Time to do away with all those ‘This is the one!’ diets: throw them away, out of your house and out of your mind and prepare to go about losing weight in a way that you can really enjoy. Sound impossible? Not at all: the enjoyment comes as you watch the slow but steady loss of pounds you thought were yours for life. You’re going to look and feel better, so get ready to take charge: here are four ways to eat healthy; one or more of them can be your roadmap to permanently losing those pounds.
The USDA Food Pyramid In this system, foods are placed in a pyramid according to their importance in your daily food plan. The largest group, grains, forms the foundation of your day’s food plan, providing 6-11 servings per day . Fruits and vegetables provide 5-9 servings per day. The dairy group supplies 2-3 daily servings. At the top we find the fats/oils/sweets group, to be used sparingly. You will need a food values guidebook to give you relative nutrition information for each food so that you can make wise choices; with this information and perhaps the help of a dietician, you can build a successful eating plan.
The Plate System With this approach, you mentally divide your plate in half, then divide one of the half spaces in half again, giving you three spaces, ½, ¼, and another ¼ . Fill the ½ size portion with a variety of vegetables – tomatoes, green beans, salad greens, squash, etc. Fill one of the ¼ size portions of the plate with a serving of meat or other protein such as eggs or cheese; and fill the remaining portion with grain products such as bread, rice, or pasta. Fruits can take the place of desserts if you like, or can be included with the vegetables for variety. Dairy can be a glass of milk, butter and sour cream for your potato, or a serving of cottage cheese. In both of these eating plans, it is up to you to control portion size: you can eat any healthy food you want, but if you want to lose weight you will need to eat less.
The Exchange Lists System This system is designed to more closely control the amounts of fat, protein, and carbohydrates you are allowed. The lists provide several food choices that you can “exchange” for other foods in that same category, giving you more choices while still keeping your food plan on target. The lists themselves are divided into these categories: Starches, (beans/peas; Grains ( bread/rice/pasta; Fruits and Vegetables; Dairy; Meat and other Poteins; and Fats. The amounts of foods in each category are adjusted to fit the given carb, calorie, and fat allowances for that category. Your dietician can provide you with an exchange list chart and can help you plan how much of each food group you need in order to both stay healthy and lose weight.
The Carbohydrate Counting System This is the most tightly controlled of the four systems, and requires that you chart nutrition values for everything you eat. It also is the most accurate, showing you exactly how many calories, fat grams, carbs, and protein grams you are eating. You can easily obtain nutritient information for most foods, either from its packaging or from one of the many of the ‘calorie counter’-type reference books available. You and your dietician can set goals, deciding how many calories and carbs are good for you.
Your job now is to choose a diet plan, add in regular exercise, and start your journey to a new, healthier you. You have the tools. Once you have the motivation, there is not much to stop you, so get started, and good luck!