WOMANSDAY.COM / SEPTEMBER 2019 85
NUTRITION/ Health
NUTRITION
EXPERT
Joy Bauer, R.D.N.
@JoyBauer
@JoyLBauerJoy Bauer, M.S., R.D.N., NBC’s TODAY show nutrition expert and best-selling author of Simple Food Remedies and Yummy Yoga.What “Moderation”
Really Means
Can you truly eat anything as long as
you don’t overdo it? Here, some guidance
from Joy on balancing meals the healthy way.
Y
ou’ve heard it before
(definitely from me!): Go ahead
and enjoy your favorite foods—
just do so in moderation. It’s
a phrase meant to help prevent feelings of
deprivation when you’re trying to maintain
a healthy diet, and while in theory it’s sage
advice, in reality it’s meaningless.
That’s because it’s too ambiguous to be
helpful and can be problematic for those
trying to maintain or lose weight. Take my
friend Lisa, who defines “moderate” as a
small slice of cake or pie twice a week (she’s
got the right idea!). But her husband, Tom,
who also loves dessert, is convinced it means
a sweet treat twice a day. One study from
the journal Appetite illustrates just how
wishy-washy the term can be. Researchers
found that the more a person liked a certain
food, the more forgiving he or she was
with the word “moderation.” For example,
Tom’s twice-a-day sweets habit is moderate
in his mind because he’d actually like to
eat treats three or four times a day! (Ha ha!)KEEP TABS ON YOURSELF
To figure out what moderation means
in your day-to-day eating, here’s some help:
I follow a 90/10 approach, which means I
make 90% of my food choices healthy, leaving
10% wiggle room for my favorite indulgences
(pizza, cookies, ice cream). By the time
you’ve loaded up on wholesome picks, there’s
not much room left for the less nutritious
stuff (see the handy chart at right for
guidance). If you’re counting calories, try to
limit treat foods to 150 to 200 total calories
a day—and don’t forget to enjoy yourself!Indulgences
SERVINGS TO AIM FOR:
About 200 calories daily or
about 700 twice a week.
(One or the other, not both!)
EXAMPLES:
One of these daily:
½ scoop ice cream;
1 oz chocolate; small
fast-food fries;
2 to 3 small cookies;
½ slice pie or cake
Biweekly: 1 large slice
or 2 small slices of pizza;
2-piece fried chicken
entrée; cheeseburger;
chocolate milkshake; or
restaurant dessertJOY’S PLAN
Starches
SERVINGS TO AIM FOR:
1 to 2 per meal (about
100 calories each serving)1 cup cold cereal; 1 slice
bread; ½ cup cooked rice
or pasta; 3 oz any potato
EXAMPLES:
½ bagel at breakfast,
sandwich with 2 slices
of bread at lunch, ½ large
potato at dinner. Or skip
starches at breakfast
and lunch and enjoy
2 cups of pasta at dinner.Alcohol
SERVINGS TO AIM FOR:
Up to 1 standard drink per
day for women
APPROXIMATE SERVING:
12 oz regular beer,
5 oz wine, or 1.5 oz (1 shot)
distilled spiritsBA
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