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After stocking your kitchen for easy-to-handle healthy meals, take note of some sage advice on cooking. Tip one: size matters ...

This is the fifth, and last, in ReZoom's series about turning your kitchen into a veritable cornucopia of possibility for cooking vibrant, healthy meals.

Once you've learned about labels, stocked the pantry and the fridge with healthy foods and purchased the best cookware, the last recipe for longevity in our series is how to eat. Consuming an appropriate mix of calories and nutrients (protein for muscle, carbohydrates for fuel, and heart-healthy fats), plus practicing portion control will make all the difference when planning meals.

Size Matters
One of the easiest ways to control calorie intake is to understand portion sizes and the basic fact that a super-sized anything is likely to tip the scales against your favor. A number of simple comparisons can help you determine preferred portion sizes. For example, one bread serving is half of a hockey puck-sized bagel, while a single portion of pasta is about the size of a tennis ball. Fruits like apples, oranges or peaches should be roughly the size of a baseball, and a vegetable serving is 1/2 cup or about a light bulb's worth. The recommended three ounces of meat equals the size of a deck of cards; and 1-1/2 ounces of cheese is the size of three domino tiles.

Mix it Up

It may seem like a daunting task, but managing your weight is all about balance. Though somewhat simplified, the basic principle is that to lose weight, you must consume fewer calories than your body burns. Eat more than you burn in a day, and your body will store those extra calories as fat.
"Healthy eating involves consuming a variety of nutrient-rich foods while at the same time practicing moderation," says Caryn Honig, RD, LD, a weight management specialist and owner of The Healthy Weight Wellness clinic in Houston, Texas. "Your daily food selection should include a variety of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy and protein-rich foods. How much you eat depends on your own individual caloric needs and distributing those calories among balanced meals eaten at regular intervals."

Create Your Own Cookbook — and Legacy
In addition to finding health-conscious recipes on the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association's official websites, a number of food-focused websites and healthy living magazines provide free online recipes that you can print out in recipe card or full-page formats. Spice up your recipe repertoire, and challenge yourself to cook at least two new recipes a week. When searching for new recipes, try to cook more with healthy ingredients, such as lean meats and fish; anything that's baked, broiled or grilled; fiber from whole grains; low-fat dairy products; and plenty of vegetables. Keep the recipes that you and your family have enjoyed in an inexpensive three-ring binder so you can refer back to them often.

Cut Calories and Cholesterol
Bake your cake and eat it too by cutting the calories and fat with nonstick pans and cooking sprays instead of oil or butter. Increase low-calorie ingredients by adding extra grated vegetables (zucchini or carrots both work well) to breads, muffins or coffee cakes. Try using egg substitute in recipes that require more than one egg. A quarter cup of substitute equals one egg and removes 5 grams of fat and 213mg of cholesterol from your recipe. Keep in mind that you'll want to use plenty of herbs and spices in cooking (and baking when appropriate) to add back a little of the lost flavor when you reduce fat, sugar, and sodium.

See previous installments in our Healthy Kitchen Redo series:

• On the Front Burner
• Refrigerator Refurbish
• Label Lingo
• Pantry Upgrade