What is the plate rule?
The plate rule is one of the most effective and simple ways to control portion sizes and create a complete diet. The scheme is simple:
- Take a flat plate with a diameter of 20–22 cm; dessert plates are best.
- We divide it into three parts. One part should take up half. The second and third – a quarter of the plate.
- We give the largest part to fiber: vegetables and fruits. We also add healthy vegetable oils here.
- Let a quarter of your plate be taken up by complex carbohydrates: cereals, whole grains, potatoes.
- The remaining quarter is for proteins: meat, fish, legumes.
- A portion of one meal should be 300-350 grams for a woman, 400 grams for a man. If it is difficult to navigate by weight, you can simply
- make sure that the plate is full, but the food does not go beyond it.
- During meals, we also drink 200 ml of liquid (for example, a glass of water).
This rule must be followed at every main meal, of which a person without health problems should have at least four per day with a break of three to four hours. Plus one snack.
Why Following the Plate Rule Is Good for You
Firstly, this is a really simple plan that will keep you full and prevent you from overeating.
Secondly, thanks to it, you will not have the feeling that you are on a diet and the feeling of guilt because you ate something “forbidden”. After all, the diet will be varied, and at each meal you can eat even your favorites: potatoes, pasta, and bread.
Thirdly, your diet will contain a lot of vegetables and the fiber they contain, which has a good effect on bowel function; a sufficient amount of complex carbohydrates, which provide energy, and proteins, thanks to which muscles are strengthened and grow and tissues are restored.
Can Fast Food Comply With The Plate Rule?
It seems that if you follow the plate rule, you can even eat burgers – after all, they contain vegetables, protein in the form of a patty and cheese, and carbohydrates in the form of a bun.
The proportions of the burger still do not correspond to the rule, but if you really like this food, then you can indulge in it occasionally, trying to maintain a healthy balance. For example, before the burger, eat an apple or a vegetable salad seasoned with oil. Then you can proceed to the “main course”, but listen carefully to yourself – perhaps a couple of bites of the “sesame bun” will be enough for you to eat enough and satisfy your desire. It is also not at all necessary to eat the top part of the bun.
The main thing that the plate rule teaches is awareness, that is, the ability to understand your true desires, including food desires, for example:
- Are you sure you want to eat shawarma right now? Or are you just hungry and would you be happy with boiled meat and a tasty, sweet tomato?
- When you watch a movie with your friends, do you eat chips because you really want to or just for the company?
Often people break down or can’t resist unhealthy food because they are hungry or because their diet is not varied. The plate rule is good because it allows you to eat a lot, even bread, but it advises you to give up white bread in favor of whole grain without yeast: it is rich in vitamin B, the deficiency of which has a negative effect on your mood.
Is it okay to snack if you live by the plate rule?
Yes. Between meals, you can and even should have a snack – of course, not as filling as the main portions. This could be a second breakfast or an afternoon snack.
But the right snack according to the plate rule is a carbohydrate-free protein-fat product, for example:
- Nuts. For a woman – two walnuts, for a man – three at a time.
- Baked apple or pear. After cooking, you can pour a little honey and add nuts (also two or three walnuts).
- Dried fruits (up to five or six pieces, if you don’t have diabetes) with nuts.
- Pastila with nuts (no more than 25 grams) or urbech is a paste made from uncooked seeds, grains or nuts with vegetables or fruits.
- Vegetables (up to 100 grams) and hummus.
- One or two bananas.
How to Drink Water Properly, Following the Plate Principle
When eating according to the plate rule, you can’t forget about liquids. Here are the main recommendations that you need to follow:
- During meals, you can drink no more than 200 milliliters of any liquid: tea, coffee, water.
- After eating, you should not drink for one or two hours so as not to disrupt the digestion process.
- After the break, you can drink as much as you want until the next meal.
- The main rule for any liquid intake is to drink in small sips, not in one gulp.
The required volume of liquid is individual and depends on the characteristics of the body. But you can use this formula – 30-40 milliliters per day per kilogram of body weight.
