What is a balanced diet for the day?

In fact, there is no one-size-fits-all standard answer. The key is to match the energy intake on the day with your consumption. The seven major nutrients necessary for the human body are covered. There is no need to stick to the rigid gram standard. The one that suits you is balanced.

I have been adjusting my diet for almost three years, and have fallen into many traps of stereotyped recipes. At first, I ate according to the common standards on the Internet. I sat in the office and typed on the keyboard all day without moving, and even stuffed in the required 300g of grains and potatoes. I gained three pounds in half a month. Only later did I figure out the rules. Balance is never a stuck number, it has to be based on the state of the day.

Let’s just say that I was working on a project at home on Wednesday last week, and my steps for the whole day were just over 2,000. I made a bowl of sugar-free oatmeal with a hard-boiled egg in the morning, a small bowl of multigrain rice with a pan-fried chicken breast and half a plate of stir-fried spinach at noon. I ate a small orange when I was hungry in the afternoon, and mixed a lettuce salad with half a piece of braised tofu in the evening. I didn’t feel hungry the whole day, and I didn’t feel uncomfortable before going to bed. I didn’t gain weight on the scale. I went on a 12-kilometer hike in the suburbs last Sunday, and my diet was much more relaxed. I ate two sauced pork buns and a cup of hot soy milk in the morning. I showed off a large bowl of tomato and egg noodles with a braised egg at the farmhouse at the foot of the mountain at noon. I went home in the evening and ate half a salted duck with a small bowl of rice. I didn't accumulate any food. The next day, I weighed two ounces less. This is a balanced consumption.

There are a lot of controversies on the Internet about a balanced diet. The most controversial one is "a balanced diet must eat meat/must be vegetarian." In fact, both statements have reasonable application scenarios. I have a friend who has been a vegetarian for five years. He usually mixes soy products, mushrooms, and dark green vegetables very carefully. Every year his physical examination indicators are more normal than those of many people who eat meat every day. ； There are also friends who enjoy eating meat every meal. They limit their meat consumption to less than one punch each time and pair it with twice the amount of vegetables. They do not suffer from problems such as high blood fat. Some people say that drinking milk is necessary for a balanced diet, but my best friend is born with lactose intolerance and gets gas and diarrhea after just one sip. She usually uses sugar-free soy milk and lactose-free yogurt instead, and her calcium and protein intake is still sufficient. No one said that her diet is unbalanced.

To put it bluntly, a balanced diet for the day is actually like packing a backpack when you go out. If you just go to the supermarket downstairs, it is enough to bring a mobile phone and a bottle of water. If you go camping in the suburbs, you have to bring a tent, food and power bank. There is no "national unified standard list". It just needs to be enough for you, not heavy and not lacking in things. You don’t have to hold a food scale every day to weigh the grams of each bite, and you don’t have to be anxious because you ate an extra bite of cake. You ate more high-sugar food today, and you will make up for it by eating two more bites of vegetables and two fewer bites of staple food in the next two meals. Balance depends on the overall rhythm, not the number of each meal. As long as you don't eat fried chicken and milk tea for several days in a row, and don't just eat boiled vegetables to the point of dizziness in order to lose weight, slowly understand your body's needs, and you will find a balanced diet that is most suitable for you.