I LOVE food, but it is my worst enemy when I am trying to stay fit, even when I am eating super healthy. My biggest issue with eating, was eating too much of a certain ingredient at any given meal that may not by as “healthy” as I thought and portion control of certain macronutrients (protein, fats, carbs). Now that I am a certified nutrition coach I am here to help you get an idea!
Food is your friend. It is what fuels your body and mind to maintain a physical lifestyle and mental clarity, but you have to eat wholesome, nutritious food to properly fuel your body and mind. You have to eat enough, but not too much if you are working out and trying to lose weight- there is a happy medium. To start on your food education journey, I find it is much better off if to weigh or measure your food. Food scales are cheap and great to have in the kitchen anyway if you like to cook. Furthermore, food labels are there for a reason, it is so important to follow the suggested serving size on food labels. Eventually you will get the idea of how much food to eat and not have to weigh, measure, and track your food; although, I recommend it to educate yourself on food and your body to start off you nutrition journey.
Please see the following cheat sheet I use to portion my food:
Protein
The rule of thumb when losing weight or building muscle, is a high protein diet!
Protein also has the highest satiety “feeling full”.
1g per 1lb of body weight or
30% of Daily Calorie Intake (whatever is more).
- Meats (Chicken, Red Meat, Pork, Fish, Shrimp) – 4-6 ounces depending on your protein goal. Keep in mind lean meats tend to have more protein and less fat (ex. chicken breast, white fish and shrimp). Hence, if you are eating a high fat meat @ 6oz, you may go over your fat intake goal if your fat intake level is already high.
- Eggs (scrambled, hard boiled) – 3-4 Whole Eggs depending on your protein goal. Eggs have a high fat and cholesterol content, but it is healthy fat and good cholesterol (HDL). Eat the whole egg, because eating just the egg whites takes 1/2 the protein content away, then you have to eat double the egg whites to get the same amount of protein.
- Beans & Lentils– 1/3 cup – 1/2 cup, depending on your protein goal. Also, look at the serving suggestion on the food label. Rule of Thumb- I try to stick to boiling my own beans to leave out the added preservatives and sodium in canned beans.
- Greek Yogurt – 2/3 cup is a pretty standard portion size on all food labels. I like to add protein powder to my yogurt if I am lacking protein for the day.
- Protein Powder – Follow the suggestion on food label. This great way to supplement protein if you need to; although, it is better to get it from real food, because your body absorbs it more efficiently.
Healthy Fats
20-35% of Daily Calorie Intake
- Avocado – 1/4 – 1/2 medium avocado, depending on your fat goals.
- Cheese (Feta, Goat, Parm, Cotija, Shredded Block Cheese)– 2 Tbsp, depending on your fat goals. I don’t eat too much cheese (even though I LOVE it!). I will add cheese to my salads or bowls. Otherwise, when I eat cheese I am at a party or something and not tracking it.
- Snacking Nuts – 1/4 Cup/Day, depending on your fat goals. Nuts are easy to keep snacking on, but they have a very high fat content. I always find myself going back for multiple handfuls, which puts my fat intake way over the limit, so be careful!
- Garnish Nuts/Seeds (Sliced Almonds, Pepita Seeds, Sunflower Seeds, Chopped Walnuts) – 2 Tbsp, depending on your fat goals. The serving suggestion is usually 1/4 cup; although, I like to get my fat elsewhere also, so I cut that in half. I put garnish nuts in salads, parfaits, acai bowls, etc.
- Nut Butter – 1-2 Tbsp/Day, depending on your fat goals. Peanut butter is so delicious I love it so much! But, it is easy to over do it.
- Olive Oil or Avocado Oil – 1-3 Tbsp/Day, depending on your fat goals. Keep in mind this is in your salad dressing and used to cook throughout the day.
- Salad Dressing – 1-2 Tbsp, depending on your fat goals. Check the serving suggestions on the food label.
Healthy Carbohydrates
30-40% of Daily Calorie Intake
- Dinner Sides (Quinoa, Rice) – 1/3 cup- 1/2 cup cooked, depending on carbohydrate goal. If I am mixing two, such as quinoa and lentils, I would do 1/2 cup.
- Pasta (Whole Grain, Lentil, Chickpea) – Follow Serving Suggestion on label, depending on carbohydrate goal. I don’t eat a lot of pasta, even though it is my favorite!! When I do eat it, it is either unhealthy pasta (which I do not track) or the healthy pasta, I just follow the serving suggestion.
- Oats – 1/2 cup uncooked, depending on carbohydrate goal. Overnight oats only increases in volume by 25% (3/4 cup). Cooked oatmeal expands to about 1 cup.
- Sweet Potato – 1/2 cup cubed steamed, 1/3 cup mashed; depending on carbohydrate goal.
- Bread (Whole Grain, Ezekial) – 1-2 slices, depending on carbohydrate goal. Ezekial bread is my favorite because it is the purest form of the carbohydrate.
- Wrap (Whole Grain, Ezekial) – 1 piece, depending on carbohydrate goal. Ezekial products are packed with a ton of nutrients needed in our diets that other breads or wraps do not contain.
Fruits & Vegetables
4-5 Servings per Day (4-6oz/serving) Each of Fruit and Vegetables
- Steamed Vegetables (Broccoli, Cauliflower, Green Beans, Asparagus, Zuchini/Squash) – 1/2 cup-1 cup or 5 oz; I have a side of veggies with every dinner. I also add veggies to my eggs or salads.
- Lettuce for Salad (Romaine, Mixed Greens, Red Leaf Lettuce, Spinach) – 1-2 Cups packed; I eat a salad almost everyday and add protein to it. It’s a great way to get your veggies and protein in one easy meal.
- Spinach – You can add spinach to so many things: smoothies, eggs, pasta, salads, and it’s also great just as a side.
–Raw: 1/2 cup -2 cups– I put about 1/2 cup chopped, packed spinach in my eggs and I put about 2 cups in my smoothies – so it all depends.
–Cooked: 1/2 cup– Spinach shrinks so much when cooked, so 1/2 cup is really 3.5 cups of raw spinach. - Salad Kits – 1-2 Cups; use the serving suggestion on the food label. Salad kits are my go-to. I usually split the bag into 2-3 servings, depending on the serving suggestion (split all the ingredients to the best of your ability). I will add 1/2 cup of chopped raw spinach to each serving if I need some extra sustenance. I separate the salads into Tupperware and keep them in the fridge for when I need them, throw some protein on them, and call it a day! So easy!!
- Fruit – 4-5 Servings per Day, 4-6 oz/serving; fruit is a great healthy snack, but you have to be careful with fruit because it contain plenty of natural sugars (fructose). Fruit, because of the sugar (which is a micronutrient), falls in the carbohydrate category. So you will see these numbers go up the more fruit you eat.
–Piece of Fruit (apple, orange, pear, banana) – 1 medium piece
– Cut Fruit (pineapple, melon, watermelon) – 1 cup
– Berries – 1/2 cup
If you want to track your nutrition – overall calories, macronutrients, and micronutrients use MyFitness Pal. It is a great app for tracking and overall scope of the nutrient that go into the foods you eat.
