The Plan

So what’s my plan?

Well, I’m still working on that. This has been my downfall in the past. None of the plans out there really FIT me.

This time, it's going to be different. I started by checking out the US Food Pyramid. I figure, there’s a place that’s done a lot of research and should be the "well of information" I'm looking for. What could be simpler than a pretty triangle, right? Well, initially, I found the website information poorly laid out and confusing, so I dismissed it. Then I checked out the Canadian food guide, which had good information, but it didn’t seem to be customizable.

While I was at library the other day and I happened upon a whole series of “books for dummies” (basically) explaining the food pyramid, which is kind of crazy as, as I understood it, the food pyramid was a tool that was supposed to make nutrition easier to understand. However, in reality, it’s as I assumed. Finding the right balance for each individual is not a simple task and certainly not as simple as a colored coded triangle.

My opinion, for what it’s worth, is that while the premise of the food pyramid is good, they don’t make it very clear that there’s more, way more, to it than that. Everyone PUSHES it as a simple tool, but it’s not. It’s a decent start, but in reality, there are just too many variables to consider. And we all know this and but we want it to be simple anyway.

But, I read the book I picked up at the library and have gotten some useful information from it. I have also been puttering around on the US food pyramid web site. It’s not an easy website to use, but I’ve decided to try out their (USDA Food pyramid) food tracker for a few days to see what kind of information it gives me. I like the fact that the website will modify the amount of food recommended if you are trying to either maintain or lose weight and considers weight/height/age/gender into the equation. It all matters. And well, it’s all about me, Me, ME right now, so this is what I was interested in. (ha)

It makes sense to me that not everyone SHOULD be eating 7 portions of vegetables, 3 of protein, etc. I’d certainly GAIN weight if I ate all of that; good for me or not. However, the way that the pyramid defines portions is not clearly written in an easy to find manner. You have to dig wayyy down in the website to find that. Generally, it just tells you in “ounces” how much of certain things to eat. From a math perspective, it makes sense, from a person trying to figure out how much to eat, it’s confusing. I did find measurements that make it simple to define a portion (using measuring cups/spoons). It may not be 100% accurate, but at least it’s easier.

I’m going to give this a shot and see how it goes. I’m still working through the details of getting things loaded in, but I’ll report back later on with my experience.

So I guess my general plan for now, is to watch what I’m eating for the next week or 2. I’m going to walk 30 minutes every day and do strengthening exercises twice a week (likely on the Wii). I’ll be teaching Pilates again starting this week as well (I hope!) and I’ll count that as a bonus.

As I said before, this will be an evolving process, but I do need a place to start and this is where I’ll start.

Drop me a line or leave a comment if you’d like to share your journey. I’d love to hear from you!