Healthy Clip Module 2
Session 2: Build a Healthy Plate After this lesson you will be able to: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Identify the 3 main macronutrients and their role in your health. Determine which foods groups you may not be consuming enough. Understand your fluid needs and set goals to meet those needs. Track your intake for a more accurate look at your diet.
Creating a healthy lifestyle usually starts in the kitchen. In the last session you were able to calculate your needs and set goals based on those need and other lifestyle factors. In this session you will take that knowledge a little further by learning more about the foods you eat in a general sense. Then take a closer look at those foods by tracking and analyzing your own intake.
Macronutrients Our bodies are amazing machines, executing billions of processes on a microscopic level each hour! Just like any machine, it requires fuel, and for the body food is fuel. Unfortunately, we have forgotten this and often look to food for its joy, comfort, and taste. While a healthy lifestyle should not take any of that away, it should help put things into perspective. When you look at food through the lens of how it functions in the body, and how that supports your goal, it becomes easier to build a healthier plate. Calories are the foundation of weight loss or gain, but how these calories are divided among the three macronutrients, can also have a major impact on your weight loss success. Carbohydrate, protein and fat are the main nutrients the body needs. Each provides a different benefit to the body, and is needed in varying amounts. Carbohydrates, which serve as the body’s main source of energy, should make up between 45 to 65 percent of your total daily intake. Fat, primarily unsaturated fats, should make up between 20 to 35 percent of the diet. The nutrient responsible for building and repairing tissue, protein, makes up the final 10 to 35 percent of the diet. Each provides a different benefit to the body, and is needed in varying amounts. Carbohydrates, which serve as the body’s main source of energy, should make up between 45 to 65 percent of your total daily intake. Fat, primarily unsaturated fats, should make up between 20 to 35 percent of the diet. The nutrient responsible for building and repairing tissue, protein, makes up the final 10 to 35 percent of the diet. The percentages are overwhelming for some, but visualizing your diet as a plate and then plugging in the percentages in that way can help. This is also a great way to design you meals, filling your plate according to the ratio appropriate for you. Depending on your goals, the breakdown of these nutrients will vary. Those hoping to lean out will need a higher amount of protein, with lower percentages of carbs and fat. If general weight loss is the goal, a medium amount of carbohydrates and higher amount of protein is best for results. Finally, if you are an endurance athlete competing in long distance running events, triathlons, or other long-distance events, your overall calories needs are most HealthyClip.com
important but you will also need more carbohydrates to fuel your muscles appropriately. A quick reference for each scenario can be seen below.
Good Sources of Carbohydrates When considering carbohydrates, the most important thing to look for is a food that is high in fiber and low in sugar. These carbs tend to be minimally processed, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans. The following is a short list of the best carbohydrates to incorporate into a healthy plate:
Brown rice Whole grain pasta Whole wheat bread Whole oats
Buckwheat Millet Fruits Vegetables
Beans Peas Lentils
Good Sources of Protein Protein is abundant in society and helps to build and repair tissues in the body. Low-fat protein sources are best for overall health. The following are some great low-fat, protein-rich foods:
Seafood White-meat poultry Milk, cheese, yogurt
Eggs Beans Pork tenderloin
Soy Lean Beef
Good Sources of Fat Fat gets a bad rap but is an essential part of a healthy diet. Incorporating the following can help meet the body’s needs while not overdoing calories. Salmon Cod Flax seed oil Mackerel Hemp oil Olive oil Trout Grape seed oil Nuts HealthyClip.com
Seeds
Macronutrients on Your Plate Now that you have a more detailed understanding of the macronutrients and how they function in the body, it’s time to take that knowledge and put it to work. In the previous section you were shown the following three plates fitting different macronutrient needs. The following activity will assist you in building a healthy plate while also create a shopping list of sorts for you. The purpose of this activity is to classify foods and identify the best sources for each group. Keep in mind, your overall caloric needs will determine serving sizes and exact amounts in each group, which will be calculated in later sessions. The circle below represents a plate which holds all the food you will consume in one day. Divide your “plate” into the recommended portions best for you, fill in the percentage you used in the box provided.
% Fat % Carbohydrates
% Protein
HealthyClip.com
Next, based on the information you gained above, write as many foods that belong in each group. Be sure these are foods you would actually eat while also being good for you. Aim to list as many whole foods as possible, staying away from pre-packaged options.
