Balanced Eating Made Simple – Understanding Macros and Healthy Food Choices
KEEP IN BALANCE
When you hear “healthy diet”, what comes to mind?
Salads? Smoothies? Giving up your favorite foods? 😩
You’re not alone — healthy eating can feel super confusing.
Before we dive into grocery lists or how to build a healthy plate, let’s take a step back:
What do we mean with a “healthy” food?
We put “healthy” in quotes because we don’t believe in labeling foods as healthy or unhealthy. Instead, we look at how foods impact your goals—some move you closer, others slow you down. Certain foods are also more or less associated with specific health markers, but context always matters.
At Welling, we keep it to the basics to make it simple to understand and follow. We define a healthy diet as a balanced diet — one that fuels your body with the right mix of macronutrients.
Quick Fact Sheet On Macronutrients
Macronutrients (macros) are the nutrients your body needs in large amounts — and each has its own job:
Carbs/carbohydrates – Your body’s #1 energy source
1g of carbs = 4 calories
Found in: fruits, veggies, grains, rice, bread 🥖
Look for: high-fiber, low-added sugar options
Fats – Help absorb vitamins, protect organs, regulate hormones
1g of fat = 9 calories
Found in: nuts, olive oil, avocado 🥑
Stick with unsaturated fats over trans/saturated ones. Trans/saturated fats are fats you get often from fried foods. They are linked to LDL (“bad”) cholesterol.
Protein – Builds muscle, skin, and hair, and keeps you full
1g of protein = 4 calories
Found in: eggs, chicken, fish, tofu, beans, meats 🍗
Helps repair and maintain every cell in your body. Essential if you want to grow muscle.
In what ratio of protein, carbs and fats are you eating?
Below is a visualization of a balanced plate. For every meal you want your plate to have roughly 50% of fruits/vegetables, 25% of proteins and 25% of cereals/grains.
Generally, a balanced diet is 55/20/25. That means 55% of your calories come from carbs, 20% comes from protein, and 25% comes from fats.
You can increase your protein percentage and have a high protein diet. Or you can lower the carbs percentage and have a low carb diet.
You can also use this visual representation of a balanced plate by USDA called MyPlate.
Real-World Food Macro Breakdowns
You can look at the macro ratios on a daily intake level, a meal level and a foods level.
Let’s look at three everyday foods and their macro ratio.
🧀 Cheddar Cheese (High in Fats)
72% fats | 25% protein | 3% carbs
→ Rich in protein and calcium, but high in fat.
→ Great for hitting fat and protein goals — just watch portion sizes.
🧆 Tofu (Low Carb)
52% fat | 43% protein | 5% carbs
→ A vegan-friendly, well-balanced source of macros.
→ Mild flavor makes it easy to add to meals for a protein-fat boost.
🍗 Grilled Chicken Breast (High in Protein)
90% protein | 5% fat | 5% carbs
→ One of the leanest and most effective protein sources.
→ Perfect when you're low on protein and don’t want extra fats or carbs.
Do you know where your fats, carbs and protein come from?
Welling helps you see which foods contributed to your protein, fat, and carbs.
Using the Key Contributors table, you can easily see which foods made you go over your fats or carbs limit. Helpful right?
Tap into Macros and scroll down to see the Key Contributors.
Ask Welling how to hit your daily macros
Here’s where Welling becomes your secret weapon:
Let’s say it’s 5PM and you are already close to your fats target, but still need protein for the day.
Just ask Welling. “give me a list of foods to help me hit my remaining proteins today”
Welling checks your remaining macros and gives you suggestions that fit your remaining fats, carbs and protein for the day.
This simplifies making food choices and staying on track with your goals.
If you’re not sure where to start, aim to follow the balanced plate as closely as you can — it’s a simple, effective guide. For your next meal, just try to get a little closer.
You may not get it right the first time and you may not be able to do it all the time. And that’s okay. Getting it right is not expected, making small progress is.
