Regular physical activity is good for you. Exercise reduces your risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some cancers. It makes your bones and muscles stronger and improves your mental health and mood. Exercise is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. But healthy weight loss starts with a healthy diet. 

Food

If you want to lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you eat and drink. It’s easier to cut calories from your meals than to burn off the same number of calories through exercise. Many people think that eating healthier means making big changes all at once. Research shows that small changes in what you eat can lead to slow and steady weight loss over time. Safe weight loss involves healthy food choices and eating smaller portions.

You can still eat your favorite foods as part of a healthy weight loss plan. There are ways you can limit the calories in food. For example, you can bake foods rather than frying them. And replace less healthy options with a mix of fruits, veggies, whole grains, protein foods, and low-fat dairy. Keeping a food diary can help you see both good and bad eating patterns.

Physical Activity

Regular physical activity can help you reach your short- and long-term weight loss goals. But exercise burns fewer calories than many people think. Thirty minutes of swimming laps could burn off 350 calories. You might not be able to do 30 minutes of intense exercise every day. You could reduce the same number of calories by cutting out two 16-ounce sodas each day.

Studies show that exercising for 10 minutes three times a day gives the same benefits as 30 minutes of non-stop cardio exercise. Running, swimming laps, and jumping rope are just a few ways to build cardio exercise into your schedule. Try to find cardio exercises that you enjoy, alone or with family or friends.

If you’re exercising regularly for weight loss or to be healthier in general, you might notice you have a bigger appetite. This makes it easy to trick yourself into eating more than you need after exercising. Overeating after exercising can undo the hard work you’re doing to lose weight. Pay attention to portions when you eat after working out. Have a healthy snack before exercising to keep your appetite under control.

Adding muscle is a good way to increase the calories you burn when you're not exercising. If you want to lose weight and reduce body fat, strength training can help. Strength training two or three days a week can help you build strong muscles, which can help you burn more calories. You can lift weights, do push-ups or sit-ups, or do household or yard work that makes you lift or dig.

An eating plan that helps promote health and manage your weight includes a variety of healthy foods. Add an array of colors to your plate and think of it as eating the rainbow. Dark, leafy greens, oranges, and tomatoes—even fresh herbs—are loaded with vitamins, fiber, and minerals. Adding frozen peppers, broccoli, or onions to stews and omelets gives them a quick and convenient boost of color and nutrients.

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025, a healthy eating plan:

• Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products
• Includes a variety of protein foods such as seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), soy products, nuts, and seeds.
• Is low in added sugars, sodium, saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol.
• Stays within your daily calorie needs

USDA’s MyPlate Plan can help you identify what and how much to eat from the different food groups while staying within your recommended calorie allowance. 

Fruit

Fresh, frozen, or canned fruits are great choices. Try fruits beyond apples and bananas such as mango, pineapple or kiwi fruit. When fresh fruit is not in season, try a frozen, canned, or dried variety. Be aware that dried and canned fruit may contain added sugars or syrups. Choose canned varieties of fruit packed in water or in its own juice.

Vegetables

Fresh, frozen, or canned fruits are great choices. Try fruits beyond apples and bananas such as mango, pineapple or kiwi fruit. When fresh fruit is not in season, try a frozen, canned, or dried variety. Be aware that dried and canned fruit may contain added sugars or syrups. Choose canned varieties of fruit packed in water or in its own juice.

Calcium-rich foods

In addition to fat-free and low-fat milk, consider low-fat and fat-free yogurts without added sugars. These come in a variety of flavors and can be a great dessert substitute.

Meats

If your favorite recipe calls for frying fish or breaded chicken, try healthier variations by baking or grilling. Maybe even try dry beans in place of meats. Ask friends and search the internet and magazines for recipes with fewer calories ― you might be surprised to find you have a new favorite dish!

Comfort Foods

You can still enjoy your favorite foods, even if they are high in calories, fat or added sugars. The key is eating them only once in a while.

Some general tips for comfort foods:

• Eat them less often. If you normally eat these foods every day, cut back to once a week or once a month.
• Eat smaller amounts. If your favorite higher-calorie food is a chocolate bar, have a smaller size or only half a bar.
• Try a lower-calorie version. Use lower-calorie ingredients or prepare food differently. For example, if your macaroni and cheese recipe includes whole milk, butter, and full-fat cheese, try remaking it with non-fat milk, less butter, low-fat cheese, fresh spinach and tomatoes. Just remember to not increase your portion size.

When it comes to eating, many of us have developed habits. Some are good (“I always eat fruit as a dessert”), and some are not so good (“I always have a sugary drink after work as a reward”).  Even if you’ve had the same eating pattern for years, it’s not too late to make improvements.

Making sudden, radical changes, such as eating nothing but cabbage soup, can lead to short term weight loss. However, such radical changes are neither healthy nor a good idea and won’t be successful in the long run. Permanently improving your eating habits requires a thoughtful approach in which you reflect, replace, and reinforce.

