How to Get a Balanced Low Calorie Diet

To improve your diet, evaluate the foods you eat regularly. Keep healthy foods in your diet and substitute healthy alternatives for foods that aren't providing nutritional value. Settle into a diet rich in all of the necessary nutrients (vitamins, minerals, essential amino acids, essential fats, complex carbohydrates and fiber), and low in unhealthy ingredients. Don't overload your body with calories.

Instructions

Modifying Your Diet

• 1

  On a sheet of paper, draw up a table containing nine columns and 20 rows. Label the rows: Food, Serving Size, Vitamins/Minerals, Proteins, "Good" (Polyunsaturated) Fats, Fiber, Glycemic Index Value, and Downsides (high sugar, sodium or saturated fat content).

• 2

  Compile a list of your 20 favorite foods.

• 3

  Look up the nutritional information for each of the foods on your list and fill in the information for each column. Consult the U.S. Department of Agriculture resource at the end of this article.

• 4

  Research your foods' Glycemic Index Value using the resource at the end of this article. The lower the value the better.

• 5

  Mark with a check the foods you eat that provide the greatest nutritional value, containing high nutrient content and few calories. And mark with an X the foods you eat that offer you the lowest nutritional value. Mark with a B those foods which are borderline.

• 6

  Explore the possibility of substituting healthier alternatives for the foods on your list that contain the least amount of nutrients.

• 7

  Look over your modified diet, with its healthy food substitutions. Make a note of the nutrients you may still be lacking.

• 8

  Use the "Best Nutrient Sources" resource at the end of this article to find foods that will provide the nutrients you may be lacking. Assess the overall nutritional value of these new foods and consider making them a more prominent part of your diet.