Improve Your Well-being with the Simple Plate Method
January 19, 2024
By Amber Rector, PA-C
Often, eating healthy is seen as an excellent way to lose weight when paired with physical activity. But a healthy diet can yield many benefits for your physical well-being besides just shedding a few pounds. When you eat healthier, you lower your risk for life-threatening conditions like heart disease and even some types of cancer. Additionally, the improvements to your physical wellness will in turn affect your mental health positively.
But what does a healthy diet really look like? Well, it’s not that complicated at all. Follow this Simple Plate Method for three meals per day and see how this new diet impacts your physical and mental well-being.
- Each quarter of the plate represents about one fist-sized serving of the food group listed.
- If you’re still hungry after eating your whole plate, drink one glass of water and start with another helping of a vegetables, continuing around the plate in a clockwise manner.
- Incorporate 1-2 tablespoons of a healthy fat for longer satiety, including avocadoes, oils that are liquid at room temperature, and nuts or nut butters.
- Healthy snacks should combine a lean protein or healthy fat with a complex carbohydrate/starch (one to two fist-sized servings total)
- Drink half of your body weight in ounces of water each day (black coffee, black or green tea, and sugar-free flavoring counts).
- Avoid drinking calories in the form of soda, juice, sweet tea, lemonade, sports drinks, and energy drinks.