• REFLECT on all of your specific eating habits, both bad and good; and, your common triggers for unhealthy eating.
• REPLACE your unhealthy eating habits with healthier ones.
• REINFORCE your new, healthier eating habits.

Reflect:

• Create a list of your eating and drinking habits. Keep a food and beverage diary for a few days. Write down everything you eat and drink, including sugary drinks and alcohol. Write down the time of day you ate or drank the item. This will help you uncover your habits. For example, you might discover that you always seek a sweet snack to get you through the mid-afternoon energy slump. Use this diary [PDF-105KB] to help. It’s good to note how you were feeling when you decided to eat, especially if you were eating when not hungry. Were you tired? Stressed out?
• Highlight the habits on your list that may be leading you to overeat. Common eating habits that can lead to weight gain are:
  • Eating too fast
  • Always cleaning your plate
  • Eating when not hungry
  • Eating while standing up (may lead to eating mindlessly or too quickly)
  • Always eating dessert
  • Skipping meals (or maybe just breakfast)
• Look at the unhealthy eating habits you’ve highlighted. Be sure you’ve identified all the triggers that cause you to engage in those habits. Identify a few you’d like to work on improving first. Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back for the things you’re doing right. Maybe you usually eat fruit for dessert, or you drink low-fat or fat-free milk. These are good habits! Recognizing your successes will help encourage you to make more changes.
• Create a list of “cues” by reviewing your food diary to become more aware of when and where you’re “triggered” to eat for reasons other than hunger. Note how you are typically feeling at those times. Often an environmental “cue”, or a particular emotional state, is what encourages eating for non-hunger reasons. Common triggers for eating when not hungry are:
  • Opening up the cabinet and seeing your favorite snack food.
  • Sitting at home watching television.
  • Before or after a stressful meeting or situation at work.
  • Coming home after work and having no idea what’s for dinner.
  • Having someone offer you a dish they made “just for you!”
  • Walking past a candy dish on the counter.
  • Sitting in the break room beside the vending machine.
  • Seeing a plate of doughnuts at the morning staff meeting.
  • Swinging through your favorite drive-through every morning.
  • Feeling bored or tired and thinking food might offer a pick-me-up.
• Circle the “cues” on your list that you face on a daily or weekly basis. While the Thanksgiving holiday may be a trigger to overeat, for now focus on cues you face more often. Eventually you want a plan for as many eating cues as you can.
• Ask yourself these questions for each “cue” you’ve circled:
  • Is there anything I can do to avoid the cue or situation? This option works best for cues that don’t involve others. For example, could you choose a different route to work to avoid stopping at a fast food restaurant on the way? Is there another place in the break room where you can sit so you’re not next to the vending machine?
  • For things I can’t avoid, can I do something differently that would be healthier? Obviously, you can’t avoid all situations that trigger your unhealthy eating habits, like staff meetings at work. In these situations, evaluate your options. Could you suggest or bring healthier snacks or beverages? Could you offer to take notes to distract your attention? Could you sit farther away from the food so it won’t be as easy to grab something? Could you plan ahead and eat a healthy snack before the meeting?

Replace:

• Replace unhealthy habits with new, healthy ones. For example, in reflecting upon your eating habits, you may realize that you eat too fast when you eat alone. So, make a commitment to share a lunch each week with a colleague, or have a neighbor over for dinner one night a week. Another strategy is to put your fork down between bites. Also, minimize distractions, such as watching the news while you eat. Such distractions keep you from paying attention to how quickly and how much you’re eating.
• Eat more slowly. If you eat too quickly, you may “clean your plate” instead of paying attention to whether your hunger is satisfied.
• Eat only when you’re truly hungry instead of when you are tired, anxious, or feeling an emotion besides hunger. If you find yourself eating when you are experiencing an emotion besides hunger, such as boredom or anxiety, try to find a non-eating activity to do instead. You may find a quick walk or phone call with a friend helps you feel better.
• Plan meals ahead of time to ensure that you eat a healthy well-balanced meal.

Reinforce:

• Reinforce your new, healthy habits and be patient with yourself. Habits take time to develop. It doesn’t happen overnight. When you do find yourself engaging in an unhealthy habit, stop as quickly as possible and ask yourself: Why do I do this? When did I start doing this? What changes do I need to make? Be careful not to berate yourself or think that one mistake “blows” a whole day’s worth of healthy habits. You can do it! It just takes one day at a time!

Healthy eating is an important part of overall health. One way to help you eat healthier is to set goals. Try these steps for creating realistic goals you can sink your teeth into.

Decide why you want to eat healthier. Some people set goals to:

• Learn about good nutrition.
• Buy healthier foods.
• Learn how to cook.
• Learn healthier cooking techniques.
• Try new types of healthier foods or recipes.

Everything you eat and drink matters for building a healthy eating style. Think about what you eat now and what changes you might want to make. What eating changes will help you make healthier food choices?

