How can the food pyramid be right?

Based on the food pyramid I could eat a day:

Breads, Cereals, Rice, & Pasta: 6 to 11 servings a day.
Vegetable group at least 3 to 5 times each day.
2 to 4 servings from the
Fruit Group as part of your daily diet.
Milk, Yogurt & Cheese
to just 2 to 3 items per day.
Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs & Nuts
through 2 to 3 servings every day
Top off your daily eating plan with
Fats, Oils & Sweets, but only in small quantities

SO that means I could eat (given their servings)

5 slices of bread
2 cups of rice
2 cups of spaghetti
1 cup of cereal
2 1/2 cups of vegetables
1 cup canned fruit
2 pieces of medium sized fruit
1 cup of milk
1 cup yogurt
2 oz cheese
6 oz meat
2 eggs
little bit of sweets or dressings

How is someone NOT going to gain weight on this plan? It just seems like a lot to me.

Actually, you probably wouldn't gain weight. While you're consuming a lot of calories, you're not taking in very much fat. Keep in mind that 6 ounces of meat is right about the size of a closed fist--or one hamburger, which is not very much for an entire day's worth of food.

And if you couple the recommended food intake with the recommended daily physical activity, then you'd use up those calories and be right about the perfect weight.

Or you can be like me and eat what looks good while you sit on the couch watching Judge Judy

quote:

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Or you can be like me and eat what looks good while you sit on the couch watching Judge Judy

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I do that already!

Then why do you care what the food pyramid says?? Doritos aren't even on it!

OFRLMAO!

Good Point!

Ok forget I asked!

Well that is a lot of food, if you sit down to a table with all that on it and try to eat it in one big meal.

one thing that many folk do not know is that we are grazers, we are not designed to eat 3 meals a day.

The English understand this concept, that is why they have teas, snacks, 4sies - smaller meals taken 5-6 times over the course of a day means you are supplying the body with a steady source of fuel.

Spread out over six smaller meals throughout the day coupled with an "active" life style the net calorie intake is about 2000-3000 per day.

Not only this but if you are 6'1" weighting in at 198#, work construction or similar manual labor, you would opt for the maximum recommended amounts - if on the other hand you are 5'3", 90# and work in front of a computer all day long you would opt for the minimal amounts.

Mind the food pyramid is a basic guideline which will give you the minimal amounts of all the protein, carbs, fats, sugars, minerals and vitamins you need to remain healthy.

Cheers

David

David's point is very good. (Most) women, children, and the ederly are recommended to have the minimum number of servings; (most) men, active women, and teenage girls are recommended to have somewhere in the mid-range; and teen boys and active men are recommended to have the maximum number of servings.

Breakfast:
A bowl of cereal 1 grain
with milk 1 dairy
and an orange juice. 1 fruit

Lunch:
An apple - 1 fruit
A small salad - 2 vegetable
2 pieces bread - 2 or 3 grain (slices are big now)
2 pieces of cheese
1 serving of meat

Dinner:
Pasta - two servings bread
Marinara sauce - one serving vegetable
Sausage - one serving meat
Beans - one serving vegetable
garlic bread - one or two serving bread

TOTAL:
Bread and cereal group = 6-8
Vegetable/fruit = 5
Meat = 2
Dairy = 2
Fats and oils - on garlic bread, sausage and in cheese

That doesn't seem too bad.

Also Clare, remember most people when they eat a bowl of cereal or a plate of spaghetti eat way more than 1/2 cup or 1 cup servings, same with most other food servings. Grape Nut cereal used to place the serving size at 1/4 cup, put that into a bowl and see how little it is.