What is Proper Nutrition for Adults?

Wanting to eat properly to nourish your body can feel like an overwhelming task, especially if you are trying to figure it all out on your own. Lots of people have different opinions on what you should and shouldn’t eat, even if they aren’t actually qualified to give nutrition advice. As a registered dietitian and nutrition expert, I hope to clear up some of the confusion about what constitutes a healthy diet so that you can feel confident in taking care of your body!

Proper nutrition for adults includes listening to and respecting your body’s hunger and fullness cues, eating a variety of foods from all food groups, balancing carbohydrates, protein, and fat each time you eat, making mindful food choices, and making healthy substitutions where possible. Following a strict diet or keeping up with a bunch of food rules is really not a sustainable approach to health.

Read on for more information about what makes up a healthy diet, what foods you should avoid to be healthy, reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, and healthy habits that you can implement right now!

What Is a Healthy Diet for Adults?

There are several aspects that make up a healthy diet, but I don’t like to think of them as “food rules.” Your brain doesn’t typically respond well to food rules which might actually end up making it harder for you to eat healthy! Let’s talk through some of the basic guidelines for creating a healthy diet for yourself.

A Healthy Diet Includes a Variety of Foods From all Food Groups.

Each of the food groups has something unique and important to offer your body.

Grains are high in nutrients like B vitamins, magnesium, fiber, and iron. They also provide your body with carbohydrates AKA energy!

Fruits and vegetables provide your body with carbohydrates but they are also packed with a variety of vitamins and minerals. Typically different colors contain different nutrients which is why I encourage people to get variety and eat the rainbow!

Dairy is an important source of calcium, and also provides some carbs, protein, and fat. A lot of dairy products are also fortified with other nutrients such as vitamins A and D.

Protein foods contain nutrients like B vitamins, iron, magnesium, and zinc. It is essential to get enough protein because it is the building block of your entire body. Protein helps your body build and maintain muscle mass, which is especially important as you get older.

Healthy fats are found in foods like nuts, seeds, avocados, nut butters, fatty fish, and oils. Fat helps your body metabolize hormones, absorb important nutrients, feel satisfied, stabilize blood sugars, and more!

Variety is best for your body to ensure all the nutrients you need to be at your top health. Don’t restrict food groups because you’ll be restricting important nutrients.

The Best Changes to Eat Healthier as an Adult – Tips from a Dietitian

A Healthy Diet is One That Makes Healthy Substitutions that Don’t Sacrifice Satisfaction

Does this mean that any time you eat brownies they have to be made with black beans? Absolutely not! However, there are small things you can do to reduce sodium, saturated fat, and added sugar intake in your diet without even really noticing it!

Cook with plant oils rather than butter. Other than coconut oil, plant-based oils tend to be lower in saturated fat and higher in the healthy, unsaturated fats that your body needs! I choose olive oil and avocado oil.

Look for butter spreads that contain a mix of butter and olive oil to reduce the saturated fat intake. I have found many that I really enjoy and they taste just as good as butter! This doesn’t mean you have to use this replacement for everything though- those yummy chocolate chip cookies might still need the real deal.

Choose lower-fat dressings and dairy products. That doesn’t mean they have to be fat-free, but I have found that many of the lower-fat options taste just the same as the regular versions, but they have a bit healthier fat profile.

Check food labels for sodium content and choose “low-sodium” or “no salt added” options. Canned foods, frozen foods, and highly processed foods tend to be higher in added salt. For example, choose canned corn to go into a crock-pot meal, I don’t taste a difference when using the low-sodium corn, especially since it is going into a meal that is being seasoned and flavored with other things.

Feel free to modify recipes as you need. Maybe a recipe that calls for butter tastes just fine with half the amount the recipe calls for! Or maybe you can use other seasonings to flavor your meal instead of relying solely on salt. If your recipe contains heavy cream or tons of cheese, using a lower-fat option or reducing the amount might work just as well without really making a big difference in terms of taste.

A Healthy Diet Contains Balanced Meals and Snacks

Remember the important macronutrients- carbohydrates, protein, and fat? They all do important things for your body but the way they work together is also pretty amazing!

Since carbohydrates are your body’s main source of energy, most of your calories for the day should be coming from carbohydrate foods- your body needs it! However, eating carbs with protein and fat helps to slow down the digestion of those carbohydrates and sustain your energy levels for longer than if you were to just eat carbs on their own.

This doesn’t mean you have to become a macro counter where you track every single gram of carbs, protein, and fats. Instead, be aware of the foods you are eating and look for easy ways to balance what you are already eating. If you recognize that your meal is mostly carbohydrates, find an easy way to add some protein and fat.