Track what you eat and drink to see patterns that are healthy or not healthy. Keeping a food diary helps you identify areas for improving what you eat to help you get to your goals.

You don’t have to change your whole diet at once. It may help to set a series of small goals. Think of changes that are reachable, positive, under your control, and specific. For example, “Cut up veggies and fruit in the evenings so I can take them in my lunch the next day,” or “Eat a meatless dinner once a week, swapping veggies for the meat.” Here are a few other goals that might work for you or give you ideas for your own:

• Make half your plate a variety of different colored fruits and vegetables.
• Make half the grains you eat whole grains.
• Switch to fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk.
• Choose a variety of lean protein foods.
• Drink water instead of sugary drinks.
• Eat some seafood every week.

Reward yourself when you reach each goal. It will give you something to look forward to. Avoid using food as a reward. Treat yourself with extra time spent with a friend, a hobby you’ve wanted to try, or an activity that gets you moving. Or combine rewards, like taking a yoga class or going for a bike ride with a friend.

How to manage your weight without being hungry.

Have you tried to lose weight by cutting down the amount of food you eat? Do you still feel hungry and not satisfied after eating? Or have you avoided trying to lose weight because you’re afraid of feeling hungry all the time? If so, you are not alone. Many people throw in the towel on weight loss because they feel deprived and hungry when they eat less. But there is another way. Aim for a slow, steady weight loss by decreasing calorie intake while maintaining an adequate nutrient intake and increasing physical activity. You can cut calories without eating less nutritious food. The key is to eat foods that will fill you up without eating a large amount of calories.

If I cut calories, won’t I be hungry?

Research shows that people get full by the amount of food they eat, not the number of calories they take in. You can cut calories in your favorite foods by lowering the amount of fat and or increasing the amount of fiber-rich ingredients, such as vegetables or fruit.

Let’s take macaroni and cheese as an example. The original recipe uses whole milk, butter, and full-fat cheese. This recipe has about 540 calories in one serving (1 cup).

Here’s how to remake this recipe with fewer calories and less fat:

• Use 2 cups non-fat milk instead of 2 cups whole milk.
• Use 8 ounces light cream cheese instead of 21⁄4 cups full-fat cheddar cheese.
• Use 1 tablespoon butter instead of 2 or use 2 tablespoons of soft trans-fat free margarine.
• Add about 2 cups of fresh spinach and 1 cup diced tomatoes (or any other veggie you like).

Your redesigned mac and cheese now has 315 calories in one serving (1 cup). You can eat the same amount of mac and cheese with 225 fewer calories.

What foods will fill me up?

To be able to cut calories without eating less and feeling hungry, you need to replace some higher calorie foods with foods that are lower in calories and fat and will fill you up. In general, this means foods with lots of water and fiber in them. The chart below will help you make smart food choices that are part of a healthy eating plan.

A healthy eating plan is one that —

• Emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat free or low-fat milk and milk products.
• Includes lean meats, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts.
• Is low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars.
• Stays within your calorie needs.

Technically speaking…

The number of calories in a particular amount or weight of food is called “calorie density” or “energy density.” Low-calorie-dense foods are ones that don’t pack a lot of calories into each bite.

Foods that have a lot of water or fiber and little fat are usually low in calorie density. They will help you feel full without an unnecessary amount of calories.

Here are some more ideas for cutting back on calories without eating less and being hungry:

You eat in a variety of places – your home, work, restaurants, maybe even your car. For some of these places, you have more control over what choices are available than others. Since high-calorie foods are everywhere, it’s important to take the time to plan ahead to make sure you have healthy options available.

Meals at Home

Whether you are cooking for just yourself, one to two people, or a larger group, planning meals is a good place to start improving your food choices. Taking the time to plan a healthy evening meal can help you avoid a less healthful “drive-through” dinner.

To start, grab a pencil and paper and list your favorite meals. It may help to talk to your family or thumb through a favorite cook book. Some of the meals will be healthier than others, but for now, just write them all down.

You might want to use MyPlate Plan. The plan will show you your daily food group targets — what and how much to eat within your calorie allowance. It can help you plan your upcoming meals to meet your weight goals and suggest ways to improve choices.

Once you’ve planned your meals, make a grocery list. Take some time on your visit to the grocery store to choose lower-calorie ingredients. Here are some ideas that may help:

• Many casseroles and meat sauces use cream soups as a base. Use a low-fat cream soup.
• Substitute a low-fat cheese in casseroles and vegetable sauces. When using sharply flavored cheese, such as cheddar and parmesan, you can usually reduce the amount in a recipe to save calories without sacrificing flavor.
• Try a non-stick cooking spray or a small amount of cooking oil for sautéing instead of frying with solid fat.
• If you’re using ground beef for tacos or meat sauce for spaghetti, look for a lower-fat variety such as ground round or ground sirloin or try using skinless ground turkey breast. Once you’ve browned the meat, drain to remove excess fat.
• Instead of full-fat versions of mayonnaises, butter, and salad dressings, try those that are lower in calories, total fat, saturated fat, and trans fat.
• Check out the frozen food aisles for quick, low-calorie vegetable side dishes. You can find cut green beans, sliced carrots, and other chopped vegetables in the frozen food section. Avoid the ones with added cream, butter, or cheese sauces as these ingredients can add calories. You can steam these vegetables quickly in the microwave.
• In some soups and entrees, you may also be able to add dry beans to extend the recipe and improve the nutritional value. This is easy to do in vegetable-based soups and chili. You can just add a cup of canned white beans, kidney beans, or pinto beans to the recipe. As another example, if you are making enchiladas, rinse a can of black beans and add these to the ground meat.

