When looking to manage your weight, focus on creating healthy dietary habits that are safe and sustainable. It is easy to fall for a fad diet that promises quick weight loss results, involves eating a very low amount of calories, or eliminates entire food groups from the diet. Fad diets can be unhealthy and insufficient at promoting long-term weight management results, even in the case of short-term weight loss. Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight involves creating healthy eating habits and incorporating physical activity. This article will discuss healthy dietary and physical activity patterns that lead to long-term weight management results.
Use MyPlate as a Guide to Improve Your Eating Habits
Healthy eating starts with choosing foods and beverages that are full of nutrients. A healthy diet includes fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, and dairy. Start by consuming 3 meals per day with each meal composed of the following:
1⁄2 of your plate consisting of fruits and vegetables
3⁄4 of your plate consisting of grains
1⁄4 of your plate consisting of protein foods
1 cup of dairy
Healthy Snacking
Healthy snacks are important to prevent you from overeating at meal times. They can also provide you with a boost of mid-day energy and are great before exercising. Aim to consume 1 to 3 snacks per day in between meals. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and yogurt make great snacks! Before eating your snacks, be sure to read the nutrition facts label and pay attention to the suggested serving size.
Healthy Food Examples
Fruits: apple, banana, orange, kiwi, mango, watermelon
Vegetables: spinach, kale, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, corn
Whole grains: brown rice, wild rice, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat cereal, oatmeal, air-popped popcorn.
Protein: lean beef or pork, chicken breast without skin, sliced turkey, fish, eggs, nuts, beans, peas, lentils
Dairy: low-fat or fat-free milk or yogurt, calcium-fortified soy milk or other milk alternatives
Sweet Snack Ideas
Almonds and dark chocolate
Low-fat plain yogurt parfait
Apple slices with peanut butter
Whole wheat toast topped with peanut butter and banana
3 ingredient banana oatmeal cookies
Savory Snack Ideas
Air-popped popcorn
Mixed nuts and seeds
Trail mix
String cheese and whole wheat crackers Guacamole and whole wheat crackers
Choose Healthy Beverages
Drink plenty of water throughout the day to satisfy your thirst. Choose unsweetened iced tea, sparkling water, and fruit-infused water. Limit sugary-filled beverages such as soda, some juices, energy drinks, and alcohol.
Move Your Body
Exercising promotes physical and mental health. Aim to exercise for at least 30 minutes, 5 days per week. You can start small and slowly increase the amount of physical activity that you perform. By exercising, you will create a caloric deficit without cutting back on the amount of food that you consume. This will ultimately lead to successful and long-term weight loss. If your goal is weight maintenance, physical activity is still important and you will be able to eat more calories to create an energy balance.
What Counts as Physical Activity?
Physical activity can be any movement that increases your heart rate. This includes walking, running, weight lifting, dancing, and participating in sports. Physical activity can also include household chores that are intense enough to increase your heart rate and make you break a sweat such as gardening, cleaning, and mowing the lawn. Even doing 10-minute bursts of physical activity, 3 times per day will add up.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, January 11). Healthy Weight, Nutrition, and Physical
Activity. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/index.html
Spies, D. (2017, August 30). 3-Ingredient Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies. Clean and Delicious. https://cleananddelicious.com/3-ingredient-banana-oatmeal-breakfast-cookies/#wprm-recipe-container- 27610
U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2021). What Is MyPlate? https://www.myplate.gov/eat-healthy/what-is- myplate
