Tabletop Nutrition

Diabetes
Place Mat Kit

Weight Management
Place Mat Kit

MyPyramid
Place Mat Kit

Nutrition Place Mat for Weight Management Education Kit
for Nutrition & Health Educators
Click for what's included in each kit.

Here's an effective, easy-to-use tool for teaching patients how to apply a nutritional plan in their daily diet. The Nutrition Place Mat for Weight Management is a sturdy, heavily laminated, 11" by 17" place mat that can be used over and over. The Kit includes 4 sample meal plans -- one each for 2250, 1800, 1500, and 1250 calories per day plus a blank template for you to fill in custom plans as needed for some patients.

TIP
The Nutrition Place Mat for Weight Management is an even more effective tool when your patients have Place Mats of their own to use at home.

Here's how it works:
One side of the Weight Management Place Mat lists food choices and individual portion sizes for each food category on the individualized meal plan you're giving your patient. This list replaces traditional paper lists, which are easily damaged or lost.

When showing your patient how to plan meals, use the dry-erase marker provided in the kit to write their daily meal plan targets in the space below the food pictures. Then show the patient how to plan a meal by tallying the food items on the list as they make their meals throughout the day. When you're finished illustrating a plan, simply use a dry cloth or tissue to erase the Weight Management Place Mat - then it's ready for the next example or teaching session.

Carbohydrate/energy-food categories - starch and bread, fruit, milk and other carbohydrates -which can be exchanged for each other, are color coded in yellow for easy identification and proper selection. Other food categories - vegetables, meat, fat and free foods - are individually color-coded.

The Weight Management Place Mat can also be used as a return demonstration tool to assess the patient's knowledge of meal planning.

The other side of the Nutrition Place Mat for Weight Management illustrates the "Plate Method" of managing a diet for proper nutrition and weight control. It can be used for teaching the "Plate Method" to patients using plastic food representing choices and serving sizes appropriate for a healthy, balanced diet.

The food groups shown in yellow on the top half of the Plate Method are carbohydrates/energy foods - fruit, milk, starch and bread. Other food groups (meat, vegetables, fat and free foods) are distinguished with their own colored backgrounds. These food categories are shown in proportion to how much of each could be eaten in a healthy, balanced diet.

If your patients have their own Nutrition Place Mat for Weight Management Mat at home, encourage them to use the included "Weight Management Tally Sheet" to record their weight and food choices each day, before erasing that information from their Place Mat. This will show their progress, helping motivate them to stay on their plan. Also encourage them to keep the Place Mat on their table top or refrigerator between meals and snacks as a constant reminder to stay on their prescribed meal plan.

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Have your patients bring in the Weight Management Tally Sheets during each appointment so you can review their progress.

To sum up… The Weight Management Place Mat Works!

It’s easy to use – the large 11” by 17” size can accommodate all vital information on one page

It’s durable – heavily laminated to last

It’s reusable – wipes clean easily so it’s ready for the next use

It’s visible – making it a constant reminder to stay on the plan

Nutrition Place Mat for Weight Management Education Kit
WM-Ed Kit - Includes:

Write-On/Wipe-Off Weight Management Place Mat Here's a terrific, easy-to-use tool tool for showing your patients how to apply a nutritional plan in their daily diet! Why? Because this laminated 11" by 17" mat is not only durable and reusable, its eye-catching color-coded foods list also helps patients remember what you're teaching them.

Dry Erase Marker For use on the Weight Management Place Mat to check off portions for each meal or snack.

Calculated Meal Plans Sample meal plans of commonly prescribed daily diets (1250, 1500, 1800, and 2250 calories), plus a blank template for customized meal plans.

1 Copy-ready Weight Management Tally Sheet To show each day's progress, providing motivation for patients to stay on their plan.

Instruction Guide For correct use of the Weight Management Place Mat.

1 Set of Copy-ready Handouts of the Nutrition Information Guide and Meal Planning Practice Sheets