Research shows that people get full by the amount of food they eat, not the number of calories they take in. You can cut calories in your favorite foods by lowering the amount of fat and or increasing the amount of fiber-rich ingredients, such as vegetables or fruit. Eating fewer calories doesn’t necessarily mean eating less food.

At first, you may find you only get a lower calorie meal planned for one or two nights a week. Don’t criticize yourself; you’re making steps in the right direction. Over time, you’ll figure out meal-preparation short-cuts and it will become easier to make healthy family meals a regular occurrence.

Meals on the Go

For the places where you might grab a snack or have a meal on the go (such as the car or at your desk), make sure you have nutritious snacks available or at home that you can take with you. For example:

• “Grab-and-go” fruits: apples, oranges, bananas, canned fruit without added sugars, and raisins
• Washed and chopped fresh vegetables: celery, carrots, and cucumbers
• Low-fat and fat-free milk products: yogurt without added sugars, milk, and low-fat cheeses
• Whole-grain crackers and breads
• Protein choices such as low-fat deli turkey slices or almonds and other nuts and seeds

Take the time to make a shopping list and re-stock your cabinets and fridge with healthy options. It’s also a good idea to think about stocking your office cabinet or car glove box with healthy shelf-stable treats if these are places where you snack. You’ll find it’s easier to make better choices when you have a good variety of nutritious foods available in the places where you eat.

Using more fruits and vegetables, along with whole grains, lean meats, nuts, and beans, is a safe and healthy way to lose or maintain weight. In addition, diets rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of some types of cancer and other chronic diseases. Fruits and vegetables also provide essential vitamins and minerals, fiber, and other substances that are important for good health.

To lose weight, you must eat fewer calories than your body uses

This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to eat less food. You can create lower-calorie versions of some of your favorite dishes by substituting low-calorie fruits and vegetables in place of higher-calorie ingredients. The water and fiber in fruits and vegetables will add volume to your dishes, so you can eat the same amount of food with fewer calories. Most fruits and vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories and are filling.

Simple ways to cut calories and eat more fruits and vegetables throughout the day

Breakfast: Start the Day Right

• Substitute spinach, onions, or mushrooms for one egg or half the cheese in your morning omelet. The vegetables will add volume and flavor to the dish with fewer calories than the egg or cheese.
• Cut back on the amount of cereal in your bowl to make room for some cut-up bananas, peaches, or strawberries. You can still eat a full bowl, but with fewer calories.

Lighten Up Your Lunch

• Substitute vegetables such as lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, or onions for 2 ounces of the cheese and 2 ounces of the meat in your sandwich, wrap, or burrito. The new version will fill you up with fewer calories than the original.

• Replace 2 ounces of meat or 1 cup of noodles in broth-based soup with 1 cup of chopped vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, beans, or red peppers. The vegetables will help fill you up, so you won’t miss those extra calories.

Dinner

• Add in 1 cup of chopped vegetables such as broccoli, tomatoes, squash, onions, or peppers, while removing 1 cup of the rice or pasta in your favorite dish. The dish with the vegetables will be just as satisfying but have fewer calories than the same amount of the original version.

• Take a good look at your dinner plate. Vegetables, fruit, and whole grains should take up the largest portion of your plate. If they do not, replace some of the meat, cheese, white pasta, or rice with legumes, steamed broccoli, asparagus, greens, or another favorite vegetable. This will reduce the total calories in your meal without reducing the amount of food you eat. BUT remember to use a normal- or small-size plate — not a platter. The total number of calories that you eat counts, even if a good proportion of them come from fruits and vegetables.

Smart Snacks

• Most healthy eating plans allow for one or two small snacks a day. Choosing most fruits and vegetables will allow you to eat a snack with only 100 calories.

About 100 Calories or Less

• a medium-size apple (72 calories)
• a medium-size banana (105 calories)
• 1 cup steamed green beans (44 calories)
• 1 cup blueberries (83 calories)
• 1 cup grapes (100 calories)
• 1 cup carrots (45 calories), broccoli (30 calories), or bell peppers (30 calories) with 2 tbsp. hummus (46 calories)

Instead of a high-calorie snack from a vending machine, bring some cut-up vegetables or fruit from home. A 1-ounce bag of corn chips has as many calories as a small apple, 1 cup of whole strawberries, AND 1 cup of carrots with 1/4 cup of low-calorie dip. Substitute one or two of these options for the chips, and you will have a satisfying snack with fewer calories.

