OT: The Food Pyramid Healthy Eating Plan

#1

Okay, it’s the new year, and time to shed those extra pounds. Some of us have decided to pursue healthier eating by using the US Food Pyramid as a guide.

I believe that if I keep myself filled with the PROPER foods, I won’t be hungry for JUNK!

Here is the website for the Food Pyramid.
http://www.mypyramid.gov/index.html

You just enter your age, gender, and activity level, and you’ll get a food pyramid to use as a guide. There are also worksheets and daily printouts you can use to help you to eat properly every day.

I’ve been following the plan now for about 3 days, and I feel MUCH better. Hopefully, I’ll even lose some weight! :slight_smile:

Come on and join the Pyramid Power Eaters Group!

#2

That looks really cool. I don’t think I could do it, but it sounds really cool! :cheering:

#3

I’m starting tomorrow! :cheering: :blooby:

#4

Yay Jenelle! :cheering:

So far, Ingrid, Stine, Jenelle, and I have joined up to be Pyramid Power Eaters! :slight_smile:

Today, I had grits and tea for breakfast, pineapple with cottage cheese for a snack, grilled chicken, corn, tomatoes and okra, and sweet peas for dinner, and a piece of cake for dessert. (Yeah, I cheated with the cake, but it was my only break from the plan since Monday.) I also had a handful of almonds for an afternoon snack, since I didn’t have lunch.

I can still have an apple with peanut butter before the day is through, so I’m doing pretty good.

#5

:cheering: for Shandeh!

Yesterday I had an omelette for breakfast–not sure how many eggs, but with tomato and bell peppers and swiss cheese. Lunch was cheese ravioli with pesto, snack of grapes and an apple in the afternoon, another snack of whole wheat pita and garlic hummus, and dinner was half a cornish game hen with the potatoes/carrots/parsnips from the pot roast mom made. (I’m not a big red meat eater.)

I’m having hard time eating ENOUGH–there’s not exactly much I can cut. :teehee:

Breakfast today was a bowl rice krispies with milk. I’m hungry, so I might go see if there’s something healthy I can buy for a snack to tide me over to lunch.

ETA: The cafeteria was still open! I got a green apple! :cheering:

Note to self: if having cereal for breakfast, supplement it with something else.

#6

:cheering: nice find, Shandeh!!! :cheering:

I started exercising (fast walking on treadmill) on Tuesday. I’ll use these food recommendations too!

#7

Stine, your food sounds WAY YUMMY!!! :inlove:
Can I move in with you and do the pyramid plan together? :teehee:

Welcome Jodi!! :hug:

#8

I slept all day today, because I’m still not quite over my recent bout of Whooping Cough. (YES! Whooping Cough! Can you believe it’s back?!)

Anyway, I stayed up all night knitting, and went to bed at 7 AM. I slept until almost 6 PM, so that was 11 hours. Hopefully, I’ve rested enough to help my body get better.

I haven’t had much time to eat yet, but so far, I’ve had milk, a piece of cake (yes, I was stupid to make it yesterday), a tomato sandwich, and now I’m working on a turkey, tomato, and spinach sandwich. I’m trying to eat enough to make up for breakfast and lunch.

I asked my hubby to take the cake to work today, but he forgot apparently. So, I’ll get him to take it tomorrow instead. I decided to make the cake yesterday, because I felt that we both deserved a treat for eating good all week, plus I have FIVE BOXES OF CAKE MIX and FIVE CONTAINERS OF FROSTING in my kitchen cabinet! (I must have gotten them on sale in the past few months.) So, now I’m trying to make all the cakes and get rid of them. They are too much of a temptation here with my food pyramid guidelines.

I figure that if I make them and send them to work with Marvin, his crew will eat them all in about a week. :thumbsup: I’m sure they won’t mind taking care of them for me. :slight_smile:

#9

Thanks for the cool site. That is a handy tool… I have been trying to eat better for a few weeks, and was wondering if I was eating enough of the good stuff. This will help!! :cheering:

#10

I plan to start eating better, too. I just have to get rid of all the leftover holiday goodies - cookies, fudge, candy etc. I know I should just throw it all out, but that seems so wasteful, so I end up eating it. :shrug:

#11

RachelJean, take it to someone’s work, or send it to church. Let everyone else get bigger! :teehee:

#12

We always take food into work when we’re not going to eat it.

I was good yesterday, except for some mozzarella sticks. I only ate three though.

I got my oil changed/car tuned up today at the dealer, and they have a cafe and there was all this junk and delicious smelling food. Soooo hard to be good.

#13

Well, the mozzarella sticks count as a milk product, so that’s not too bad.

(except for being fried in oil) :teehee:

#14

Try having oatmeal instead. Same calories, more fiber. For old fashioned oatmeal it only takes 6 min. at half power in a microwave. A little sweetner and a banana and you’re in business until lunch :thumbsup:

#15

I just ordered a book on Amazon called " The Good Mood Diet: Fee Great While You Lose Weight". It’s supposed to be great… When it arrives, if you guys want, I’ll post some of the ideas I find in the book. Would anyone be interested?

#16

I’d be interested. One of the reasons I wanted to start eating healthier is because when I don’t eat, I feel really down and gloomy, which makes me want to eat even less.

I can’t say I stuck to the pyramid today as well as I should, but I did eat breakfast (I’m becoming a big fan of oatmeal.) I kind of skipped over lunch and just snacked on some Chex Mix. I have to say that by dinner I was absolutely starving! I guess my body is getting used to being fed.

We went to Wendy’s and I ordered a bacon & cheese potato, a Frescata anda full-sized salad. :oops: I didn’t even open the salad–that’ll be lunch tomorrow.

I definitely feel the difference after this week in my mood and energy level. :happydance:

#17

I recently bought a Jack LaLanne Juicer. Every morning, I make some fresh juice and I swear, I feel so much better!!! I’m not hungry until well into the afternoon, and have more energy, it’s great.

As soon as the book arrives, I’ll flip through it and see if I can find some helpful hints and fun facts to share. I read a lot about the book and the theories behind it before I ordered it. It seems like it’s legit, and several studies seem to back up the information the book presents. So, we’ll see what happens.

#18

My father had one of those healthy juicers, and when he went into a nursing home I think I took it here. I’ll have to look for it–that would get me my fruits, for sure, though I don’t think I’d be too fond of juice with veggies in it.

#19

The other day, I made vegetable soup using my juicer. It was much healthier than the canned soups and broth products in stores because it didn’t have any sodium in it. I took approximately 12 roma tomatoes, celery, carrots, an onion, cilantro, parsley, potatoes, etc and juiced them. Then, I added the pulp, cut up some more veggies, added some herbs and spices, cooked it in my electric steamer/skillet for about an hour… it was wonderful. It made enough for dinner for my husband and me, and lunch for both of us the next day.

#20

Thanks for posting this. Today at lunch we were talking about making our menu for the week and decided to base it on the food pyramid. Sowe will start with our fruit, then veggies and then add our main dishes.

We are also putting a pitcher of filtered water in the fridge for us all to share. My son who is also watching his weight was so excited that he had drank 4 cups today almost effortlessly. Cold water just tastes so much better to me. I also started buying the bottles of water in the case and keeping them in the truck so we have no excuse to buy cokes on errands. I must be maturing, cause I feel responsible, not like any of this is a drag. heh

I agree a bowl of cereal is not filling enough. I love Malt-O-Meal, even with butter, a tiny bit of brown sugar (or honey, stevia, or splenda) and a handful of raisins, or sometimes three handfulls of raisins, it’ll keep me going till 2. :slight_smile: Often it is my snack when I want to eat something bad.