Whether brown bagging or eating in the cafeteria, you have to make a conscious effort to watch keep portions reasonable. Start out by making sure that you have things from more than one food group. You need to have certain amounts of each food group a day, so you want to try to eat the right amount of each group at each meal. Remember the food pyramid?
Portion sizes
To get an idea of what a portion of each food group should look like, here are a few comparisons
A serving of meat should be about the size of a deck of cards
A serving of pasta or rice should be about the size of a tennis ball or ice cream scoop.
A serving of bread should be about the size of a computer disk
A serving of vegetables should be about the size of a light bulb
A serving of cheese should be about the size of four dice
“Keep in mind that you don’t have to limit yourself to a single serving at each meal, but it is important to understand that a serving size isn’t necessarily what you are being served when dining out (or what you serve yourself at home)” says Melissa Ohlson, a nutritionist at the Cleveland Clinic.
Although many believe that cutting out a certain food group can promote weight loss, actually eating the right portions of the food groups at meals can be more beneficial. When you continuously eat more than a portion size, it can cause you to weight gain. “An easy way to control portions and keep calories in check is to pack your lunch instead of buying,” suggests Ohlson.
That said many Americans eat too many carbohydrates and sugars. According to the USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, “Americans consumed on average, 200 pounds of food and cereal products in 2000” (USDA).
Helpful tips
At lunch, if you want to eat a sandwich, or a serving of bread, try to eat whole grains. Whole grains can help lower the risk for cardiovascular disease (narrowing of the blood vessels that feed your heart with oxygen-rich blood) and some types of cancer. If you want to eat a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, be careful with the amount of peanut-butter and jelly you put on your sandwich. The proper serving of peanut-butter is only about the size of a ping-pong ball. And jelly is sugar, not a fruit, so make sure to be careful with the amount of jelly you use.
A helpful way to remember to vary the items you have for lunch, try to eat food that are many different colors. Most of the colors can come from fruits like bananas, grapes, apples, berries, etc. But, your greens can be from leafy veggies like: broccoli, spinach, romaine lettuce, etc. And, your oranges can be from carrots, or sweet potatoes. Try to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits.
A very popular lunch-time drink is milk. When picking the milk you are going to drink, try to choose the fat-free or low-fat milk (skim or 1%.) Of course you can drink chocolate milk, just try to pick up the reduced fat option.
Protein is something that is very important to have in your body. You can either get your proteins from lean meats, poultry (chicken,) or fish. Or, you can also find protein in beans, eggs and nuts.
When you’re eating lunch, you don’t have to stay away from the sweets, as long as you eat it in moderation. It shouldn’t be the main part of your meal.
Packing lunches can be fun. Experiment with healthy food choices. Click here to find some heart healthy items to get you started
Sources:
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, (Fifth edition), Home andGarden Bulletin NO. 232, May 2000.