Remember: Substitution is the key.

It’s true that fruits and vegetables are lower in calories than many other foods, but they do contain some calories. If you start eating fruits and vegetables in addition to what you usually eat, you are adding calories and may gain weight. The key is substitution. Eat fruits and vegetables instead of some other higher-calorie food.

More Tips for Making Fruits and Vegetables Part of Your Weight Management Plan

Eat fruits and vegetables the way nature provided—or with fat-free or low-fat cooking techniques.
Try steaming your vegetables, using low-calorie or low-fat dressings, and using herbs and spices to add flavor. Some cooking techniques, such as breading and frying, or using high-fat dressings or sauces will greatly increase the calories and fat in the dish. And eat your fruit raw to enjoy its natural sweetness.

Canned or frozen fruits and vegetables are also good options.
Frozen or canned fruits and vegetables can be just as nutritious as the fresh varieties. However, be careful to choose those without added sugar, syrup, cream sauces, or other ingredients that will add calories.

Choose whole fruit over fruit drinks and juices. Fruit juices have lost fiber from the fruit.
It is better to eat the whole fruit because it contains the added fiber that helps you feel full. One 6-ounce serving of orange juice has 85 calories, compared to just 65 calories in a medium orange.

Whole fruit gives you a bigger size snack than the same fruit dried—for the same number of calories.
A small box of raisins (1/4 cup) is about 100 calories. For the same number of calories, you can eat 1 cup of grapes.

When eating at many restaurants, it’s hard to miss that portion sizes have gotten larger in the last few years. The trend has also spilled over into the grocery store and vending machines, where a bagel has become a BAGEL and an “individual” bag of chips can easily feed more than one. Research shows that people unintentionally consume more calories when faced with larger portions. This can mean significant excess calorie intake, especially when eating high-calorie foods. Here are some tips to help you avoid some common portion-size pitfalls.

Portion control when eating out. Many restaurants serve more food than one person needs at one meal. Take control of the amount of food that ends up on your plate by splitting an entrée with a friend. Or, ask the wait person for a “to-go” box and wrap up half your meal as soon as it’s brought to the table.

Portion control when eating in. To minimize the temptation of second and third helpings when eating at home, serve the food on individual plates, instead of putting the serving dishes on the table. Keeping the excess food out of reach may discourage overeating.

Portion control in front of the TV. When eating or snacking in front of the TV, put the amount that you plan to eat into a bowl or container instead of eating straight from the package. It’s easy to overeat when your attention is focused on something else.

Go ahead, spoil your dinner. We learned as children not to snack before a meal for fear of “spoiling our dinner.” Well, it’s time to forget that old rule. If you feel hungry between meals, eat a healthy snack, like a piece of fruit or small salad, to avoid overeating during your next meal.

Be aware of large packages. For some reason, the larger the package, the more people consume from it without realizing it. To minimize this effect:

• Divide up the contents of one large package into several smaller containers to help avoid over-consumption.
• Don’t eat straight from the package. Instead, serve the food in a small bowl or container.

Out of sight, out of mind. People tend to consume more when they have easy access to food. Make your home a “portion friendly zone.”

• Replace the candy dish with a fruit bowl.
• Store especially tempting foods, like cookies, chips, or ice cream, out of immediate eyesight, like on a high shelf or at the back of the freezer. Move the healthier food to the front at eye level.
• When buying in bulk, store the excess in a place that’s not convenient to get to, such as a high cabinet or at the back of the pantry.

A study found that when people consumed a diet of highly processed foods, they took in more calories and gained more weight than when on a diet of minimally processed foods.

Researchers compared the effects of a highly processed and a minimally processed diet in 10 men and 10 women residing for four weeks at the NIH Clinical Center. Each diet lasted for two weeks. People received three meals per day plus snacks. They could eat as much or as little as they wanted.

Processed foods usually have a lot of calories, salt, sugar, and fat and are low in fiber, but the researchers matched the meals for these nutrients.

The highly processed diet had foods like canned ravioli, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, pork sausage, and tater tots. The minimally processed diet had foods like salad, grilled beef roast and vegetables, and baked fish. People noted that the diets both tasted good and were satisfying.

On the highly processed diet, people ate more calories and gained an average of 2 pounds. On the unprocessed diet, they ate fewer calories and lost about 2 pounds.

The results support the benefits of unprocessed foods. But the researchers note that processed foods can be difficult to avoid.

“Just telling people to eat healthier may not be effective for some people without improved access to healthy foods,” says NIH obesity expert Dr. Kevin Hall, who led the study.

More studies are needed to better understand how processed food affects weight.

Good nutrition is essential for keeping Americans healthy across the lifespan, but most of us do not have a healthy diet. Americans are eating and drinking too many added sugars.

What are added sugars?

