A simple explanation of how the Diet Plate works...

Step 1 - Measure Your Starch

Step 2 - Measure Your Protein

Step 3 - Fill Up with Vegetables

Finally, move the starch and protein to one side, as shown by the green outline, and fill the other half of the plate with vegetables or salad.

Use a side dish if you want more salad.

Use a variety of vegetables, the more colour, the better your nutrition.

Meat Sauce Meals

Examples of meat sauce meals include spaghetti, curry and rice, chicken a la king.

Step 1 -Measure your Carbs

Fill the starchy carbohydrate section with pasta or rice as usual to get the correct portion size.

Step 2 - Move the carbs

Move the starch to the outer circle, leaving the inner circle free.

Step 3 - Fill the Centre Circle

Fill the centre sauce circle with the sauce, including the protein content. e.g. fish, meat, chicken etc.

The female and child's version will give 60-90 grams of meat sauce.

The male version will give 125-150 grams of meat sauce.

Step 4 - Add the vegetables

Finally, move the starch and protein and fill the other half with vegetables or salad. Use a side dish if you want more salad. Use a variety of vegetables, the more colours the better your nutrition.

The Cheese Measure

A 2.5 cm cube of hard cheese weighs exactly 15g.  Most of us enjoy cheese, but just take a look at what you can enjoy for the calorie value...just one bite!

If you choose lower fat Edam, you will have 185kJ, but full fat Cheddar or Gouda cheese may contain as much as 380kJ  ( of the 5600kJ per day for ladies and the 7000kJ per day for men).

As a further point of interest the same measure canbe born in mind for butter, which will contain 530kJ!  So check how much is on the end of your knife for those hidden extras.

*All the meal pictures are taken from the "Eating for Sustained Energy"recipe books by Gabi Steenkamp and Lies et Delport.