Eating in moderation is the ‘golden rule’ of heathy eating; you’re definitely on the right track if you managed to do this. This article is going to cover the importance of eating in moderation, and some easy ways you can achieve it.

Importance of eating in moderation:

A certain food or food group is not enough to give your body all the nutrients and vitamins it needs. Further, eating in moderation can help control your fat, sodium and sugar and calorie intake. What you don’t want to be consuming is empty calories. These are high caloric foods that lack nutrition, and are often not as filling as they should be. These include sodas, pizza, white breads, chips and sugary snacks.

Eating in moderation may also refer to not overeating. It’s one thing to eat a balance of all food groups, but it’s still not very healthy if you eat 3 times the amount you were meant to. Overeating can lead to obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol. Under-eating can lead to the lack of nutrition which is essential for keeping your bones healthy and helping your body maintain itself.

Here’s how you can achieve eating in moderation.

How to eat in moderation

However, it can be hard to achieve eating in moderation. Here’s some tips you can use next time you’re unsure of how to balance your diet.

#1 Don’t eat too much of one food, even if it’s good for you

A huge mistake that many people make when they try to lose weight or eat healthy is overloading one particular ‘healthy’ food. Whilst it may not be harmful, you may be potentially neglecting to eat other ‘healthy’ foods that have nutrients and vitamins that are equally essential.

A typical example may be drinking smoothies with only one or two kinds of fruits and vegetables. If you like juicing, remember to mix up the fruits and vegetables you put in.

#2 Refrain from eating everything at once

Overloading nutrition, or eating everything at one go, doesn’t work either.

Try not to, for example, eat four plates of vegetables in one day then decide to skip it the next day. Yes, the recommended intake is two servings of vegetables a day, but you should stagger your intake! Eating everything at once is just like drinking 8 glasses of water when you wake up and deciding to go thirsty for the rest of the day.

#3 Getting a balanced diet

The reason why I’m against diets is because it often neglects certain food groups. In reality, you’ll need a little fat, protein and carbohydrates in every meal you eat in order to have a balanced diet. Again, it boils down to having enough nutrition so your body and your mind has enough energy to function properly. Further, having a balanced meal satiates your hunger more than a meal made of any food group by itself.

#4 Eating a variety of foods

The simplest way to eat in moderation is to eat a variety of foods. Even within each food group, different vegetables or different types of protein will have varying benefits. In order to ensure you get the most benefits, try mixing up the vegetables, fruits and proteins that you eat. The more variety you have, the more likely it is that you are getting a healthy dose of all the essential vitamins and minerals.

#5 Know your portion size

Try not to overeat for one meal so much so that you have the skip your next meal. One great way to also boost your metabolism and lose healthy weight is to break your meals up into portions that are easily digested in 3-4 hours.

It can be hard to control the portion size or gauge how much you can eat when you just have a meal in front of you. However, if you can’t finish it, remember that leftovers can always be eaten later. A much more challenging issue is to refrain from stuffing yourself at a buffet or when you’re surrounded with your favourite foods.

#6 Read those labels!

You know those labels in every snack or packaged food or drink you buy? Read the labels at the back! Look to see the sugar content, calories, sodium and other nutrition information. Another important thing to look out for is the suggested serving size.

I’m not asking you to weigh and measure everything you eat, but it’s worth gauging how much of a certain food you’re meant to be eating. For instance, if a packet of nuts says the recommended serving size is 1/4 cup, then maybe you want to eat about a fistful.

Going overboard the recommended servings may give you a misguided perception of how many calories you are consuming. Particularly with snacks, it is easy to consume a huge amount of sugar, oil, salt and calories without realising it.

#7 Lastly, know your food groups!

You’ve probably heard how important it is to have a balanced, nutritious meal. I’m sure you know all the food groups. But do you know why each food group is important, what are the healthier choices for each food group and what are the recommended servings per day?

Knowing your food groups well is important. Understanding how much of each food group will guide you towards eating a more balanced diet, and understanding why each food group is important will help you make better food choices. If you need a refresher, perhaps you want to check it out here.

For instance, meat is often considered to be a food group. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t have a balanced diet if you’re vegetarian and vegan. Meat is an important source of protein, so knowing healthy meat replacements will prevent protein deficiency.

Therefore, in a way, it’s dangerous to think of food groups as a combination of different foods which you should eat more or less of. Rather, it’s more important to understand the pros and cons of each food group to assess what eating in moderation looks like to you.

Check out everything you need to know about your food groups here.

Conclusion

Eating in moderation isn’t hard if you make a conscious effort to eat a variety of different foods and contain as many food groups as possible in all your meals. If you follow this golden rule, you’re on your way towards healthy eating.

And remember, it’s not just eating in moderation. Doing everything in moderation is important, including having a balance of work and relaxation.