Added sugars are sugars and syrups that are added to foods or beverages when they are processed or prepared. Naturally occurring sugars such as those in fruit or milk are not added sugars.

Added sugars have many different names. Examples of added sugars include brown sugar, cane juice, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit nectars, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, honey, lactose, malt syrup, maltose, maple syrup, molasses, raw sugar, and sucrose.

What are the health consequences of too much sugar?

Added sugars contribute calories to your diet, but no essential nutrients. Eating and drinking too many added sugars makes it difficult to achieve a healthy eating pattern without taking in too many calories.

Too much sugar in your diet can lead to health problems such as weight gain and obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

How much is too much?

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, people older than 2 years should keep sugars to less than 10% of their total daily calories. For example, if an adult consumes 2,000 calories a day, no more than 200 calories should come from added sugars. Or, if toddlers consume 1,200 calories a day, no more than 120 calories should come from added sugars.

Children under 2 years old should not eat or drink any added sugars.

Make a Change

Sugary drinks are the leading source of added sugars in the American diet.

Nutrition labels can help you follow a healthy diet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has updated the Nutrition Facts label for packaged foods. Start at the beginning of the label. That’s where you’ll find key information on portion sizes and calories per serving, which are important for making smart food choices.

Servings

One package is not always the same as one serving. The label shows the serving size and the number of servings in the package. You might think a package contains a single serving, but it might really contain two or more servings.

Calories

Calories are a measure of how much energy you get from a food serving. If you eat two times the serving size, you take in two times the calories and nutrients. Many people take in more calories than they need. Eating too many calories per day is linked to overweight and obesity.

Nutrients

Nutrients are the substances in food that our bodies process to help them function. The label lists several nutrients that can have an impact on your health. Eating too much of some nutrients can lead to health problems.

The nutrients listed first are the ones people generally eat enough of, or even too much. Health experts recommend that you limit these nutrients. Limit your fat, trans fat, cholesterol, or sodium intake. Eating too much of these may increase your risk of certain diseases, like heart disease, some cancers, or high blood pressure.

Dietary fiber, protein, essential vitamins, and minerals (like calcium, iron, and potassium) can improve your health and help reduce the risk of some diseases and conditions. For example, getting enough calcium may reduce the risk of osteoporosis, a condition that can lead to brittle bones as you age. A diet high in dietary fiber (including fruits, vegetables, and whole grain products) and low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease.

% Daily Value (DV)

The % DV tells you the percentage of each nutrient in a single serving, in terms of the daily recommended amount. If you want to take in less of a nutrient such as fat or sodium, choose foods with a lower % DV—5 percent or less. If you want to take in more of a nutrient such as fiber, pick foods with a higher % DV—20 percent or more.

The information on a Nutrition Facts label is based on 2,000 calories a day. You may need to eat less or more than 2,000 calories depending on your age, gender, activity level, and whether you’re trying to lose, gain, or maintain your weight. 

Controlling food portions can be an important part of an overall plan to help you eat healthy and manage weight.

The Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods shows the size of one serving. This information can help you stick to the recommended daily servings. But many good-for-you foods don’t come with a Nutrition Facts label. That’s why it’s helpful to become familiar with what one serving of different foods should look like.

Test It!

Measure out 1 cup, 1/2 cup, or 1 ounce of some different foods into the bowls, glasses, cups, and plates you usually use. It’s a good way to see what these serving sizes look like. Or serve yourself what you typically eat or drink. Then measure it to see what size portions you’ve been having. This will help you be more aware of serving sizes and make healthy choices.

Fruits and Vegetables

Try to have five or more servings of fruits and veggies every day. Making half your plate different colored fruits and vegetables is a good way to get those servings. One serving looks like:

• 1 medium whole fruit, such as apple, plum, or peach = tennis ball
• 1 cup veggies, such as broccoli or carrots = baseball
• 1/2 cup raw, canned, or frozen fruit = billiard ball
• 1 cup leafy greens = 2 baseballs
• 1 ounce dried fruit = golf ball

Grains

Aim for making half your grains whole grains. One serving looks like:

• 1/2 cup cooked rice or oatmeal = bulb part of light bulb
• 1 cup whole wheat cereal flakes = baseball
• 1 whole wheat pancake = DVD
• 1/2 bagel =  hockey puck
• 1/2 cup cooked pasta = computer mouse

Dairy

Choose lower fat dairy options when possible. One serving looks like:

• 1/2 cup frozen yogurt or cottage cheese = half a baseball
• 1/3 cup shredded cheese = baseball
• 1 ounce cheese = 3 stacked dice
• 1 teaspoon butter = postage stamp

Protein

Aim for leaner sources of protein and add variety with beans and fish. One serving looks like:

• 3 ounces cooked meat, such as beef or chicken = bar of soap
• Ground hamburger patty = hockey puck
• 3 ounces fish = checkbook
• 1/2 cup cooked beans, such as black beans, pinto beans, chickpeas = baseball
• 1 ounce nuts = about 28 peanuts, or 14 shelled walnut halves, or 45 pistachios
• 2 tablespoons peanut or other nut butters = ping pong ball

Mindful eating means being fully aware of your food through taste, sight, touch, smell, and sound. It means noticing and enjoying your food and using it to take care of your body.

