Your plate

catz789
catz789 Posts: 35 Member
edited February 2017 in Food and Nutrition
Hi everyone!
I have a nutrition question/tip for you: What is on your plate?
I try to aim for:
one half of plate: Vegetables
one quarter of plate: Meat or alternate protein source
one quarter of plate: whole grains

Replies

  • Rowan09
    Rowan09 Posts: 35 Member
    lulalacroix wrote: »
    I prefer to weigh my food instead of guessing portions.
    Who says OP is guessing? Didn't say she wasn't measuring before adding to her plate...
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    edited February 2017
    Half plate of vegetables, quarter meat, quarter starch, is the way I've been eating in recent months.
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    I eat my lunch and dinner out of a mixing bowl. A whole bag of lettuce, whole cucumber, whole tomato, 4oz of lean meat, 100 of mushroom and hot sauce. All weighed. A plate can't fit what I need in my stomach.
  • subcounter
    subcounter Posts: 2,382 Member
    I personally eat lots of carbs and protein in the morning and lunch. I usually eat my veggies for dinner. Spinach, broccoli, carrots usually find their ways to my stir fry's. If I feel particularly hungry, I make big salads as well. So my plates don't look equal throughout the day really.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    It varies considerably depending on what's on the menu. Being winter at the moment, we eat a lot of soups and stews.
  • TonyB0588
    TonyB0588 Posts: 9,520 Member
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I eat my lunch and dinner out of a mixing bowl. A whole bag of lettuce, whole cucumber, whole tomato, 4oz of lean meat, 100 of mushroom and hot sauce. All weighed. A plate can't fit what I need in my stomach.

    Doesn't literally have to be a plate. The proportions or ratios are what's important.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    edited February 2017
    It varies greatly for me. Tonight my plate was about 1/4 carne asada, 1/4 salad with guacamole & salsa as dressing, 1/4 rice and beans, and 1/4 cheese enchilada. The other plate was 100% two ground beef tacos.

    I was hungry and had plenty of calories in my allowance for it.

    Most nights it's somewhere closer to 1/2 lean meat of some kind and 1/2 vegetables of some kind.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    I usually have a plate full of each, or all equal portions I guess. Actually these days it ends up being more starchy carbs/grains than the rest.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,511 Member
    First ... I often use a bowl. :)

    For lunch today, I had bowl with 150 grams of steamed veggies + 125 grams of brown rice + 59 grams of tinned chicken in springwater. Total: 311 calories.

    Dinner last night was on a plate and was 200 grams of steamed veggies + 125 grams of Dr Oetker - Papa Giuseppi's Panini, Tomato and Cheese. Total 417 calories.


    Most days will be something like that.



  • EricaCraigie
    EricaCraigie Posts: 1,396 Member
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I eat my lunch and dinner out of a mixing bowl. A whole bag of lettuce, whole cucumber, whole tomato, 4oz of lean meat, 100 of mushroom and hot sauce. All weighed. A plate can't fit what I need in my stomach.

    I like your style.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    I've never honestly thought about it. Tonight I'm having roast chicken with a veggie salad, so the plate will be 3/4 veggies and 1/4 Protein.

    My recipes vary so much that it's never a stock standard serving of this and that, every night is different.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I eat my lunch and dinner out of a mixing bowl. A whole bag of lettuce, whole cucumber, whole tomato, 4oz of lean meat, 100 of mushroom and hot sauce. All weighed. A plate can't fit what I need in my stomach.

    Doesn't literally have to be a plate. The proportions or ratios are what's important.
    That's why well meant guidelines often backfire - they don't translate well to real life situations. And one set of guidelines for people with wildly varying goals and preferences... not good.

    1/2 of your plate filled with vegetables is a good rule of thumb for someone wanting to lose weight.
    1/3 of your plate filled with vegetables is a good rule of thumb for someone wanting to maintain weight.
    1/2 of your plate filled with starch is a good rule of thumb for an athlete or someone wanting to gain weight.

