Girl Dinner or Full Component Eating?

What is Girl Dinner?

“Girl Dinner” is a popular internet trend that focuses on replacing traditional meals with snack plates often featuring a variety of foods like fruits, veggies, cheese and other food options. After a long day, the “girl dinner” appears to be an appealing choice because its low-maintenance approach makes meal prep effortless.

While this trend can be fun, practical, and even encourage different food combinations, it is not without its nutrition risks. Relying on snack plates too often may lead to poor nutrition, overconsumption of unhealthy foods, and disordered portion control. Additionally, it could contribute to disordered eating patterns if used regularly as a meal substitute.

The majority of “Girl Dinners” are composed of snacks; therefore, calling them meals can blur the lines between snacking and eating proper meals. Altered portion control can encourage grazing throughout the day. This grazing pattern, eating a little bit throughout the day without regard to how hungry or full you actually are, may lead to overeating as the brain may not register the same feeling of satiety as it would coming from a structured meal. Ultimately, eating snack plates as a meal can lead to negative nutritional consequences, as these foods are usually high in sodium, added sugars, saturated fats, and trans fats, while being low in fiber, macronutrients, and micronutrients.

What is Full Component Eating?

To make a healthier alternative to “Girl Dinner” we should focus on including balanced components in meals and snacks. Full component eating includes lean protein, fiber rich carbohydrates, fruits or vegetables and a satiating fat. Adding these elements will help maintain a balanced diet. Eating a variety of foods not only ensures our body gets the nutrition it needs while keeping meals simple and enjoyable, but it also helps prevent grazing that might lead to overeating and potentially disordered eating patterns.

A balanced meal has 4 components:

A good rule of thumb is having fruit and vegetables cover 1/2 of your plate at each meal with about 1/4^th being covered by protein and the final 1/4^th being covered by a fiber rich carbohydrate.

Head over to https://www.myplate.gov/ for more information about the MyPlate method!