Mindful eating involves paying attention to how things around you and your emotions affect what you eat and how much you eat.

Eating mindfully can help you learn:

• To eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full.
• To really taste food and enjoy the taste of healthy food.
• How food affects your mood and energy throughout the day.
• What foods keep your body going at its best for work, exercise, and play.

Learning to eat mindfully takes time and practice. Here are some tips to help you get started:

• Turn off the phone, TV, computer, and any other devices that take your attention away from the food you’re about to eat.
• Sit at the table and relax. Take a deep breath and exhale completely. Calm your mind and focus on the food.
• Avoid serving family style. Keep serving dishes in the kitchen so you have to get up to get seconds. This helps you control portions.
• Close your eyes and take a bite. Think about the taste, texture, and temperature of the food and how it feels in your mouth.
• Before you finish what’s on your plate, pause for a few minutes. Give yourself time to decide if you are still hungry. Pay attention to how your stomach feels. Are you hungry for more, or do you want to keep eating for a different reason?

If you aim to shed some pounds to reach a healthy weight, keeping a food diary can help you get to your goals. Studies show that people who keep food diaries are more likely to lose weight and keep it off.

Tracking your food in a diary can help you:

• Be aware of what, how much, and why you are eating.
• Eat mindfully.
• Identify areas where you can make changes to lose weight.
• See patterns of overeating.
• Identify overeating triggers you can avoid.

Your food diary can include the foods you eat, times you eat, portion sizes, and notes about what you were doing or feeling at the time. You don’t have to include all this information in your diary, but it can help you identify both good and bad eating patterns. Don’t focus too much on the details you put in your diary. What’s more important is tracking your eating consistently.

If you track what you eat for a few weeks, you may see patterns that are helping or hurting you. You might identify areas of success, like eating lots of veggies. Or you might find places where you could make some improvements, like mindlessly munching and filling up on empty calories. Try not to be discouraged if you have some days when you haven’t eaten the food types or portions you wanted to include. Think in the long term. Your food diary is a helpful tool for a healthier lifestyle, now and in the future.

Your food diary doesn’t have to be handwritten. A variety of tools are available to help you track your eating.

Calories are a measure of the energy that comes from food once it’s inside the body. Losing, gaining, or staying at the same weight depends on how many calories you eat and how many calories your body uses over time.

If you eat more calories than you use, you’ll gain weight. If you eat fewer calories than you use, you’ll lose weight. But staying at a healthy weight is more than just calories in and calories out. It’s about making healthy food choices. Here are some tips for making your calories count.

Not All Calories Are Created Equal

When it comes to weight management, 100 calories of cake are not the same as 100 calories of protein. Try to limit your intake of processed foods. A processed food is any food that has been changed from its original, raw form. Processed foods often have high amounts of added sugars, salt, and unhealthy fats, such as saturated and trans fats. Use the Nutrition Facts label to check the sugar, salt, and fat content of foods before you buy.

Try to eat more lean protein, healthy fats, and unprocessed, unrefined carbohydrates such as vegetables, beans, and fruit. Less processed whole grains are better, like brown rice rather than white and stone-ground whole wheat, quinoa, or oats instead of white bread. Limit highly processed carbohydrates like breads, cereals, and pastas and get more vegetables, beans, and whole grains. Choose fats that come from plant sources like nuts, olive oil, and avocado, and lean proteins such as fish and chicken.

Mix It Up

Research shows that people get full from the amount of food they eat, not the number of calories they take in. Eating fewer calories doesn't have to mean eating less food. To cut calories without eating less and feeling hungry, you can replace some higher calorie foods with foods that are lower in calories and fill you up. In general, these foods contain a lot of water and are high in fiber, like vegetables and fruit. The latest dietary guidelines for adults can help you have variety in your food plan. Creating smart eating patterns can help you maintain health and reduce risk of disease.

Think About Your Drink

Most people try to reduce their calories by focusing on food. Another way to cut calories may be to change what you drink. You could be taking in quite a few calories from the beverages you have each day. Making better drink choices can help you reduce your calorie intake. If you replaced a daily 12-ounce can of soda with water, you could save 52,560 calories per year.

Pay Attention to Portions

Larger portions can make it easy to eat or drink too many calories. Larger helpings also can lead you to take in more saturated fat, sodium, and added sugars. You can learn how to manage portion size whether you’re at home or on the go.

Be Active

Physical activity can increase the number of calories your body uses for energy or burns off. Burning calories through physical activity and reducing the number of calories you eat can help with weight loss. Plus, exercise boosts endorphins, sometimes called the brain’s “feel-good” chemicals. Endorphins help lessen pain and produce positive feelings. Exercise has many benefits but can make it hard to keep your calorie intake low. After a workout, you might feel hungry. Try having a healthy snack—such as a banana, oatmeal, or handful of carrots—before exercising to keep you fueled during exercise and keep you from overeating after.

