There are a vast number of different ways to do this, and the key ones will be covered in the next module, where we will explore it in detail. Right now, though, we want to explain the very basics of building a meal, food by food.
Before we do that, to give you a baseline we will look at what we noted in module 2: The UK Government Dietary Recommendations. The Eatwell Guide represents the UK standard nutritional recommendations for a typical sedentary adult, and as noted in module 2 these recommendations offer an achievable and relatively flexible, yet healthy and balanced diet.
If you are communicating with a friend, relative or client that is completely uneducated in terms of nutrition, rather than calculating specific needs and offering recommendations for protein, carbohydrate and fat, we would suggest you calculate an estimated calorie need (for whatever their goal is) and use The Eatwell Guide as a tool to establish a baseline of healthy eating. Of course, if an individual is looking primarily to build muscle mass rather than lose fat/improve general health, you may need to take this into account when discussing protein.
To achieve the numerical recommendations noted in module 2, The Eatwell Guide suggests the following:
At least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables per day, with a portion being either:
This should total around 1/3 of the food you eat daily (food volume, not calories):
They also note that if you are consuming foods and drinks high in fat, salt or sugar, have these less often and in smaller amounts.
These recommendations are somewhat basic but that is intentional. Simplicity makes it possible for the greatest number of people to succeed with this approach, which is what makes it perfect for starting here when looking to work with someone that needs a large overhaul in what they are doing. Don’t be fooled by the simplicity, this represents a significant change from the diet most people actually consume before seeking help from a friend, relative or nutritionist. As a final point here, research indicates that a visual guide for eating well is far more effective than any other communication approach, so we would encourage you to use the visual tool which can be found here at the time of writing: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/528193/Eatwell_guide_colour.pdf
Note: This is updated regularly and so this URL may not be correct as you read this. Search www.gov.uk for the current recommendations if this is the case.
With that all noted, if the person (either you or a friend/relative/client) is ready to start portioning food up more accurately, or if this seems to be a means by which the individual can learn more quickly – you could look to dial things in further with the following.
Of course, the size of the portions within a meal are going to vary depending on the number of meals you are going to eat, and your preferred meal pattern. Do you like to eat 3 square meals per day, 5 small meals per day, 2 large meals per day or 3 meals per day and 2 snacks? Additionally, do you prefer to consume all of your meals with roughly the same makeup, or are you someone who likes a low carbohydrate cooked breakfast and a large pasta dish for dinner? Or a carbohydrate breakfast and a meat and vegetable dinner? Are you happy to have a smoothie for breakfast and pack the calories in later, or do you need something hearty to get you going?
Because of this, we need to speak in very general terms, which should hopefully apply to everyone, and from there we will be able to explain how to adapt the following to your preferences.
First, decide how many main meals you are going to have in a day. This would ideally be 3-5, though going for 2 meals is fine. If you are going to use 2 meals it gets a little more complicated, and we recommend you check the next module before going ahead.
Next, divide the amount of protein you calculated by the amount of meals you have chosen.
Then add a +/- 5g range to this number. This is your protein per meal goal, and you can use it to determine how much of a given food you need to meet it. By checking labels, you will soon be able to see approximately how much lean meat, dairy, fish or egg you need, or the amount of grains, pulses or legumes if you are going to be using these as your protein source (of course factor in multiple sources if using them).
Note: This does not need to be done for every meal.
Consider this something to do initially to learn how much a ‘portion’ of chicken, beef, lamb, or another protein source is specifically for you. If this seems way too much food, first assess and make sure you’ve chosen the protein amount that is genuinely applicable to you based upon your weight and leanness, and then simply work towards it or consider having a high protein snack or shake as an additional meal to make up the difference. Rome wasn’t built in a day and you don’t have to go from zero to perfect protein intake in one either.
After that, you need to factor in carbohydrates and fats. Using the label, you should be able to determine what a portion of these is, and this will be a good starting place – so go with it.
Note: Legumes are considered a carbohydrate source but due to their protein content you may need to add a half serving of another carbohydrate source to make up the difference. If you’re someone who eats a lot of legumes, consider one of the methods from module 6.
Next, fill the rest of the plate with as many colourful vegetables as possible.
Finally, if the protein source contains a very small amount of fat, add a fat source like cheese, nuts/nut butter, avocado, olive oil or similar. Generally speaking, most lean protein will contain a relatively low amount of fat per serving.
As an example, someone needing 160g protein and eating 4 meals would need 35-45g protein per meal, which equates to:
And of course, these could be combined, so a 4 egg omelette with chicken or a salmon and prawn stir fry would be great options.
Then we would just make meals with these by adding 75g of rice or pasta, 2 slices of bread, a wrap or a large potato, and some fats.
Example meals might be:
This really, really simple process will get most people, most of the way towards eating a well-balanced diet, but of course it will periodically need to be adjusted. To adjust it:
Each day you’ll be consuming slightly different amounts of energy, protein, carbohydrate, fat and fibre, but provided you are keeping your portion sizes relatively in line with need and provided you follow the above steps to adjust things, you can stick to this method of eating for a long time.
Of course, at some point if you have specific goals in mind you may need to personalise this further. At first you can use what you learned in module 2 to narrow down your food portions even more by repeating what we did with protein and calculating per-meal needs for fats and carbohydrates. This, again, should get things moving.
After that, you can look to more advanced dieting methods which we will cover in the next module.