0:01
hello my name is Kelsey Butler I'm a
0:04
registered dietitian and today we are
0:06
talking about all things plate balance
0:08
so this is kind of like a 101 of what to
0:12
add to your plate how to build a healthy
0:13
plate um and most importantly how to
0:16
make it really simple I'm trying to make
0:18
it so that it's not too mathematical or
0:21
there's too much to think about um
0:22
really just want to try to keep it
0:24
simple um so that you can build those
0:26
plates and not have to think too much
0:27
about it so first off is all of the
0:32
components of our healthy plate so there
0:34
are three components that we want to
0:36
think about here protein produce and
0:39
starch so next we're going to dive into
0:41
each of those and get some good examples
0:43
and just why they're important to happen
0:45
your plates in the first place so the
0:47
first one here is protein so the
0:49
benefits of protein the things that come
0:51
with protein I know You' probably hear
0:53
about it on social media protein is
0:55
super important um and it is we want to
0:58
try to get protein on our plates um
1:00
because it gives us essential amino
1:01
acids so these are um compounds that we
1:05
find in protein that help us um Stay
1:08
full build muscle we're going to talk
1:09
about those in a little bit um but also
1:11
just make sure we're not missing
1:13
anything um with those proteins we get a
1:16
lot of nutrients that we don't get in
1:17
other places uh again I mentioned muscle
1:20
building this is also M muscle
1:22
maintenance as well so the muscle I
1:24
already have the protein helps to
1:26
maintain that and then if you're trying
1:28
to do any muscle building so gaining any
1:30
muscle especially if you've got a really
1:32
heavy um job when you're doing a lot of
1:35
movement or moving things or lifting
1:38
heavy items um this will be helpful with
1:40
that um and same thing with fullness
1:43
protein as a part of our meals Keeps Us
1:45
Fuller for longer protein breaks down uh
1:49
slower than other uh components on your
1:51
plate so when you have protein on your
1:53
plate it can keep you Fuller for a few
1:55
more hours some good examples of this
1:58
are poultry so chicken turkey maybe
2:01
you're having like a turkey sandwich
2:02
something like that um fish shellfish
2:05
things like shrimp um if you like crab
2:08
if you like lobster very fancy I know um
2:12
if you like anything like that um
2:14
shellfish is a good option too beans and
2:17
lentils are good plant-based uh protein
2:20
options if you like black beans kidney
2:22
beans chickpeas garbanzo beans things
2:24
like that um lentils Greek yogurt is
2:27
another good uh
2:30
animal free option this is a dairy based
2:33
option um other low-fat Dairy I'm
2:35
skipping ahead a little bit here but
2:36
lowfat Dairy is a good one uh same with
2:38
lean ground beef tofu if you like that
2:42
um and then again protein supplements so
2:44
protein supplement if you like to do a
2:45
protein powder or maybe a protein bar
2:48
those aren't bad options I would say to
2:49
try to stick to them uh one to two per
2:52
day at most just so that you're getting
2:54
protein in other places um but they're
2:56
not bad options to help top you up
2:58
throughout the day
3:00
next is our starch so starch here is
3:03
kind of interchangeable with
3:05
carbohydrates so your carbs I like to
3:07
stay starch so that it kind of encom
3:09
encompasses just those higher starchy
3:12
items um so the benefits of this is
3:15
fiber we get a lot of good fiber from uh
3:18
starchy items this really helps to keep
3:21
our um gut healthy our stomach's full
3:25
again it slows down the digestion of
3:28
carbs so you might have heard hey you
3:30
shouldn't eat carbs because it spikes
3:32
your blood sugar or you know it can make
3:34
you gain weight or a lot of the myths
3:36
that we hear about carbs that's not true
3:38
we want to just go for those higher
3:40
fiber carbs which we'll talk about in a
3:41
second here um but it does help to
3:44
maintain our blood sugar balance because
3:46
when we have that fiber with our
3:48
carbohydrate and that starchy item it
3:51
helps to reduce that blood sugar
3:54
response which we see when we have uh
3:57
more simpler sugars like like sugar
3:59
table sugar candy pastries soda things
4:03
like that where we see a lot of um that
4:05
high blood sugar afterwards um when you
4:08
have it with fiber it slows down that
4:10
digestion so our blood sugar doesn't go
4:11
as much same with hormonal balance carbs
4:14
and starches help to balance our
4:17
hormones it helps to create hormones um
4:19
and keep them you know keep them
4:22
creating in a healthy way especially
4:24
like serotonin which is our healthy
4:26
hormone melatonin which is your sleep
4:28
hormone which is really important if
4:30
you're working night shifts if you're
4:31
working on trying to regulate your sleep
4:33
schedule carbohydrates will help because
4:35
it helps to create a hormonal balance
4:38
some good examples of this these are all
4:40
high fiber carbs um this is going to be
4:43
your whole grain bread your whole wheat
4:46
pasta brown rice quinoa barley which is
4:50
another type of grain couscous see I've
4:53
put potatoes and corn here sometimes we
4:55
mix them up with u veggies or produce
4:59
these fall in the starch category
5:01
because they're going to be higher in
5:02
that fiber um so we can have them on our
5:05
plates as a starch potatoes corn poporn
5:08
is actually a great whole grain um whole
5:10
grain or corn tortillas and whole whe
5:12
