|
The Food Enthusiast Blog: cooking tips and tasty recipes
|
|||||
Packing Your Diet With Better CarbohydratesTake a Look at Your Plate At each meal, take a look at your plate. Do you see a variety of foods? Do you see vegetables and fruits? If not, you should be. Vegetables and fruits should take up about half your plate at each meal, so that your protein and starch make up the rest. Either be it a fresh salad, fresh fruit salad, or even raw vegetables with homemade hummus. It does not always have to be steamed vegetables. Go ahead and make a stir-fry and throw in some shrimp. Filling up on more foods that pack a lot of fiber will not only make you fill full longer, your body will be getting all the nutrients and minerals it needs just from eating better. Choose Whole Grain Carbohydrates Instead of opting for your white noodles, rice and other starches, try substituting them with whole grain ones. These whole grain carbohydrates are complex and offer your body more fuel and energy than their white counterparts. Slowly introduce them into your diet, even if it is only two or three times a week. You could also cook batches of brown rice or whole grain pasta and then mix them in with the refined white carbs, as a slow way of introducing them . Portion Control No matter what you are consuming, portion control is key! Check and see what a serving size for what you are eating is. Look at the nutritional informational chart on the side of the box and see what constitutes a size. For other fresh foods that do have a nutritional label, air on the side of caution and choose the smaller piece of fruit, meat or fish. To help you do this even better, try eating off of a dessert plate instead of a dinner plate, this will keep your portions in check. And remember that those fruits and veggies should be taking up half your plate! When Hunger Strikes Instead of the diving into the chip bag when hunger strikes, make sure you have healthy snack options available! Snacks like veggies and hummus, fruit and a low-fat yogurt dip, almonds, low-fat cheese and whole-grain crackers. There are many healthy snacks to choose from, just make sure that they are available for you to grab so that you are not tempted to eat those chips! About the author: Ann Martin is a writer for Dinnerware Center, which offers one of the best assortments of beautiful dinnerware sets online, such as the Oneida Mooncrest and the Oneida Flight. Ann is a contributor writer for other home and garden websites. When Ann is not writing, she enjoys reading and traveling. Posted: Friday 3rd June 2011, 12:06 AM Find a Great Selection of Gourmet Foods at Food Enthusiast Online Market Search Google for more information or recipes Back To Food Enthusiast Blog |