Hydration Water makes up every cell, tissue, and organ in your body and is essential for life. Just like the macronutrients, hydrating your body properly can help you meet your weight loss goals. Water helps to regulate your body’s temperature, lubricate and cushion your joints, protect your spinal cord, and get rid of waste. Pretty important stuff! You’ve probably heard you need at least 8 cups of fluids each day. While this is a good goal there is very little evidence to back up the amount. Instead, make sure you are hydrating your body throughout the day, avoiding thirst, and monitoring the color of your urine to ensure you are meeting your needs. When you become thirsty, chances are you are already dehydrated. Additionally, our minds may sometimes mistake the feeling of thirst for hunger meaning you reach for a snack when really your body would feel satisfied with a cold cup of water. Monitoring the color of your urine is also a great way to make sure you are getting enough to drink. You are adequately hydrated if your urine is light yellow. When it becomes dark yellow you need to increase your intake. Finally, carrying non-caffeinated beverages around with you during the day and sipping regularly will allow you ward off any dehydration before it happens. Two things should be considered when consuming fluids. First, your need for fluids may increase in hot weather, when more physically active, when running a fever, or having diarrhea or vomiting. You will need to be extra mindful of your fluid intake when faced with any of these circumstances. Second, many turn to sugar-sweetened beverages when looking for fluids. Although these drinks do provide water they also contain extra calories in the form of sugar. Some of the most common drinks in this category are fruit drinks, sports drinks, and soda. It is important to avoid these drinks as much as possible when trying to lose weight and achieve a healthier lifestyle.
Tracking for Success When individuals who lost weight and kept it off were studied there was one habit that stood out in its relationship to success. Tracking food intake and exercise was the most common factor in determining successful weight loss. There are pros and cons to tracking your food. Pros:
Cons: Accountability Increased mindfulness Better view of your plate
Can take a lot of work Hard to continue over the long-term May not be accurate
Tracking your food for at least three days will give you an idea of your current intake. This also allows you to compare your current intake to your recommended intake and identify areas for improvement. You may compare your intake to the plate designed previously. If you want a more complete analysis of your food intake you may HealthyClip.com
want to enter the foods into one of the many online calorie counters. You want to look at total calories and macronutrient breakdown. Use the Food Tracker that follows to track everything you eat or drink for the next three days. The more information you provide the more helpful the information will become. Bottom Line: Understanding how food works within the body will allow you change the way you look at food. Start thinking about food from the perspective of what it does in your body versus how it makes you feel (emotionally) or as a type of reward. Action Plan: Track your food for the next 3 days. Take a close look at where you are at and determine how this relates back to your goals. Attend weekly Hangout. Decide then deliver on your commitment.
Food Tracker Use this Food Tracker for the next 3 days. Time of Day: Including the time of day you eat will help identify patterns in your routine. You should aim to eat small, frequent meals and by tracking the time will help determine if you are achieving this. Also, if you find you struggle with cravings at certain times of day the Food Tracker will show that and allow you to create a strategy to avoid this carrier to success. Food: Be as specific as possible with your food. If it is homemade, list many ingredients used or if it is a restaurant provide details of the meal. Anything that passes your lips will be recorded here. Portion: It is ideal if you can measure your food and record it in this space. While it is not realistic to measure everything you eat or drink for years to come, completing this task for the next 3 days is helpful to retrain your brain on appropriate portions and how much you are actually eating. Notes: This section is for you to make helpful notes regarding your food intake. This could be nutrition information from the food or restaurant, your mood when eating, or anything else that will help you in assessing your food intake. Fluid intake: Each time you drink a non-caffeinated drink, mark off a cup in this section. What went wrong/Improvement: At the end of each day, look back at your day and decide what worked really well for you. Additionally, choose one or two things that need improvement. Keep it short and actionable.
HealthyClip.com
Day 1 Time of Day
Food
Portion
Notes Ex: nutrition information, restaurant, mood, etc.
Fluid Intake What went well?
HealthyClip.com
What needs improvement?
Day 1 Time of Day
Food
Portion
Notes Ex: nutrition information, restaurant, mood, etc.
Fluid Intake What went well? HealthyClip.com
What needs improvement?
Day 3 Time of Day
Food
Portion
Notes
Ex: nutrition information, restaurant, mood, etc.
Fluid Intake HealthyClip.com
What went well?
