In the past, I spent a lot of time trying to lose weight the quick, overnight, gimmicky way. Always purchasing this or that “As Seen on TV” product that would guarantee maximum results with little to no effort, yes, I was a foolish owner of a belly belt that electrocuted me under the guise of ab contracting pulses. I thought all one had to do to lose weight was walk fifteen minutes or so, maybe even sweat, and the pounds would melt off.
Ha Ha.
The thing that I never considered thinking about was food. When I was younger, we had the food pyramid, and it gave direction on what we should eat and how much. The public school system pushed the idea that they were giving us the most nutritious meals for breakfast and lunch, but they provided smaller portions of sugared fat bombs. If you were a lucky person who had money, you could easily purchase your lunch ala carte and double your food intake. I took advantage of that menu as much as possible, buying double fries with cheese, cookies, puddings, and cake.
By the time I graduated High school and had a couple of kids, the government pushed a revamped food guideline called MyPlate. When I attempted to lose weight with a nutritionist, I was given this plate to show me what and how much I could eat in a sitting, and this plate did not hold much. I guess that was the point.
According to the experts and health professionals, we should follow the MyPlate guidelines for improved health, increased stamina, and even weight loss.
The MyPlate works like this:
Half of your plate is fruits and vegetables- more veggies that fruit with a focus on whole natural fruit.
More than half of your plate is whole grains- Like your wheats and oatmeals. Limit the refined grains like white bread and rice.
The smallest portion of the plate belongs to your proteins- Meats, beans or fish.
Then there is dairy off to the side- Milk, cheese and yogurt etc. (Site suggests Low-fat or Fat-free options)
So what is wrong with the guidelines? Nothing. Eating this way should work for plenty of people, including me. It’s healthy, balanced, and available to almost everyone at no cost.
This program should work, but I couldn’t get with it the first, second, or third time it was offered to me. I looked at this plate and saw nothing but restrictions, and I didn’t do well with restrictions. This plate was hard for me and a nightmare on my food budget as a young mom trying to stretch the grocery budget. My family ate a vegetable every night with dinner, usually frozen corn, peas, or broccoli. We couldn’t afford fresh fruit all the time, so canned had to do. As a young family, we ate fundamental meals.
Breakfast- Cereal with whole milk, poptarts with milk, eggs, bacon, toast or biscuits.
Lunch- School provided, fast food, or peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches.
Dinner- Meat, starch, vegetable and Kool-aid (made with 1 1/2 cups of sugar)
That was the rotation.
As I got older, I did learn how to incorporate what I should eat with what I wanted, learned how to shop and navigate the aisles of the grocery store properly, and learned how to feed my growing children on a budget properly, but I still had a problem with food. More on that later.
Have you ever had to use the MyPlate? Was it a good experience? Leave a comment if it was beneficial to you or not. I would love to hear from you.
If you are curious about the new MyPlate or taking the quiz to see how your personalized plate would look, click the link anywhere you see MyPlate.
Until next time.
Anissa Marie.
AnissaMarie 