    But it can only be used as something to "keep in mind". Common sense is still required. For instance, you can't eat unlimited amounts if you just follow this setup. Besides, it's a "dinner" setup. Other meals can follow different setups. And real people eat a varying number of meals with varying but real setups through the day.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,146 Member
    I use separate dishes for most of my foods, salads or a pasta being the exceptions.
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    edited February 2017
    Sometimes it's lots of vegies, sometimes it's not. It depends on the meal. I try to eat lots of vegies because I enjoy them, and I like volume. I don't eat a lot of grains as I'd prefer more vegies. I make sure to have a decent amount of protein and fat..

    At the end of the day, I don't follow plate "rules".... I make sure my macros fit my goals.

    Dinner tonight is 150g fish, with salad (800g vegies) with avocado and Parmesan cheese.

    Lunch was eggs with vegies (500g) and Parmesan...

    I also have dessert (Yoghurt, fruit, nuts) and a snack (mainly protein)



  • perkymommy
    perkymommy Posts: 1,642 Member
    I don't eat portion sizes like that on a plate. I have to weigh and measure and then put it on the plate. :)
  • xnaturallybx
    xnaturallybx Posts: 259 Member
    I don't weigh anything but carbs... Its too easy to overdo the carbs haha. I measure using cups instead
  • lulalacroix
    lulalacroix Posts: 1,082 Member
    Rowan09 wrote: »
    lulalacroix wrote: »
    I prefer to weigh my food instead of guessing portions.
    Who says OP is guessing? Didn't say she wasn't measuring before adding to her plate...

    I wasn't referring to the OP guessing, but myself. If I could eyeball appropriate amounts I probably would not have a weight issue. I would gather that may be true for many people who are overweight.
  • Emily3907
    Emily3907 Posts: 1,461 Member
    I just kind of eat what I want as it sounds good, so it varies a lot for me. I weigh everything, but I don't have any rules/guidelines outside of that.
  • lucys1225
    lucys1225 Posts: 597 Member
    80% vegetables 20% meat of some kind.
  • rugratz2015
    rugratz2015 Posts: 593 Member
    catz789 wrote: »
    Hi everyone!
    I have a nutrition question/tip for you: What is on your plate?
    I try to aim for:
    one half of plate: Vegetables
    one quarter of plate: Meat or alternate protein source
    one quarter of plate: whole grains

    My plate would be similar, although I have been known to eat bags of fresh spinach as a snack x
  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,571 Member
    TonyB0588 wrote: »
    bbell1985 wrote: »
    I eat my lunch and dinner out of a mixing bowl. A whole bag of lettuce, whole cucumber, whole tomato, 4oz of lean meat, 100 of mushroom and hot sauce. All weighed. A plate can't fit what I need in my stomach.

    Doesn't literally have to be a plate. The proportions or ratios are what's important.

    My proportions look nothing like that, is what I'm saying.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    It varies.
  • DietPrada
    DietPrada Posts: 1,171 Member
    2/3 unprocessed meat and 1/3 low carb veges (zucchini, mushroom, cauli, broccoli)
  • sybillabryson
    sybillabryson Posts: 58 Member
    I'm pregnant and always craving fruit...so lately my plate...or bowl rather has been like 50% fruit, 40% low fat dairy and 10% walnuts, cashews or peanut butter. Breakfast is always lots of eggs though.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    edited February 2017
    Lounmoun wrote: »
    It varies.

    Yep this. A typical day is no eating in the morning followed by my largest meal of the day between 11am -noon and that's usually 3 servings of frozen veggies, 1 serving of rice or pasta, 4-8 ounces of chicken and then a sauce; along with a serving of some sort of chips. And then a lighter evening meal usually of 3 servings of oats with a serving of fruit mixed in. And then I eat out several times a week, usually on the weekends, and those meals vary quite a bit.
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    EbonyDahlia wrote: »
    2/3 unprocessed meat and 1/3 low carb veges (zucchini, mushroom, cauli, broccoli)

    Raw meat? :s

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