Planning a Balanced Diet

Balanced Diets Take Planning – no matter what your eating pattern.

So often, I hear people ask, “how can a vegetarian get enough protein in their diet?”

I teach college nutrition classes and do one-on-one counseling and this question comes up a LOT.

I am not a vegetarian myself, but I know many people who are. The collective eye roll when this question comes up could change the rotation of Earth one day.

Now, here is the deal:

ALL people can have an adequate diet with most nutrients no matter what eating pattern they choose.

And ALL people can have a diet deficient in many nutrients no matter what eating pattern they choose.

In my experience, people don’t realize that they could benefit from more planning to have a well-balanced diet.

But it doesn’t take a whole LOT of effort.

I don’t ask people to track their eating and see what may be missing though I can do this.

I don’t ask people to follow a specific “right” way to eat so they can be perfect eaters. As if that exists.

I don’t even ask people to cut anything from their diet.

And they can still benefit from some planning.

How can vegetarians get enough protein if they don’t eat meat? Simple. If they eat food from the protein group, they should be fine. And that includes nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, and, depending on their choices, eggs. They can also get it from the dairy group of they consume dairy.

I explain how all this works in the Nutrient vs. Food Groups blog post and podcast episode.

But like anyone, vegetarians can have a poor diet. My son’s third-grade teacher put me on the spot during a class visit one time. She asked me to explain to the students what I did for work. She mentioned she was a vegan but still ate Snickers candy bars. It was her way of saying that even if someone is vegetarian or vegan, they can still have a poor diet.

Now, two things here:

Just because someone eats candy DOES NOT mean they have a poor diet. Not AT ALL. Because that is just ridiculous. It is how much candy someone eats. (And she had them daily. Full size.)

I didn’t correct her. Snickers are not vegan, so if she was eating them, she wasn’t vegan. The first ingredient is MILK!

So yes, there are junk food vegetarians.

And omnivores that cannot fathom how someone can get enough protein without eating meat doesn’t mean an omnivore automatically has a healthy diet or a poor diet.

Many omnivores can have healthy, well-rounded diets, yes, even the ones that eat beef and pork, just as much as they can have poor diets with many missing nutrients.

So how can you have a balanced diet? It takes just a bit of planning.

Or maybe just thinking. Consider your eating pattern.

Does your eating pattern include foods from the GRAIN group? Not necessarily wheat or gluten-containing grains. For example, I eat oats nearly every day. And there are plenty of grains that have no gluten and are very healthy.

Does your eating pattern have fruit? Vegetables? EVERY SINGLE DAY? I hope so. If it doesn’t, no matter what eating pattern you follow, you are missing out on many nutrients. And you might want to see if your gums are bleeding, limey.

Does your eating pattern have protein foods – not just meat?

Does your eating pattern have milk-based products? Not just milk, but yogurt or cheese? And if you don’t like milk, soy-based milk? Just don’t fall into the trap of thinking other plant milks are nutritionally equal when they are just flavored water with thickeners. I explain that in the post, So many “milks” - are they healthy?

Foods from all those groups daily or several times a day (seriously, have more than just ONE fruit a day) will help with a more balanced eating pattern.

So no matter what eating pattern you follow, it may take a bit of planning to be well balanced.

Want more tips on how to have a most balanced diet and all-day energy? Then, check out my FREE mini-course 6 Tips for the Busy Person to Have Sustainable Energy - a free Mini-Course.