What needs improvement?
HealthyClip.com
Identify the 3 main macronutrients and their role in your health. Determine which foods groups you may not be consuming enough. Understand your fluid needs and set goals to meet those needs. Track your intake for a more accurate look at your diet.
Creating a healthy lifestyle usually starts in the kitchen. In the last session you were able to calculate your needs and set goals based on those need and other lifestyle factors. In this session you will take that knowledge a little further by learning more about the foods you eat in a general sense. Then take a closer look at those foods by tracking and analyzing your own intake.
Macronutrients Our bodies are amazing machines, executing billions of processes on a microscopic level each hour! Just like any machine, it requires fuel, and for the body food is fuel. Unfortunately, we have forgotten this and often look to food for its joy, comfort, and taste. While a healthy lifestyle should not take any of that away, it should help put things into perspective. When you look at food through the lens of how it functions in the body, and how that supports your goal, it becomes easier to build a healthier plate. Calories are the foundation of weight loss or gain, but how these calories are divided among the three macronutrients, can also have a major impact on your weight loss success. Carbohydrate, protein and fat are the main nutrients the body needs. Each provides a different benefit to the body, and is needed in varying amounts. Carbohydrates, which serve as the body’s main source of energy, should make up between 45 to 65 percent of your total daily intake. Fat, primarily unsaturated fats, should make up between 20 to 35 percent of the diet. The nutrient responsible for building and repairing tissue, protein, makes up the final 10 to 35 percent of the diet. Each provides a different benefit to the body, and is needed in varying amounts. Carbohydrates, which serve as the body’s main source of energy, should make up between 45 to 65 percent of your total daily intake. Fat, primarily unsaturated fats, should make up between 20 to 35 percent of the diet. The nutrient responsible for building and repairing tissue, protein, makes up the final 10 to 35 percent of the diet. The percentages are overwhelming for some, but visualizing your diet as a plate and then plugging in the percentages in that way can help. This is also a great way to design you meals, filling your plate according to the ratio appropriate for you. Depending on your goals, the breakdown of these nutrients will vary. Those hoping to lean out will need a higher amount of protein, with lower percentages of carbs and fat. If general weight loss is the goal, a medium amount of carbohydrates and higher amount of protein is best for results. Finally, if you are an endurance athlete competing in long distance running events, triathlons, or other long-distance events, your overall calories needs are most HealthyClip.com
important but you will also need more carbohydrates to fuel your muscles appropriately. A quick reference for each scenario can be seen below.
Good Sources of Carbohydrates When considering carbohydrates, the most important thing to look for is a food that is high in fiber and low in sugar. These carbs tend to be minimally processed, whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans. The following is a short list of the best carbohydrates to incorporate into a healthy plate:
Brown rice Whole grain pasta Whole wheat bread Whole oats
Buckwheat Millet Fruits Vegetables
Beans Peas Lentils
Good Sources of Protein Protein is abundant in society and helps to build and repair tissues in the body. Low-fat protein sources are best for overall health. The following are some great low-fat, protein-rich foods:
Seafood White-meat poultry Milk, cheese, yogurt
Eggs Beans Pork tenderloin
Soy Lean Beef
Good Sources of Fat Fat gets a bad rap but is an essential part of a healthy diet. Incorporating the following can help meet the body’s needs while not overdoing calories. Salmon Cod Flax seed oil Mackerel Hemp oil Olive oil Trout Grape seed oil Nuts HealthyClip.com
Seeds
Macronutrients on Your Plate Now that you have a more detailed understanding of the macronutrients and how they function in the body, it’s time to take that knowledge and put it to work. In the previous section you were shown the following three plates fitting different macronutrient needs. The following activity will assist you in building a healthy plate while also create a shopping list of sorts for you. The purpose of this activity is to classify foods and identify the best sources for each group. Keep in mind, your overall caloric needs will determine serving sizes and exact amounts in each group, which will be calculated in later sessions. The circle below represents a plate which holds all the food you will consume in one day. Divide your “plate” into the recommended portions best for you, fill in the percentage you used in the box provided.
% Fat % Carbohydrates
% Protein
HealthyClip.com
Next, based on the information you gained above, write as many foods that belong in each group. Be sure these are foods you would actually eat while also being good for you. Aim to list as many whole foods as possible, staying away from pre-packaged options.
