- Choose 100-percent whole grain breakfast cereals, or make oatmeal.
- Top whole grain pasta with spaghetti sauce.
- 100-percent whole grain breads are easy to find in any grocery store. Try multi-grain breads for variety.
- Substitute whole grain flour in place of white flour in your recipes.
- Serve popcorn, but hold the butter. Spritz your snack with a butter-flavored spray to cut back on the fat.
- Switch from white rice to brown rice, which is much higher in fiber and minerals.
- Experiment with grains and cereals you may not have eaten before such as quinoa, spelt, or kamut.
Watching Your Serving Sizes
All Grains and cereals are energy dense, including whole grains. The difference is that the fiber in whole grains will keep you feeling full longer. You need to keep an eye on portion sizes so you can estimate your calorie intake accurately. One serving is just one slice of bread, 3/4 cup of cereal or 1/2 cup pasta. That huge bagel in the coffee shop is the same as four or five slices of bread and a big plate of spaghetti might be even more.
Your Assignments This Week
This week I want you to focus on getting those whole grains into your diet every day. Keep track of your whole grains in your food diary. At least half of your grains should be whole.
Choose a goal this week that works for you. Here are two examples:
I will eat 100% whole grain bread instead of my white bread with three meals or sandwiches this week. Or four meals. Or five meals.I will eat 100-percent whole grain cereal for breakfast three days this week. Or four. Or all of them.
Going With Whole Grains Quiz
Think you got it all down? Take this quiz to make sure you are ready to move on to lesson 6.
Related Reading
Here are some articles to help keep you motivated and learning.
How Nutritious is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?
Sources
Dietary Guidelines for Americans
Gropper SS, Smith JL, Groff JL. "Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism." Fourth Edition. Belmont, CA. Wadsworth Pub Co. 2005.
"Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids." Institute of Medicine of the National Academies." September 2002.
"Aim for a Healthy Weight." National Heart Blood and Lung Institute.
