10 Tips to a Great Plate

Making healthy food choices can be simple if you follow these 10 tips. They can help you balance your calories, pick foods to eat more often, and cut back on foods you should eat less often.

1. Balance your calories. Find out how many calories you need each day — this is the first step to managing your weight. You can look this up at www.ChooseMyPlate.gov. Staying physically active also helps you balance the calories you eat with the energy you use.

2. Enjoy your food, but eat less. Take time to really pay attention to your food while you eat. Eating too fast or being distracted can cause you to eat more than you need. Notice how hungry or full you feel before, during, and after meals, and use those feelings to decide when to eat and when to stop.

3. Avoid oversized portions. Use smaller plates, bowls, and glasses, and measure out your food before eating instead of eating straight from a big container. When eating at a restaurant, order a smaller size, share a dish with someone, or take part of your meal home.

4. Eat these foods more often. Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and fat-free or 1% milk and dairy products all contain nutrients your body needs — including potassium, calcium, vitamin D, and fiber (the part of plant food that helps digestion). Make these foods the main part of your meals and snacks.

5. Make half your plate fruits and vegetables. Choose red, orange, and dark-green vegetables, such as tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and broccoli, along with other vegetables. Add fruit to your meals as a side dish or even dessert.

6. Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk. These have the same amount of calcium and other important nutrients as whole milk but with fewer calories and less saturated fat (a type of fat that's less healthy in large amounts).

7. Make half your grains whole grains. Swap refined grain products for whole-grain ones — for example, eat whole-wheat bread instead of white bread, or brown rice instead of white rice.

8. Eat these foods less often. Cut back on foods high in solid fats, added sugars, and salt, such as cakes, cookies, ice cream, candy, sugary drinks, pizza, and fatty meats like ribs, sausage, bacon, and hot dogs. Treat these foods as occasional treats, not everyday choices.

9. Compare sodium (salt) in foods. Use the Nutrition Facts label to pick lower-sodium versions of foods like soup, bread, and frozen meals. Choose canned foods labeled "low sodium," "reduced sodium," or "no salt added."

10. Drink water instead of sugary drinks. Cutting sugary drinks is an easy way to cut calories. Soda, energy drinks, and sports drinks are one of the biggest sources of added sugar and extra calories in American diets.

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10 Tips to Add More Vegetables to Your Day

Eating more vegetables is easy — and important, since they provide vitamins and minerals while usually being low in calories. Here are 10 simple ways to add more veggies to your meals.

1. Discover fast ways to cook them. Cook fresh or frozen vegetables in the microwave for a quick side dish. Try steaming green beans, carrots, or broccoli in a bowl with a little water.

2. Get ahead of the game. Cut up bell peppers, carrots, or broccoli in advance and store them for times when you're short on time. Enjoy them on a salad, with hummus, or in a wrap.

3. Choose colorful vegetables. Brighten your plate with red, orange, or dark-green vegetables, which are packed with vitamins and minerals. Try acorn squash, cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes, or collard greens.

4. Check the freezer aisle. Frozen vegetables are quick, easy, and just as nutritious as fresh ones. Add frozen corn, peas, green beans, spinach, or sugar snap peas to your favorite dishes.

5. Stock up on canned veggies. Canned tomatoes, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, mushrooms, and beets are great additions to meals. Choose ones labeled "reduced sodium," "low sodium," or "no salt added."

6. Make your salad glow with color. Add colorful vegetables like black beans, sliced red peppers, shredded radishes, chopped red cabbage, or watercress to your salad. It'll look better and taste better, too.

7. Sip on vegetable soup. Try tomato, butternut squash, or garden vegetable soup, and look for reduced- or low-sodium versions.

8. Order veggies when eating out. Ask for an extra side of vegetables or a side salad instead of the usual fried side dish.

9. Enjoy vegetables in season. Buy vegetables that are in season for the best flavor and lowest price. Check your local supermarket specials or visit a farmer's market.

10. Try something new. You never know what you might like — pick out a new vegetable and add it to a recipe, or look up how to cook it.

