What do you consider to be a balanced meal? How do you portion your plate?

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GirlonBliss
GirlonBliss Posts: 38 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
There's a lot of theories...I'm guessing most of you look at protein/carb/fats ratio to balance your meals?

Some people balance by looking at portions - perhaps 1/4 grains, 1/4 protein, 1/2 veggies.

In food energetics it's balanced from yin to yang which really changes the focus on portions.

For me, I now think more about energetics but am wondering what your thoughts behind balancing a plate are.

Replies

  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
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    I don't make specific efforts to balance my meals. I do need to have a vegetable of some sort with every meal out of habit and because I like vegetables, and a starch of some sort because I like starches and it helps my satiety. Protein has usually been an afterthought, just something some of my common meals happen to contain and I didn't care if most didn't, but I have been making effort to include more of it while dieting.

    In short, I balance my meal by making whatever I feel like making without any special attention to balance, then evaluate it to see if I can add protein in some way. I often find a way to include protein but don't stress too much if I don't feel like it sometimes.

    Overall ballpark macronutrient intake throughout the day, and overall micronutrient balance throughout the day/week/month via food variety is more important to me than micromanaging individual meals. The simpler I make dieting the easier it is for me.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,177 Member
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    Many of my meals are served in bowls.

    Take lunch for example ... that's almost always in a bowl. I heat up the single-serve packet of brown rice and plonk it in the bowl. I heat up the single-serve packet of steamed veggies, and while it is heating, I plonk a tin of chicken in the bowl with the rice and mix them together to break up the chicken a bit. The steamed veggies are done, so I dump them in on top and kind of toss them in with the rice and chicken.

    Voila! Lunch is served!

    No idea what the percentages are ... all I know is that it comes in happily low cal and tastes great.
  • KateTii
    KateTii Posts: 886 Member
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    For me, a balanced meal doesn't have anything to do with macros. For me, "balancing" a meal means it's tasty enough that I want to eat it and that it's filling enough that I don't get hungry 20 minutes later. I've found my happy point between taste and "satisfaction" means a roughly 3 way split between carbs, veg & protein for lunch and a 30/70 split between protein and veg for dinner.
  • BodyzLanguage
    BodyzLanguage Posts: 200 Member
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    I only think about protein & carbs when eating. With the type of protein I eat in addition to how it's prepared the fats will fall in. I eat 2 meals a day and a snack or sometimes 3 meals a day.
  • justkeepontrying4ever
    justkeepontrying4ever Posts: 6 Member
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    I've heard from some fitness women that you just have to eat 'whole foods'(fruits,veggies,healthy carbs and fats) in the right portions. Just getting the healthiest foods in your body will help you get in shape
  • BodyzLanguage
    BodyzLanguage Posts: 200 Member
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    justkeepontrying4ever wrote: »
    I've heard from some fitness women that you just have to eat 'whole foods'(fruits,veggies,healthy carbs and fats) in the right portions. Just getting the healthiest foods in your body will help you get in shape

    Not really. Granted nutritious food is better for the body, however don't restrict yourself from any food group unless you have a medical condition. I don't believe in restriction. That never ends well.
  • oolou
    oolou Posts: 765 Member
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    Not sure what you mean by food energetics. I'll look at my overall macros for the day when I plan it out for balance, rather than make sure every meal is balanced. My main meal tends to adhere to the general advice of dividing the plate in 4, with a quarter for protein, a quarter for carbs and the rest as veggies.

  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    I understand the plate model, but I don't agree with it - maybe it can be a help for people who are absolutely clueless, but there's so much wrong with it - no real meals eaten by humans follow that setup, and meals will and should vary through the day and from day to day - I don't eat fruit with dinner, fruit and vegetables are not interchangeable, potatoes are starch, but still good to eat, there is protein in grains and vegetables, and fat in meat and dairy - in short - oversimplifying, overcomplicating and confusing something very straight-forward and leaving people just as clueless, and anxious to boot.

    I did pay attention to macro ratio while I still counted calories. It taught me appropriate portion sizes, and how to assemble good meals. For me, a proper meal has at least protein, fat and vegetables. An acceptable meal also has a certain balance and contrast in taste, color, texture and consistency, and temperature. A good meal balances all these things perfectly.

    I don't know what energetics is, but I do use some yin/yang thinking when I decide what to have for each meal.

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