English muffins these are all just good
5:13
options to think about um as a starch on
5:16
your
5:17
plate and third is our produce so this
5:21
is our fruits and veggies um you know
5:24
think of all the colors when you walk
5:25
into the produce aisle of the grocery
5:27
store um again we get a lot of fiber
5:29
from these that's super beneficial um
5:31
again for our guts for our fullness just
5:35
also just makes us feel better too um
5:38
when we have that with protein as well
5:41
um we get that vitamin and mineral from
5:43
all of our fruits and vegetables the
5:44
more color that we have the more
5:46
vitamins and minerals we're getting and
5:48
also hydration when we have whole fruits
5:50
and veggies they hold a lot of water so
5:53
the more of those that we eat the more
5:55
water we get out of our food too so some
5:57
good examples of this really any fruit
6:00
Under the Sun um apples bananas berries
6:03
grapes citrus fruits thanks oranges or
6:05
grapefruit or even lemon and lime uh
6:08
pineapple is a good one avocado this
6:10
counts as your fruit here I know it's
6:12
kind of a funky one um but this will
6:14
count as a fruit too um any veggies any
6:17
leafy greens like kale spinach arugula
6:20
things like that um peppers carrots
6:23
broccoli squashes things like zucchini
6:25
summer squash acorn squash butternut
6:27
squash um and green beans as well these
6:30
are just examples again any vegetable or
6:32
fruit that you can think of can count as
6:34
your produce on your
6:36
plate so here's how we're going to
6:38
balance each of those out um ideally we
6:41
want to see a quarter protein a quarter
6:44
starch and half produce so you can see
6:46
this on this plate of an example of that
6:48
so it could be that you're having um you
6:50
know potatoes with chicken and broccoli
6:54
I know that sounds kind of basic but
6:56
some people like that if you like to
6:58
have a more basic plate so it's more
6:59
laid out for you that's totally fine um
7:02
note that I don't have any fat
7:04
specifically in this list um of your
7:07
produce protein starch or on this plate
7:10
that's because fat usually Falls within
7:12
one of these categories already so for
7:15
example it could be that you're having a
7:17
higher fat protein so like steak um it
7:20
could be you know a higher fat protein
7:21
that has healthy fats in it like salmon
7:23
um or fish those have healthier fats in
7:25
them but still it's going to have some
7:27
fat in there maybe you've done potatoes
7:29
and you've tossed them in olive oil to
7:31
roast them that'll count as your fat
7:33
there maybe you're using
7:34
avocado as your um produce that's going
7:38
to have healthy fats in it too so fat
7:40
isn't a bad thing I just don't add it to
7:42
this list because it's already um going
7:44
to be in one of these groups uh and
7:47
lastly your plates and always look this
7:48
way so sometimes it is that beautiful
7:50
you know chicken broccoli and potatoes
7:54
but sometimes it's not sometimes it's
7:56
tacos or lasagna or
8:00
um you know a different type of
8:01
casserole and that's okay too I would
8:03
say from that perspective just do your
8:05
best to try to hit those three
8:06
components so again for a taco let's say
8:08
you've got a corn tortilla as your
8:10
starch you've got some type of protein
8:13
um as your protein so if you do it with
8:14
black beans or if you do it with chicken
8:16
shrimp uh ground beef uh ground turkey
8:19
whatever that looks like to you um that
8:21
could be your protein and then again
8:23
with that you can do salsa that can
8:24
count as a veggie shredded lettuce that
8:26
counts as a veggie maybe you do fajita
8:28
veggies with onions and peppers those
8:29
can be your produce so thinking about it
8:32
from that sense do your best to try to
8:34
put those things together um if your
8:36
plate doesn't look perfectly like this
8:38
you know
8:39
fraction a last little note here is just
8:41
for snacks uh ideally we want to have
8:44
two to three snacks per day and the
8:46
general rule of thumb is having one
8:48
serving of proteins plus something else
8:51
so when we get that protein again it
8:52
helps to keep us full for longer so
8:55
instead of just having popcorn for a
8:57
snack you can pair it with a protein and
8:59
it'll keep you Fuller for a couple hours
9:01
popcorn alone is probably only only
9:03
going to keep you full for I don't know
9:06
half an hour to an hour um so some
9:08
protein ideas here two tablespoons of
9:10
peanut butter two hardboiled eggs a
9:12
cheese stick hummus nuts yogurt cottage
9:15
cheese if you like uh beef jerky a cup
9:18
of protein powder or a scoop of protein
9:20
powder I'm sorry if you like that so
9:21
here's all protein options and then you
9:23
can pair it with other things so you can
9:25
add it with fruit veggies crackers
9:27
popcorn a square of chocol chocolate if
9:29
you're feeling it you can pair that with
9:31
a protein um a cup of almond milk if you
9:34
want to do that with your protein powder
9:35
of a little mix you can do protein
9:36
powder with veggies and or I'm sorry
9:39
with fruit and almond milk so you can
9:40
mix those together too you can kind of
9:42
mix and match here just to make sure
9:44
you're getting that balance with your
9:46
snacks that is all I have today on plate
9:49
balance um feel free to continue on with
9:51
other videos with uh we're talking about
9:53
meal timing and um other things of how
9:56
to meal prep things like that with all
9:58
of these components
10:00
um so thank you so much for watching and
10:02
yeah I'll see you on the next video