Balancing your meals

Are your meals balanced?
Use the Go Grow Glow checklist to effortlessly build balanced but tasty meals! This will help you to feel satisfied and full after meals whilst ensuring you’re providing your body with all the nutrients that it needs! 

How to balance a meal:

Step 1: Make sure that you have a carbohydrate on your plate. This can be bread, rice, pasta or potatoes. Aim to fill one quarter of your plate with a carbohydrate. Try to choose whole wheat and wholegrain starches as much as possible.

Step 2: Add a protein source. Some ideas include: meat, fish, chicken, beans or tofu. Try to cut any fat off of your meat and remove the skin of the chicken to make your meal a little bit healthier. Aim to fill one quarter of your plate with a protein source.

Step 3: Include a fruit or vegetable in your dish. Not only does this brighten up your plate, but also helps provide your body with essential vitamins and minerals needed for a healthy body. Aim to fill one half of your plate with fruit or vegetables, or a mixture of both.

Step 4: Add a healthy fat source. This can either be included in the cooking process ( e.g. frying food) or added after cooking. Some healthy fat options include: olive oil, nuts, avocado and seeds.

Step 5: Add some flavoring to your food. Again, this can either be done during the cooking process, or used to season food after cooking. Some healthy flavorings include: lemon juice, small amounts of salt, black pepper, herbs and spices. Try to limit flavorings that contain salt as an ingredient, such as chicken or BBQ spice to food, as these flavorings often have added preservatives.

Speak to your dietitian about how to build balanced, tasty meals.