Plan Your Meals With My Healthy Plate
Date: Wednesday, March 03, 2021Wondering how to have a balanced meal? Use My Healthy Plate.
My Healthy Plate. It is an easy way to plan healthy meals for your breakfast, lunch and dinner without the need to count calories or read long lists of ingredients. In addition, it helps you:
- Eat a variety of foods
- Control your portion sizes (amount of food you place on your plate)
- Prevent chronic diseases including diabetes
- Control your blood glucose levels if you have diabetes
Here’s How It Works
Fill a quarter of your plate with wholegrains (e.g. brown rice, wholemeal bread, rolled oats).
Unlike refined grains (e.g. white rice, noodles, white bread), wholegrains are rich in vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and dietary fibre.
As wholegrains provide bulk to the diet and have lower Glycaemic Index, they are ideal for people who want to keep a healthy weight and control their diabetes.
Fill a quarter of your plate with meat and others (e.g. poultry, seafood, eggs, nuts, beans, tofu, dairy products).
Cook meat in a variety of ways: stir-fry, roast, steam, in soup, grill.
Go for oily fish (e.g. tuna, mackerel, tenggiri batang and ikan tenggiri), poultry (chicken, duck, turkey) and lean meat.
Fill half your plate with fruit and vegetables.
Cook vegetables in a variety of ways: stir-fry, roast, steam, in soup, sauté.
For fruit, eat them whole rather than as juices.
Fruit and vegetables are low in fat and high in dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals. They lower your risk of many diseases. Many of them are good for people with diabetes because of their low Glycaemic Index.
How to Use My Healthy Plate to Plan a Meal
Choose your meal — is it time for breakfast, lunch or dinner?
Place the foods in the proper place on your plate:
- ½ of the plate for vegetables (you can leave this empty for breakfast)
- ¼ of the plate for lean meat and others (you can leave this empty for breakfast)
- ¼ of the plate for wholegrains or wholemeal bread
Ask your nurse or dietician to show you:
- what to eat from the different food groups
- how many servings of food to eat and what one serving of food looks like
- healthy methods of cooking
How to Plan Your Breakfast Using My Healthy Plate
Fill a quarter of your plate with wholegrains
- Wholemeal bread, wholegrain toast, rolled oats, brown rice porridge
Fill a quarter of your plate with meat and others
- Eggs, peanut butter, cheese, low fat milk, low fat yoghurt, soya bean milk
Leave half the plate empty or have one small piece of fruit
Here is a sample breakfast using My Healthy Plate.
Wholegrain bee hoon
½ a serving of vegetables (optional)
1 egg
1 cup of soya bean milk or water
It is alright not to include a fruit at breakfast
How to Plan Your Lunch or Dinner Using My Healthy Plate
Fill a quarter of your plate with wholegrains
- Brown rice, wholemeal pasta, wholemeal bee hoon
Fill a quarter of your plate with meat and others
- Chicken, fish, lean meat (pork, beef)
Fill half your plate with fruit and non-starchy vegetables
- Bok choy, carrots, broccoli, spinach, carrots, capsicums, cabbage, kai lan, kang kong, chye sim
Here is a sample lunch or dinner using My Healthy Plate.
If you are eating in:
Brown Rice
1 serving of vegetable
1 serving of meat, e.g. steamed chicken or steamed tofu with mushroom if you are a vegetarian
1 serving of clear vegetable soup
If you plan to eat out:
If you plan to eat out:
Mee Siam
Ask for wholemeal bee hoon if available
Ask for more bean sprouts
1 hard-boiled egg
1 glass of water
Bring along an apple
Or
Mee Goreng
Ask for wholegrain noodles if available
The dish may already have ½ a serving of vegetable
1 grilled chicken drumstick
1 cup of teh tarik (with less sugar)
Try using My Healthy Plate from your next meal. It’s a simple way to eat healthy.
Contributed By: Health Promotion Board (HPB)
Plan Your Meals with My Healthy Plate by Health Promotion Board, 22 Feb 2021, www.healthhub.sg.