Hydration Water makes up every cell, tissue, and organ in your body and is essential for life. Just like the macronutrients, hydrating your body properly can help you meet your weight loss goals. Water helps to regulate your body’s temperature, lubricate and cushion your joints, protect your spinal cord, and get rid of waste. Pretty important stuff! You’ve probably heard you need at least 8 cups of fluids each day. While this is a good goal there is very little evidence to back up the amount. Instead, make sure you are hydrating your body throughout the day, avoiding thirst, and monitoring the color of your urine to ensure you are meeting your needs. When you become thirsty, chances are you are already dehydrated. Additionally, our minds may sometimes mistake the feeling of thirst for hunger meaning you reach for a snack when really your body would feel satisfied with a cold cup of water. Monitoring the color of your urine is also a great way to make sure you are getting enough to drink. You are adequately hydrated if your urine is light yellow. When it becomes dark yellow you need to increase your intake. Finally, carrying non-caffeinated beverages around with you during the day and sipping regularly will allow you ward off any dehydration before it happens. Two things should be considered when consuming fluids. First, your need for fluids may increase in hot weather, when more physically active, when running a fever, or having diarrhea or vomiting. You will need to be extra mindful of your fluid intake when faced with any of these circumstances. Second, many turn to sugar-sweetened beverages when looking for fluids. Although these drinks do provide water they also contain extra calories in the form of sugar. Some of the most common drinks in this category are fruit drinks, sports drinks, and soda. It is important to avoid these drinks as much as possible when trying to lose weight and achieve a healthier lifestyle.
Tracking for Success When individuals who lost weight and kept it off were studied there was one habit that stood out in its relationship to success. Tracking food intake and exercise was the most common factor in determining successful weight loss. There are pros and cons to tracking your food. Pros:
Cons: Accountability Increased mindfulness Better view of your plate
Can take a lot of work Hard to continue over the long-term May not be accurate
Tracking your food for at least three days will give you an idea of your current intake. This also allows you to compare your current intake to your recommended intake and identify areas for improvement. You may compare your intake to the plate designed previously. If you want a more complete analysis of your food intake you may HealthyClip.com
want to enter the foods into one of the many online calorie counters. You want to look at total calories and macronutrient breakdown. Use the Food Tracker that follows to track everything you eat or drink for the next three days. The more information you provide the more helpful the information will become. Bottom Line: Understanding how food works within the body will allow you change the way you look at food. Start thinking about food from the perspective of what it does in your body versus how it makes you feel (emotionally) or as a type of reward. Action Plan: Track your food for the next 3 days. Take a close look at where you are at and determine how this relates back to your goals. Attend weekly Hangout. Decide then deliver on your commitment.
Food Tracker Use this Food Tracker for the next 3 days. Time of Day: Including the time of day you eat will help identify patterns in your routine. You should aim to eat small, frequent meals and by tracking the time will help determine if you are achieving this. Also, if you find you struggle with cravings at certain times of day the Food Tracker will show that and allow you to create a strategy to avoid this carrier to success. Food: Be as specific as possible with your food. If it is homemade, list many ingredients used or if it is a restaurant provide details of the meal. Anything that passes your lips will be recorded here. Portion: It is ideal if you can measure your food and record it in this space. While it is not realistic to measure everything you eat or drink for years to come, completing this task for the next 3 days is helpful to retrain your brain on appropriate portions and how much you are actually eating. Notes: This section is for you to make helpful notes regarding your food intake. This could be nutrition information from the food or restaurant, your mood when eating, or anything else that will help you in assessing your food intake. Fluid intake: Each time you drink a non-caffeinated drink, mark off a cup in this section. What went wrong/Improvement: At the end of each day, look back at your day and decide what worked really well for you. Additionally, choose one or two things that need improvement. Keep it short and actionable.
HealthyClip.com
Day 1 Time of Day
Food
Portion
Notes Ex: nutrition information, restaurant, mood, etc.
Fluid Intake What went well?
HealthyClip.com
What needs improvement?
Day 1 Time of Day
Food
Portion
Notes Ex: nutrition information, restaurant, mood, etc.
Fluid Intake What went well? HealthyClip.com
What needs improvement?
Day 3 Time of Day
Food
Portion
Notes
Ex: nutrition information, restaurant, mood, etc.
Fluid Intake HealthyClip.com
What went well?
What needs improvement?
HealthyClip.com
