Siquijor, Siquijor – Achieving meaningful health goals requires thoughtful planning. Our body needs the right balance of nutrition and calories to sustain us with energy throughout our daily activities. Knowing what your body needs is the key to maintaining the balance to achieve your health goals.
Most people associate diet and diet planning with short-term weight loss and food intake restrictions. But, what most of us fail to understand is that diet planning is personalized to an individual’s health status, lifestyle, and health goals. There’s no effective “one-size-fits-all” approach to dieting. A diet plan that works wonders for one person could be catastrophic to others. Diet planning is modified, there is a need to take into consideration a person’s unique health situation and lifestyle. Follow these steps to design, develop and create a diet plan that is specifically tailored to cover your nutritional necessities to maintain a healthy lifestyle:
1. Identifying your Body Mass Index (BMI)
BMI is calculated using a person’s age, height, and weight which indicates whether he/she have a healthy body based on a person’s age, weight, and height. BMI score will tell you whether you should go for a thorough diet or a moderate diet plan to become fit. Below are the categories based on the BMI values that indicate seven different situations of your body’s health:
Photo taken from: https://www.oneeducation.org.uk/fitness-and-diet-plan/
2. Determine your smart goal.
Photo taken from: https://www.oneeducation.org.uk/fitness-and-diet-plan/
3. Create a meal plan.
One fundamental principle of healthy eating is meal planning. It is an act of planning nutritious meals and snacks, typically for a week or month, and make one less thing to worry about throughout your busy schedule which helps you less vulnerable to the lure to opt for processed meals and fast foods. Meal planning can help you learn proper portion sizes and keep your calorie intake in check. For Filipinos, the best guide is the PINGGANG PINOY!
To begin, look or search for recipes that ingredients are available in your local markets and are align with your diet of choice.
Sample Meal Plan:
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4. Know your portion sizes.
One of the most important factors in keeping your calorie in check and a key part of healthy eating means choosing appropriate amounts of different foods. We often hear Serving Size and Portion Size when deciding how much to eat, however, they don’t mean the same thing. Serving size means the standardized amount of food. It is used to quantify recommended amounts like in the case of MyPlate Food Groups or Nutrition Fact Label. The term Portion Size means the amount of food you choose to eat which may be more or less than a serving.
Photo taken from: https://www.ebnutritionconsulting.com/portion-size-guide
5. Create a schedule and plan your workouts.
It is easy to fall into relaxing in your bed or couch instead of working out when you don’t create a schedule and plan your workouts. Establish a habit of positive outlook and scrapping off the inner “should I or shouldn’t I” deliberations that hold you back. Write down your schedule and the type of exercises you’ll do with set days and times in a calendar or planner for your reference. //ND II Gracey Adolfo
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