A Healthy Diet is One That is Eaten Mindfully, Where Hunger and Fullness Cues are Honored.

If you can master the art of mindful eating and listening to your body, it will be much easier to follow a healthy diet. When we are born, we are really good at eating intuitively. Think about it- kids are so good at eating when they are hungry and stopping when they are full! Unfortunately, some people get out of touch with this skill as they get older, busier, and hear more of the influence of diet culture.

Your body needs fuel regularly, but if you have been chronically skipping meals your hunger and fullness cues might be slightly out of whack. Eating regularly, at least every 4-6 hours will help you get those cues back on track as well as provide your body with a consistent source of energy throughout your busy day. Remember that eating regularly starts with a solid breakfast soon after waking up!

What Foods Should I Avoid to Be Healthy?

There are not a lot of foods you need to entirely avoid to be healthy. Instead, focus on adding more nutrient-dense foods to your diet and some of the other foods tend to fall into place and are more likely to be eaten in the proper proportion.

Restricting your favorite foods is never a good idea. Telling yourself you can’t have something only makes your brain fixate on that thing even more! This usually results in overeating the food later on.

Remind your brain that all foods can fit in a healthy diet. Knowing that no foods are off-limits actually makes it easier to mindfully choose your foods and decide what you really want and what your body really needs.

Like we talked about in the “What Makes up a Healthy Diet?” section above, avoid excessive added sugars, saturated fat, and salt are helpful. Trans fats are another one to look out for. Avoid hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils in foods as much as possible. Even if the food label says there are zero grams of trans fats, it can sometimes hide!

What is a Proper Serving Size for Adults?

Serving sizes differ person-to-person based on your total energy needs for the day. If you need more calories, a lot of times you are eating more frequently and needing larger serving sizes. To get a better idea of what appropriate serving sizes would look like for you, you can check out the MyPlate website and answer a few questions to get an estimate of how many calories you need as well as how much of different foods from different food groups you need.

The best way to determine what serving size is appropriate for you is to pay attention to what your body is telling you! I always like to take pauses while I eat to really check-in with myself and see if I have reached my satisfied point yet or if I need to eat more. Once you practice doing this, recognizing the point where you have eaten enough gets much easier to recognize.

How Can I Reach and Maintain a Healthy Weight as an Adult?

It is important to remember that weight and BMI (body mass index) are not the best measures of overall health. For example, someone with a larger frame and more muscle is going to weigh more because of their body composition, but if they are appropriately nourishing their body, this higher weight doesn’t mean they are unhealthy.

Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight is not about doing any crazy fad diet or eating as little as possible. It is about nourishing your body and taking small steps toward healthier habits!

Healthy Habits for Adults

We have already talked about a lot of healthy habits, but here is a good recap of healthy habits that you can start implementing right away! Remember, you don’t have to make all of these changes at once, just start somewhere and you will be heading in the right direction.

Find physical activity that you actually enjoy and will do consistently.
Eat regularly throughout the day.
Include carbohydrates, protein, and fat every time you eat.
Minimize your intake of saturated fats, sodium, and added sugars.
Try to eliminate trans fats (hydrogenated oils and partially hydrogenated oils) as much as possible.
Make a meal plan for the week and make time to go grocery shopping to have those foods available. Use a grocery pickup or delivery service if that makes things easier!
Make small substitutions for healthier options where they don’t significantly change the satisfaction of your food.
Start your day out with a balanced breakfast, ideally within 30 minutes of waking up.
Include healthy, balanced snacks throughout the day to bridge you between meals.
Don’t go long periods of time without eating!
Eat a variety of foods from all of the food groups.
Remove distractions when you are eating so that it is easier for you to listen to your body.
Hydrate throughout the day. Replace electrolytes as needed- especially when you are more active or when the weather is warmer.
Get enough sleep to allow your body time to rest and recover.
Manage stress levels by taking time for yourself and your mental health.

Summary

Healthy eating does not have to be super complicated. In fact, you probably know more than you think you do! Proper nutrition is really all about doing simple things consistently, rather than taking some kind of extreme approach. Take a look at the healthy habits (or lack of healthy habits) that you participate in and start to make small, sustainable changes from there.

I also encourage working with a team of trusted healthcare providers, including a registered dietitian to help guide you, rather than trying to figure it all out on your own. Find healthcare providers that understand that your health is very complex and needs to be looked at from many different angles.

Resources

USDA. MyPlate. Myplate.gov.

World Health Organization. Healthy diet. Who.int. Published April 29, 2020.