don't restrict, enhance your diet in 2025
This New Year’s, don’t get caught up in the diet cycle. Instead of restricting your diet, enhance it. The path to having a well-rounded and nutritious diet, that's both sustainable and enjoyable, is focusing on what to add to your plate rather than what to take away. Naturally, as you enhance your plate, you’ll find more balance with the macronutrients included (carbs, protein, and fat), aiding in portion control and providing satiety over a longer duration of time. As you enhance your diet, you’ll find something the works in the long-term—not for just 30 days. So, instead of only having a green juice in the morning and hating life, add it to your breakfast routine and maintain it for years to come.
Building healthy diets, meals, and snacks
A balanced diet is adaptable and emphasizes whole foods like legumes, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy proteins and fats. Creating satisfying meals and snacks is about combining these components to give you energy and keep you full. Here’s how to do it.
Pair fast energy (carbs) with slow energy (protein and fat)
Carbs, even complex carbs like whole grains, fruits, or beans, are called fast energy because they energize, or fuel your brain and body quickly. Protein and fat, on the other hand, take longer to digest so provide energy later, and help keep you fuller longer (1). When you pair fast energy to slow you stay both fueled and full.
Fast and slow meals examples:
Roasted chicken (protein), brown rice pilaf and spinach sautéed in olive oil sprinkled with walnuts (carbs and fat) make a satisfying and delicious meal.
Vegetable burrito with beans (carbs and protein), cheese, and guacamole (fat) are fast and slow energy and keep you satiated.
Chinese stir fry vegetables and shrimp sautéed in olive oil, for example, served over rice (protein, fat, and carbs) checks all the boxes, too.
If you’re having a salad with just greens and chicken breast, you’re missing an opportunity to build a complete and balanced meal! Enhancing your meals is the key to being nourished and staying full. Add nuts or avocado (fat), and a whole grain or legume like farro or chickpeas (carbs), and you likely won’t be hungry again for hours.
You shouldn’t restrict your snacks, either!
No need to have just carrot sticks or popcorn. Eating a too-light snack and restricting yourself will only make you hungry sooner, and might trigger overeating at your next meal or when you try to find a more satisfying snack later.
Again, think of enhancing snacks until you have a mix of fast and slow energy. It’ll leave you better satiated and feeling more fulfilled. Add hummus to the carrot sticks or have edamame with your popcorn.
Fast and slow snack ideas:
Greek yogurt (protein and fat) with berries and chia seeds (carbs) will tide you over for hours.
A couple squares of dark chocolate (carbs and fat) and almonds (protein and fat) will satisfy a craving or two while providing fast and slow energy.
Whole wheat toast topped with peanut butter (carbs, protein, and fat) is as balanced as it is comforting.
Check out more snack ideas here.
Remember to keep your eating schedule steady. Studies show our hunger hormones are happier and we feel fuller if we eat scheduled times (2) (3). A good rule of thumbs is to eat every 3 to 4 hours.
What would a day of balanced, enhanced eating look like?
Sample day, re-mixed:
BREAKFAST = Coffee and a yogurt→ Add a carb and fat like fruit, muesli, and nuts, or granola with nuts, seeds or nut butter.
The yogurt supplies the protein, plus a little carbs.
LUNCH = Spring salad with cucumbers and tomatoes→ Add a carb like a whole grain such as quinoa, or fruit like apples.
→ Add a protein like tofu crumbles, chicken, or salmon.
→ Add a fat like avocado, olives, or nuts.
The greens bring volume, vitamins and minerals, but not much else. Enhance!
SNACK = chips → Add a protein like hummus to provide balance and satiety. More filling pairings will keep you from grabbing more chips, too!
→ Or, add protein and fat for a smaller meal → add mashed avocado (fat), a cheese slice (protein and fat), and some salsa or tomatoes (volume and fiber).
DINNER = cheese pizza→ Add a protein like meatballs (mind your portion size) to round out your meal so it’s more satiating.
→ Add a vegetable like a simple side salad or some roasted veggies. This will give you more volume and fiber, balancing out the other items on your plate while helping with digestion and blood sugar regulation.
Pizza counts as carbs and a little fat but might not satisfy long.
DESSERT = ½ pint of ice cream→ portion-control this to a serving of ice cream (around a 1/2 or 2/3 cup)
→ Add a protein like toasted almonds or some berries (carb) for volume
Ice cream already has fat and carbs (and a little protein to boot!)
The bottom line
To keep yourself nourished, energized, and full, create complete meals and snacks from slow and fast energy. Carbs, like whole grains, fruits, or beans, are fast energy because they fuel your body quickly. Protein and fat are slow energy because they take longer to digest and help keep you fuller longer (1). This New Year, don’t think of restricting what you eat. Instead, think of how you can enhance meals and snacks that you already enjoy!
FAQ
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Our main hunger hormones are leptin and ghrelin. Leptin promotes satiety and fullness. Ghrelin makes your stomach growl and induces hunger (4).
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Yes! Dark chocolate has more benefits than milk chocolate, though, because it has more cacao. It can be a good source of magnesium, antioxidants, and even fiber. The idea is to keep the cacao % high, and to eat moderate portions (5).
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Absolutely. They provide carbs, fiber, and minerals and vitamins. But they won’t keep you full for long. That’s why we suggest enhancing snacks with slow energy like protein and fats.
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Written by Kirstin Jackson
Kirstin Jackson earned a B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics in 2024 from San Francisco State University, and a B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from UC Berkeley in 2006. She is currently working on her M.A. in Family & Consumer Sciences and completing her Dietetic Internship at SF State. As a future dietitian, Kirstin is passionate about helping people realize their best relationships with food, and achieving their nutrition health goals. She has special interests in diabetes, kitchen nutrition, and weight-neutral care. When not interning, Kirstin teaches cheesemaking and cheese pairing classes. In her spare time she cooks, reads, hikes, lifts weights, and watches the Great British Baking Show.
This post was reviewed by Kelly Powers, MA, RDN. Kelly is a Registered Dietitian and Culinary Nutritionist who takes a holistic approach to nutrition and health. She’s a recipe developer with a food blog highlighting whole foods, simple recipes, and her life in San Francisco. Kelly is the creator of Weeknight Dinners, a weekly meal plan program that helps people get back in the kitchen and feed themselves well. Kelly specializes in meal planning, the Mediterranean diet, and sustainable behavior change, helping her clients reach their health goals while improving their relationship with food. She’s also a nutrition consultant for health and tech startups, food companies, and brands she believes in.