Friday, February 10, 2012

What's To Eat?

I recently completed an online health assessment that was offered through our health insurance plan.  It had questions about my health history, exercise habits, and diet.  At one point, I had to figure out what I ate.  The assessment approached the serving size concept in a way that was new to me. Instead of asking how many servings of fruits and vegetables I ate each day, the question was how many cups of each I consumed.  I didn't know, but I gave it my best shot.

I wondered where they'd come up with the "cup" concept, so I did some research.  Last year the food pyramid I've been used to seeing gave way to a new model, MyPlate, which emphasizes "whole" foods.  According to the model plate, my diet should be 30 percent grains, 30 percent vegetables, 20 percent fruits and 20 percent protein, and a small portion of dairy.  Another Website, Fruit and Veggies Matter, suggested that women in my age bracket should eat 2 1/2 cups of vegetables a day, and 1 1/2-2 cups of fruit.

 I think I have a pretty good diet, and have the guidelines covered, but I thought I'd see just how I was doing.  Yesterday I was making  my lunch for work.  After putting some leftover roast beef, a muffin, and grapes in my bag I cut up some broccoli, then used a measuring cup to see how much was there. It was substantially less than I would have guessed; my portion wasn't a real serving!  I got out two small carrots and cut them up too.  When I was done the vegetables almost filled a sandwich-sized Ziploc bag.  Other than the times I've had a main dish salad, I don't think I've ever had that many vegetables with a meal.

At lunchtime, I started with the vegetables, which really filled me up.  Instead of getting hungry two hours later, I was able to make it until the end of my shift without feeling familshed.   That's a good thing; I hate to talk to customers when my stomach is growling!

6 comments:

  1. I should try actually measuring my veggies. I feel like I eat a good amount (when I eat them), but I may not actually be getting a serving when I eat them.

    I started putting spinach into my smoothies - which is a serving of veggies and fruits (with the banana). Can't taste the spinach, but it makes me feel better that I am getting the veggies.

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  2. Gracious! That is a lot of veggies! Wow!

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  3. I think we're doing pretty well in Hawaii since my mother cooks mostly veggies.

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  4. Interesting! Seems like they change that food pyramid every few years, doesn't it?

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  5. sounds like you will be eating more vegetables from now on, very healthy!

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  6. I love this site. Just linked it on Twitter this morning. We have shifted over the past few years to a plant based diet. Oh, we still have some meat, but certainly not every day, more like two or three times a week. I think both of us are much healthier for this.

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