Pasta, bread, butter, cheese, rice, spaghetti, chocolate chip cookie – these are foods on your Do Not Eat list, right? Why? Because they make you fat, huh?
Guess what? They don’t! That’s right, they don’t. Now, in excess, any food leads to weight gain – if you eat more than you use in regular and purposeful daily activity. But in appropriate amounts, all foods have a place at the table. So invite them over.
Your body needs fuel so you can work and play all day. Instead of skimping on food, thinking it’s fattening, here’s an idea to get you started on fueling up. Divide a plate in half (use your imagination) and pile one half with colorful veggies (raw or cooked are okay). Divide the other half of the plate in two and fill one-quarter of the plate with a lean protein, like baked or grilled chicken, grilled or pan-cooked salmon or other fatty fish, tofu or legumes, and fill the remaining quarter with a grain, like rice or quinoa, or pasta, like couscous, noodles or macaroni. Add a side of fruit and 8 oz low-fat dairy and dinner is filling, satisfying AND you didn’t give up the pasta or rice.
How about nuts or a sweet taste in your mouth? Easy…..take a little away from the grain and protein section and have a small cookie or a few almonds.
Bottom line: Make vegetables the main course, add a bit of grain/starch and lean protein and eat real food – not junk.
For a great visual and tips, link here http://michigantoday.umich.edu/2008/03/great-plate.php.
