How To Build A Healthy Plate

Healthy eating and a healthy diet are one of the most important parts of your overall health, as well as your fitness journey and long-term healthy weight maintenance.

A healthy plate is a useful guide to eating nutritious and balanced meals every day.

It’s important to eat the right foods in the right amount, but learning to build a healthy and balanced plate can seem like a challenge for many people. However, don’t worry. Knowing the principles can help you with building a healthy plate wherever you are, and I’m dedicating this post to sharing practical tips to guide you to build a healthy plate with what you have so you can have balanced meals all the time.

How To Build A Healthy Plate

Make the most out of fruits and veggies

Fruits and veggies are very healthy, and they should be in every meal you eat.

There are so many ways you can eat vegetables: you can grill veggies and eat them as a side with a lean protein, you can make big salads, eat them as side salads, eat them in soups, put them in stews, etc.

There are also different types of veggies, which you can eat in different ways. You can eat strategy veggies as a carb source, leafy greens for fiber, etc.

Eating a lot of vegetables is important no matter if you follow a plant-based diet or not.

Fruits are also important. They’re great for breakfast, healthy desserts, etc.

Both fruits and vegetables are crucial for building a healthy plate.

Choose whole grains

When eating grains, if you want to build a healthy plate, choose whole grains. They’re much better for your body, and will give you the right nutrients. Refined grains don’t have nearly as much fiber as whole grains, and they are stripped of tons of nutrients that whole grains have.

That’s why you should include whole grains in your healthy plates whenever you can.

Add healthy fats to your meals

There’s a common misconception going around that high-fat foods are always bad for you. That’s not the case.

There are healthy fats and unhealthy fats. Unhealthy fats are fast foods, butter, fried food, etc. That kind of fat is something your body doesn’t need.

However, healthy fats are actually important for your diet. That is olive oil, avocados, coconut oil, nuts, etc.

Including healthy fats on your healthy plate is definitely a good idea.

Eat all food groups

For the best healthy plate, you want to include all food groups that your body needs: protein, veggies, and fruits for fiber, healthy carbs, and healthy fats.

Think about portion size

Another important aspect of building a healthy plate is thinking about portion size. It’s not enough to just know what to put on the plate - you need to know which foods you should have more of, and which foods you should have less of.

For example, filling the majority of your plate with veggies and lean protein is a good idea, while having your plate full of carbs and fats with almost no veggies is not the best idea.

What Makes A Healthy Plate

Vegetables and fruits

Half of your plate should be non-starchy vegetables, such as leafy greens, broccoli, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, bell peppers, cauliflower, and so on.

If you’re eating breakfast, then half of the plate can be a mix of fruits and veggies.

Lean protein

A quarter of the plate should be a lean protein of your choice: chicken, turkey, beef, salmon, shrimp, tofu, etc.

To make your plate healthy, try to bake or grill your protein, and not deep-fry it.

Healthy carbs and grains

A quarter of your healthy plate should be healthy carbs and grains. Those can be starchy veggies such as potatoes or green beans, it can be brown rice, whole-grain pasta, quinoa, and so on.

Healthy fats

Healthy fats such as cheese, avocado, nuts, etc. can be add-ons to your meal. For example, you can top your salad with cheese or nuts, add olive oil to your salad dressing, add avocados to your meal, and so on.