MyPyramid.gov



Well day 4 of the diet and I have already learned several things about myself and my daughter, first counting calories works great for me and Rach loathes the thought of it. Less than 1200 calories a day is almost impossible for me to maintain on a consistent basis, but I can easily stay within 1400 calories. Rach does not want to be introduced to leafy green vegetables. On Sunday we regrouped our strategy and went to the FDA website mypyramid.gov and fed in our profiles and customized food pyramids for the entire family. What we learned, is that according to the USDA I can lose weight and consume the recommended daily allowance of the basic food groups, grains, fruits, vegetables, milk and protein on 1600 calories, Rach on 2000, and Michael needs to double his food intake. The website has lots of calculators that allows you to calculate exchanges for common prepared items like frozen pizza, herb roasted potatoes, etc. It also lets you put in what you had and creates an bar graph of how you did each day. After four days of tracking what I eat, I learned a few interesting facts about my diet, I don't eat enough grain or milk. I eat double the daily recommended allowance of vegetables, nearly 5 cups in a day. almost all of the carbs in my diet are fresh fruits. The low grain is likely due to years of cutting carbs because of my diabetes, but I think I need to find a few complex grains and cut back on the fruits and if I can choke it down drink 8 ounces of skim milk with at least one of meals. I am hoping by sticking to nutritional needs instead of diet, my entire family will benefit from better nutrition. Its Monday, and surprisingly I am feeling groovy despite myself.