How to achieve a balanced diet

In fact, the core of a balanced diet is not to eat cold salads every time and accurately count calories. It is to cover as many food categories as possible within the total amount of your daily food, and not to overly prefer or deliberately avoid a certain type of food. I have practiced it myself for almost 4 years. At the beginning, I also stepped on many stereotype pitfalls, and gradually figured out a method that ordinary people can do without too much effort.

There is a lot of controversy online now about the standards for a balanced diet. Some people think that the nutritional requirements must be strictly followed. The ratio of carbohydrates, protein, and fat in each meal must be 3:4:3 to be considered qualified. Others think that ordinary people do not need to be so tired when eating. As long as each meal has vegetables, meat and staple food, it is enough to eat a few more ingredients. I met a young girl who just graduated a while ago. In order to achieve the so-called "accurate balance", Dun Dun brought a food scale to work and weighed even a mouthful of rice. She couldn't stand it after less than 20 days. During the department team building, she drank tons of pearl milk tea, but she overeated for several days, which was not worth the loss.

I later recommended to her the rough estimation method that I have always used. I don’t need to count grams, just use my own hand as a natural measuring tool: the staple food of each meal is about the amount of my own fist. Every now and then, I add some whole grains such as cereals and sweet potatoes to replace the white rice and white flour. The protein is the size of a palm. In thick portions, alternate fish, shrimp, poultry, eggs, and soy products. Don't always focus on the chicken. Prepare the vegetables in two-hand quantities, giving priority to dark green leafy vegetables. Finally, add half a thumb's worth of high-quality fat, such as olive oil for cooking, or a handful of plain nuts for an afternoon snack. She has been practicing it for more than three months now. Last week, she told me that not only was her weight stable within the ideal range, but her previous problem of acne breakouts every time she came to visit her aunt was much better, and she would not be so hungry that her hands were shaking at three or four in the afternoon when she usually worked overtime.

In fact, it’s really not that complicated. When ordering takeout on weekdays, don’t always order a rice bowl full of meat and rice. Spend an extra 3 yuan to add blanched vegetables and a small portion of braised dried beans. The nutrition of the meal is basically complete; on weekends, When cooking hot pot at home, don’t just stuff the pot with processed meatballs of fattened beef and sheep. Add some yams, fresh mushrooms, frozen tofu, and spinach. When you eat, take a few bites of the vegetables before touching the meat and staple food. You’ll eat well-balanced without losing sight of it, and you won’t miss out on the enjoyment. When I read the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents before, I saw that it was recommended to eat more than 12 kinds of food every day, 25 kinds per week. I thought it was quite difficult at the time, but then I calculated my daily routine: a vegetable bun, a cup of soy milk, a boiled egg in the morning, and 4 kinds of flour, vegetables, soybeans, and eggs. The roasted chicken leg rice I ordered for takeout at noon added blanched lettuce and braised dried tofu, and added three kinds of chicken leg, lettuce, and dried tofu. In the evening, I went home and cooked tomato and egg noodles, adding some mushrooms, small rapeseed and a few shrimps. I easily made up more than 10 kinds in this day, and there was no need to bother to count.

My grandma is 84 years old this year. She has lived in the countryside all her life and has never heard of the concept of a "balanced diet." Our body is actually like a small workshop that requires a variety of raw materials. You just need to give it enough of the various raw materials it needs. Whether it is local cabbage, tofu or imported salmon and quinoa, they are essentially raw materials that provide nutrition. It is not necessary to put yourself under a lot of pressure to eat because of the so-called "standards". After all, a diet that can be adhered to for a long time is truly useful.