Have you ever wondered what a healthy plate should look like? The good news is, it can look many ways and include all the foods you enjoy! You may have seen images of a plate broken into different components, as a general rule it is suggested that your plate or meal be broken down into three components: carbohydrates, protein and vegetables.
So what does this look like?
One quarter of your plate is for carbohydrates, for example:
- rice/grains
- pasta
- potatoes/sweet potato
One quarter of your plate for lean protein, for example:
- red meat/chicken/pork
- legumes
- seafood
- tofu/tempeh
The remaining half for vegetables:
- Anything and everything, try to include as many different colours throughout the week to get the benefits of different vegetables.
Breaking meals down into the components doesn’t just apply to things that are nicely presented on plates! Next time you make a curry see if you can make vegetables make up half of it or see if a quarter of your next stir fry comes from rice or noodles and what about adding some protein to your fried rice to make up your quarter of protein.
We like this approach, as it is applicable to everyone, importantly it requires no measuring and ensures that there is a place for all the food and variety that you enjoy.