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10 Tips to Help You Eat More Fruits

Eating fruit has real health benefits. People who eat more fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy diet tend to have a lower risk of some long-term illnesses. Fruits provide nutrients your body needs, such as potassium, fiber, vitamin C, and folate (a B-vitamin, also called folic acid). Most fruits are naturally low in fat, salt, and calories, and none contain cholesterol. Fresh, canned, frozen, or dried fruit — and even 100% fruit juice — all count as part of the Fruit Group.

1. Keep visible reminders. Keep a bowl of whole fruit on the table, counter, or in the fridge so it's easy to grab.

2. Think about taste. Buy fresh fruits when they're in season — they're often cheaper and taste best then. You can also add fruit to sweeten a recipe.

3. Think about variety. Keep dried, frozen, and canned fruit (packed in water or 100% juice) on hand along with fresh fruit, so you always have some available.

4. Don't forget the fiber. Choose whole or cut-up fruit more often than juice, since whole fruit contains more fiber.

5. Be a good role model. Set a good example for younger kids by eating fruit every day with meals or as snacks.

6. Include fruit at breakfast. Top cereal with bananas, peaches, or strawberries; add blueberries to pancakes; or drink 100% orange or grapefruit juice. You could also mix fruit with fat-free or low-fat yogurt.

7. Try fruit at lunch. Pack a tangerine, banana, or grapes, or grab fruit from a salad bar. Individual containers of fruit, like peaches or applesauce, are easy and convenient.

8. Experiment with fruit at dinner. Add crushed pineapple to coleslaw, or mix orange slices, dried cranberries, or grapes into a tossed salad.

9. Snack on fruits. Dried fruits make great snacks since they're easy to carry and don't spoil quickly.

10. Keep fruits safe. Rinse fruit under clean, running water before eating it, rubbing gently to remove dirt and germs. Dry it with a clean towel afterward.

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10 Tips to Help You Make Half Your Grains Whole

Any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, barley, or another cereal grain counts as a grain product — this includes bread, pasta, oatmeal, cereal, tortillas, and grits. Grains come in two types: whole grains and refined grains. Whole grains keep the entire grain kernel, meaning all three parts — the bran, germ, and endosperm. Eating whole grains as part of a healthy diet is linked to a lower risk of some long-term illnesses.

1. Make simple switches. To make half your grains whole, swap a whole-grain product for a refined one — for example, eat 100% whole-wheat bread instead of white bread, or brown rice instead of white rice.

2. Try whole-grain snacks. Popcorn is a whole grain and can be a healthy snack if you make it with little or no added salt or butter. Whole-wheat or rye crackers are another good choice.

3. Save time by cooking ahead. Cook extra bulgur or barley (types of whole grains) when you have time, and freeze half to reheat later as a quick side dish.

4. Mix whole grains into meals. Add barley to vegetable soups or stews, or bulgur wheat to casseroles or stir-fries. You could also try a quinoa salad or pilaf.

5. Try whole-wheat versions of favorites. Use brown rice or whole-wheat pasta instead of the refined versions — try brown rice stuffing in baked peppers or tomatoes, or whole-wheat macaroni in mac and cheese.

6. Bake with whole grains. Try swapping buckwheat, millet, or oat flour for up to half the flour in pancake, waffle, or muffin recipes. These grains may need extra leavening (an ingredient that helps baked goods rise).

7. Be a good role model. Set a good example for children by eating whole grains every day with meals or snacks.

8. Check the label for fiber. Use the Nutrition Facts label to check fiber content. Foods with 10% to 19% of the Daily Value are good sources of fiber; those with 20% or more are excellent sources.

9. Read the ingredients list. Choose products that list a whole-grain ingredient first, such as "whole wheat," "brown rice," "bulgur," "buckwheat," "oatmeal," "whole-grain cornmeal," "whole oats," "whole rye," or "wild rice."

10. Be a smart shopper. The color of a food doesn't tell you whether it's whole grain. Labels like "multi-grain," "stone-ground," "100% wheat," "cracked wheat," "seven-grain," or "bran" often don't mean the product is 100% whole grain — it may contain little or no whole grain at all.

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Got Your Dairy Today?

The Dairy Group includes milk, yogurt, cheese, and fortified soymilk (soymilk with added nutrients). These foods provide calcium, vitamin D, potassium, protein, and other nutrients your body needs throughout life. It's best to choose low-fat or fat-free options to cut back on calories and saturated fat.