Portions have
grown-up over the past decade! Did you
know that just one bagel from the grocery store can equal up to four slices of
bread, or that an average chicken breast is actually two meat servings? It’s
true. Over the years, our portions have become
larger. We now have options to upsize and it seems like portion sizes have grown
out of proportion.
So how you can eat
more and weigh less? It starts with watching portion sizes and balancing your meals
for good health. And no, we don’t mean balancing food on your head, but rather
balance your meals to ensure that you’re eating foods from at least three out
of the four food groups from Canada’s
Food Guide at every meal. Canada’s
Food Guide suggests an amount of food for the average person. You may need a
little more or a little less depending on your age, gender and activity level. See
what the food and nutrition experts say at the Dietitians of Canada website by
visiting www.dietitians.ca.
To keep your meal
balanced picture your plate. Your goal is to have half your plate filled with
vegetables (including salad), one quarter from lean protein such as poultry,
fish, meat or legumes and the other quarter from starchy foods such as pasta,
rice, or bread, (preferably whole grain).
March is Nutrition
Month and this year dietitians across Canada are debunking nutrition myths. In order to debunk the myth “You will gain
weight if you eat everything as recommended by Canada’s Food Guide”, here are our
top three tips:
- Find out how many servings are recommended for you. Simply visit Health Canada’s website at www.hc-sc.gc.ca to see how much you should be eating in a day.
- Portion Check. Measure and compare your portions to Canada’s Food Guide. How do your portions measure up?
- Track it! For a simple snapshot of how you are eating use My Food Guide ServingsTracker from Health Canada. If you are interested in more detailed nutrition information check out Dietitian’s of Canada’s Eatracker at Eatracker.ca
Our challenge: Track what you eat for just a few days. Compare your
findings on-line to what experts recommend. Take our challenge today! Check out Ask a Dietitian SK on
Facebook® and share your results for your chance to win cool
prizes. If you have food and nutrition
questions you can also call Ask A Dietitian SK at 1-800-905-0970.
For more Nutrition
Month Myths and Facts visit www.dietitians.ca or www.nutrition2012.ca
Happy Week 1 Challenge!
Steph (Wheler) Langdon, RD
something nutrishus counselling & coaching
