As you seek to develop a healthy eating pattern following the MyPlate model, you may be thinking--That’s a lot of food to eat all at once!

Keep in mind that the MyPlate model is not just a model of what your plate should look like, but it also serves as a reminder of what your total diet should be throughout the day. 

You don’t have to eat all of the food groups at once at every meal! 

I myself hardly ever sit down for a meal that has all the parts included in the MyPlate model. Instead, I split the groups up and eat several smaller meals throughout the day. Here’s an example of what my daily menu might look like:

5:00am: Oatmeal (made with milk) + Blueberries 

8:00am: Veggie omelet 

12:00pm: Veggie salad

3:00pm: Tuna sandwich + apple slices

7:00pm: Green beans, chicken breast, brown rice

8:30pm: Yogurt

As you can see, I’ve split up the food groups for each meal. My first two meals together make up a MyPlate model breakfast (veggies = in the omelet, fruit = with oatmeal, grains = oatmeal, protein = eggs in omelet, dairy = milk in the oatmeal). I’ve just eaten the groups at different times. The same is true for my lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, and evening snack.

You can break up the MyPlate model for your own eating pattern in a similar way. Just keep in mind that by the end of the day, the total proportion of what you eat of the different food groups should match the MyPlate model--half of what you eat should come from fruits and vegetables, a quarter from lean protein, a quarter from grains (at least half of that should be whole grains), and you want to have plenty of calcium at each meal (you can do this by including a serving of dairy).

If you’re struggling to come up with healthy recipes to fit the MyPlate model into your everyday diet, do some exploring online or in a cookbook. Vegetables seem to be the most difficult food group for people to get on their plates. For that, check out AllRecipes.com's collection of vegetable dishes.

About the Author

Jayd Harrison is a personal trainer and content creator. She helps people to build muscle, burn fat, and clean up their diets with her online coaching programs and social media content. Check out some of Jayd’s coaching videos on Youtube, or join Jayd live on Twitch and follow on social media.