For example, a person weighs 100 kg. He should drink three to four liters of liquid per day. But in the heat, this amount can increase. And if there is a tendency to edema, heart and kidney problems, then you should consult a doctor for recommendations on drinking regimen.
Another nuance. This norm includes all liquids that a person consumes. Juices, teas, coffee, and even soups are counted. In addition, the body itself synthesizes 200-300 milliliters of liquid per day – the so-called endogenous water.
What to do if you want something sweet
Of course, sweets in the usual sense, that is, chocolate, candies, cookies and cakes, do not fit into the plate principle. But if you really want to, then use the methods to compensate for the harm a little:
- Always listen to yourself to understand whether you really want something sweet after the main course. Often we do this out of habit, for example, because our parents did it.
- Don’t replace your main meal with sweets. First, have a full meal, then, if there’s “room left,” a piece of cake. If you eat dessert separately, it won’t fill you up, and you’ll be hungry again in a short time. Only protein and fiber can truly satisfy your hunger.
- Reduce the amount of complex carbohydrates in your main meal if you plan to eat cake. And take a small piece.
- Give preference to vegan or raw desserts. As a rule, they contain many useful ingredients – nuts, fruits, seeds and vegetable oils. And raw desserts also have small portions.
What to do with complex dishes and products
It may seem that if you eat according to the plate rule, you will have to give up multi-component dishes. It is unclear to which category to classify some products, for example, cheese often contains more fat than protein. Some people classify mushrooms as proteins, while others classify them as vegetables, i.e. carbohydrates. And what to do with soups? Let’s figure it out.
Cheesecakes and pancakes
Cheesecakes are a protein product. Breakfast with one or two cheesecakes with fruits, berries or vegetables does not contradict the plate rule. You can also add tea, coffee, natural oatmeal cookies or even some oatmeal. Do you like pancakes? Take one or two small pancakes, add 100 grams of fish, caviar or cottage cheese and 200 grams of fiber – vegetables or fruits.
Omelette
Take one or two eggs, beat them with milk and add lots of vegetables and greens – you can use frozen ones.
Soups
Soups are really hard to fit into the plate rule. They usually contain more liquid than the norm for one meal, so adding tea to the meal will not work. In addition, it is difficult to understand how much vegetables and protein we get from soup.
But there is a way out here too: you can make borscht or shchi with a lot of cabbage. One serving of such soup for women is 300 grams, for men – 400 grams. For lunch, you can add a piece of bread, for example, with garlic and lard (rendered fat). And do not eat anything else for this meal.
Cheese
The norm for hard cheese, such as Parmesan, is 30 grams for women and 50 grams for men per meal. A portion of cheese should be no larger than two phalanges of your index and middle fingers.
You can increase the portion if you prefer mozzarella and Adyghe cheeses. They are unsalted, less fatty than other types of cheese, and are easily digested.
Mushrooms
100 grams of mushrooms contain about three grams of protein, so vegetarians and vegans believe that this product is a worthy alternative to animal protein along with legumes. However, this is not true. Firstly, beans or lentils contain much more protein – from 15 to 24 grams. And secondly, it is more difficult for the body to obtain protein from mushrooms, so nutritionists classify them as sources of fiber, like vegetables.
Is there an alternative to the plate rule?
Modern nutritionists and gastroenterologists agree that the plate rule is the simplest and most effective principle for making your diet healthy. For example, counting calories often leads to psycho-emotional problems: the daily norm of permitted calories can be eaten before lunch. Such strict restrictions and feelings of guilt destroy the psyche and lead to breakdowns or eating disorders, including anorexia.
Can you lose weight using the plate rule?
Yes. If you start following the plate rule, you will lose weight at first, simply because the portions will become smaller and the diet will be correct. If you need to lose weight even more, you should create a slight deficit: remove sweet snacks and/or carbohydrates in the evening. According to doctors, healthy weight loss is a weight loss of 2-4 kilograms per month.