Watch the Clock

Research shows that people who snack after 8:00 p.m. have higher body mass indexes (BMI) than people who don’t eat at night, even if they don’t eat significantly more total daily calories. BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. Having a large meal close to bedtime also can make it difficult to go into a deep sleep because your stomach is still working to digest your food.

More Than Calories

Other things in your life besides calories can affect weight management. If you’re not getting enough sleep or if you’re stressed a lot, it might be harder to stay at a healthy weight. When you’re stressed or not getting enough sleep, it can be harder to be physically active and make smart food choices. Also, your body responds to sleepless nights and increased stress by increasing cortisol levels, which are hormones that can slow metabolism.

Myth: To lose weight, you have to give up all your favorite foods.

Fact: You don’t have to give up all your favorite foods when you’re trying to lose weight. Small amounts of your favorite high-calorie foods may be part of your weight-loss plan. Just remember to keep track of the total calories you take in. To lose weight, you must burn more calories than you take in through food and beverages.

TIP: Limiting foods that are high in calories may help you lose weight. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025 have estimated daily calorie needs based on a person’s age, sex, and physical activity level.

Myth: Grain products such as bread, pasta, and rice are fattening. You should avoid them when trying to lose weight.

Fact: Grains themselves aren’t necessarily fattening—or unhealthy–although substituting whole grains for refined-grain products is healthier and may help you feel fuller. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025 recommend consuming grains as part of a healthy eating plan. At least half of the grains you eat should be whole grains. Examples of whole grains include brown rice and whole-wheat bread, cereal, and pasta. Whole grains provide iron, fiber, and other important nutrients.

TIP: Try to replace refined or white bread with whole-wheat bread and refined pasta with whole-wheat pasta. Or add whole grains to mixed dishes, such as brown instead of white rice to stir fry. Check out ChooseMyPlate for more tips to help you add whole grains to your eating plan.

Myth: Choosing foods that are gluten-free will help you eat healthier.

Fact: Gluten-free foods are not healthier if you don’t have celiac disease or are not sensitive to gluten. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye grains. A health care professional is likely to prescribe a gluten-free eating plan to treat people who have celiac disease or are sensitive to gluten. If you don’t have these health problems but avoid gluten anyway, you may not get the vitamins, fiber, and minerals you need. A gluten-free diet is not a weight-loss diet and is not intended to help you lose weight.

TIP: Before you decide to avoid a whole food group, talk with your health care professional if you believe you have problems after you consume foods or drinks with wheat, barley, or rye.

Myth: You should avoid all fats if you’re trying to be healthy or lose weight.

Fact: You do not have to avoid all fats if you’re trying to improve your health or lose weight. Fat provides essential nutrients and should be an important part of a healthy eating plan. But because fats have more calories per gram than protein or carbohydrates, or “carbs,” you need to limit fats to avoid extra calories. If you are trying to lose weight, consider eating small amounts of food with healthy fats, such as avocados, olives, or nuts. You also could replace whole-fat cheese or milk with lower-fat versions. 

TIP: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025 recommend consuming less than 10 percent of your daily calories from saturated fats. Try cutting back on solid-fat foods. Use olive oil instead of butter in cooking.

Myth: Dairy products are fattening and unhealthy.

Fact: Dairy products are an important food group because they have protein your body needs to build muscles and help organs work well, and calcium to strengthen bones. Most dairy products, such as milk and some yogurts, have added vitamin D to help your body use calcium, since many Americans don’t get enough of these nutrients. Dairy products made from fat-free or low-fat milk have fewer calories than dairy products made from whole milk. 

TIP: Adults should have 3 servings a day of fat-free or low-fat dairy products, including milk or milk products such as yogurt and cheese, or fortified soy beverages, as part of a healthy eating plan. If you can’t digest lactose, the sugar found in dairy products, choose fortified soy products, lactose-free or low-lactose dairy products, or other foods and beverages with calcium and vitamin D:

• Calcium—soy-based beverages or tofu made with calcium sulfate, canned salmon, or dark leafy greens such as collards or kale
• vitamin D—cereals or soy-based beverages

Myth: “Going vegetarian” will help you lose weight and be healthier.

Fact: Some research shows that a healthy vegetarian eating plan, or one made up of foods that come mostly from plants, may be linked to lower levels of obesity, lower blood pressure, and a reduced risk of heart disease. But going vegetarian will only lead to weight loss if you reduce the total number of calories you take in. Some vegetarians may make food choices that could lead to weight gain, such as eating a lot of food high in sugar, fats, and calories.

Eating small amounts of lean meats can also be part of a healthy plan to lose or maintain weight. 

TIP: If you choose to follow a vegetarian eating plan, be sure you get enough of the nutrients your body needs to be healthy.