Healthy recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner

First, the ratio of macronutrients throughout the day is in line with the recommended range of the dietary guidelines for Chinese residents (carbohydrates account for 40%-55% of total calories, protein 15%-25%, and fat 20%-30%. Special groups can adjust according to medical advice). Second, the food ingredients in a single day cover no less than 12 types of cereals and potatoes, high-quality protein, fresh fruits and vegetables, and high-quality fats and oils. Third, it adapts to personal dietary preferences, physical indicators, and daily activity levels, so that it can be maintained for a long time without pain.

Let me first clarify a misunderstanding that many people struggle with: Do we have to strictly follow "eat a good breakfast, a full lunch, and a small dinner"? In fact, not necessarily. There are also different opinions in the academic circles. For example, people who insist on 16:8 light fasting are accustomed to setting the eating window from 12 noon to 8 pm and skipping breakfast directly. As long as the nutritional intake throughout the day reaches the standard, it will not have a significant negative impact on metabolism. I have two friends who have insisted on it for more than a year, and their physical examination indicators are much better than before when they had irregular meals.

For people who are used to eating breakfast, there is no need to get the Internet celebrity combination of "milk + eggs + oatmeal". The most important thing is to find a rhythm that suits you. For example, students who arrive early in the morning or office workers who are rushing to clock in can steam half a corn, boil a tea egg the night before, and grab three or four small tomatoes when they go out. It can be done in five minutes. Calculated, it has enough carbohydrates, protein, and vitamins. It is much healthier than the hand cakes bought on the roadside with a lot of shortening. If you are a vegetarian, it is totally fine to replace the eggs with a small piece of marinated tofu and add five or six almonds to add some high-quality fat. If you are working out and building muscle, you can mix an extra spoonful of whey protein into sugar-free soy milk, and you don’t need to spend extra time preparing it.

At noon, most people either order takeout at work or bring the meal prepared the night before. The easiest pitfall is that it is either full of carbohydrates (such as a bowl of Lanzhou Ramen with very few toppings), or the oil and salt in the takeout directly exceed half of the recommended amount for the whole day. In fact, lunch is very flexible. If you have to run around with clients or have an afternoon meeting in the afternoon, if you are afraid of making you sleepy, put less refined carbohydrates, replace the white rice with multi-grain rice that is half brown rice and half white rice, and add more protein, such as a palm-sized steamed pangasius or braised beef, and add two fists of stir-fried green leafy vegetables to make you full without feeling sleepy. If you have a fitness plan in the afternoon, add more carbohydrates, such as half a bowl of rice, so that you won't lose energy during training. Different styles of choices are also mentioned here: For example, people who adhere to the ketogenic diet can eat half an avocado, a palmful of salmon and a large mixed vegetable salad for lunch. They do not need to eat carbohydrates and can support the whole afternoon's work. My friends who are designers eat this way. They said that eating rice before would make them sleepy in the afternoon, but now they are much more efficient. Of course, this way of eating is best to consult a nutritionist first, and is not suitable for people with gallstones.

The first step for many people to lose weight is to cut their dinner into boiled vegetables. I have tried this before. Within three days, I got up in the middle of the night and ate half a box of potato chips. Instead, I consumed more extra calories. In fact, the core of dinner is never "starving", but "not bloating the stomach and not affecting sleep". There is no need to be harsh on yourself at all. For dinner, an ordinary office worker can eat a fistful of millet porridge or steamed sweet potatoes, plus half a palmful of skinless chicken drumsticks or boiled shrimps, and a fistful of stir-fried lettuce, and eat a small orange half an hour after the meal. It will make you feel comfortable after eating, and you will not have the burden of gaining weight. If you have the habit of running at night or working overtime at night, just eat half a steamed bun, and you will not have low blood sugar after running or working overtime. Of course, if you have high blood sugar, you can follow your doctor’s advice and skip refined carbohydrates for dinner. Use a large portion of cold spinach and a few pieces of boiled tofu to fill your stomach. This will also have a good effect on stabilizing blood sugar.

I myself have debated whether to buy a food scale to accurately calculate the grams of each meal, but I gave up after a week. How can ordinary people have the energy to calculate every day? Later, I set a less strict "three-color principle" for myself. I must have at least three different colors of ingredients for each meal, such as yellow corn, white eggs, and red tomatoes for breakfast, brown multigrain rice, green lettuce, and pink lean pork for lunch, and purple potatoes, light yellow tofu, and green broccoli for dinner. Basically, the nutrition will not be too bad, and there is no need to worry about it.

To be honest, healthy recipes are never a standard answer given to you. You don’t have to look at what others eat and just copy it. Some people will be lactose intolerant when they drink milk, and some people will be allergic to seafood. If you follow the template, you will suffer. I can eat it, persist for a long time, feel good after eating, and have normal physical examination indicators. It is more effective than any Internet celebrity recipe. It’s okay to have hot pot and a cup of milk tea when you’re hungry occasionally. Eating is a happy thing. Don’t feel guilty just because you don’t eat the right meal. Long-term stability is the core of health.