhelmed or too little to be dissapointed by the slow progress. |
| A HEALTHY DIET |