3 Easy Ways to Balance Your Diet

By EatingWell Editors, "Balance Your Diet," EatingWell In Season: The Farmers' Market Cookbook (2009)

Simple tips for healthy eating every day.

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Vegetables and fruits form the foundation of a healthy diet. But you can’t live on produce alone. To get all your essential nutrients, you’ll also need to eat whole grains, lean protein (fish, lean meat, beans or low-fat dairy foods) and healthy fats, including nuts and olive oil. How much do you need? Balance your diet in three easy steps.

1. Divide your plate.

Does your plate look more like A or B?

Whatever you answered, you should aim to model (or keep modeling) your plate after B. Low-calorie—yet satisfying—vegetables fill half the plate. The other half is divided into two equal portions (quarters). One is filled with a lean protein, the other with a whole-grain or starchy vegetable.