1. A Guide to Daily Food Choices!
My Plate
A Guide to Daily Food Choices!
At the end of this lecture, participants should be able to:
identify components of the current pyramid and discuss some of the flaws.
Distinguish between healthy fats and unhealthy fats and identify food sources which contain each.
identify components a proposed healthier pyramid by Dr. Willet.
use the image of a plate in helping to make healthy choices with respect to proportion size and food sources.
acknowledge that they should “eat only when hungry” and “stop eating when full”
Though this is a pretty full lecture, take a minute to remind participants that they should enjoy the experience of eating. Try to avoid eating when you are standing, driving, studying, watching TV or are in front of a computer screen. Additionally people who avoid eating after 8:00PM, are more likely to maintain a healthy weight. Your body needs the break to work on adequately digesting the food that has come in and for most part most people have little need for the extra calories – given that they are soon off to bed.
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2. What’s on Your Plate? VEGETABLES FRUITS GRAINS PROTEINS
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3. Build a Healthy Plate Make half your plate fruits & veggies
Switch to Skim or 1% milk
Make at least half your grains whole
Vary your protein food choices
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4. Discuss the levels of the pyramid and examples of what foods belong at each level. Quiz the kids by asking them where certain foods belong. (doughnuts, salmon, kiwi, pancakes….) Children typically follow the lower number for recommended number of servings at each level.
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5. Limit foods high in solid fats, added sugars, & salt
Choose foods and drinks with little or no added sugars.
Look out for salt in foods you buy-it all adds up.
Eat fewer foods that are high in solid fats.
The current food pyramid has come under much fire because of the epidemic increases in obesity. We have not done well by this pyramid and the USDA has recognized that it must change. They continue to solicit feedback as they attempt to re-define what a new model should look. A new version is expected in The pyramid shape because of it’s recognizability will likely remain.
As with all things, politics are also at the root of the debate. Strong lobbying groups (The Cattlemen’s Association, The American Dairy Council..) have the ability to influence public policy set by this government based department.
One of the biggest flaws is over the clarity of a serving size. Consider discrepancies between what’s on the pyramid vs. what’s on a food label. (One the pyramid, a ½ bagel is considered one serving but on the food label for frozen bagels, a serving is considered on whole bagel.) Consider real life. Remind participants of the examples you did for cereal or pasta.
Eleven servings of bread, cereal, rice and pasta can add up much more quickly than what you may have realized. We are eating much more than what we realize! Additionally, we are far more sedentary.
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6. Choose the right amount of Calories for You!
Everyone has a personal calorie limit.
Enjoy your food, but eat less.
Cook more often at home.
When eating out, choose lower calorie menu options.
When the pyramid was conceived, experts at the time felt that it was too complex for people to understand the difference between types of fat. Given widespread concerns about heart disease, the decision was made to keep it simple and promote a message that “fats were bad”.
With more research in hand and the alarming trend towards increased obesity, the message has changed. We don’t want to go to far down the road of biochemistry. Suffice to say that::
HDL keeps the vessel walls healthy. LDL causes plaque formation and trauma to the vessel walls. It is also important to look not just at the actual numbers but also at the ratio of the two.
When making a choice – look beyond the total number of fat grams and identify what type of fat is in the product.
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7. Be Physically Active
Pick activities that you like and start by doing what you can, at least 10 minutes at a time.
Every bit adds up.
The health benefits increase as you spend more time being active.
Discuss sources of healthy fats. Keep in mind that fat is “calorie dense”. So why it may be good for you –you need to watch how much of it you eat.
As an example, bring in a container of nuts. Have a participant read the label for serving size and calories. Show what a serving looks like by measuring it out. Reinforce points from previous week about using small containers to keep participants to a single serving and to fool your eyes into thinking you’re eating more.
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8. Use food labels to make better choices
Most packaged foods have a Nutritional Facts label and an ingredients list.
For a healthier you, use this tool to make smart food choices quickly and easily.
Have participants look at a label from a box of all beef hot dogs or frozen hamburgers to see the amount of saturated fat in a single serving and the percentage that relates to for their daily allotment.
Repeat for butter and ice cream (the gourmet ice creams will drive your point home!).
Look at the list of ingredients for commercially baked foods for the term “hydrogenated oil”. Hydrogenated oils are used primarily for preserving the shelf life of product. These are the trans fats which we will discuss more in detail next week. Most margarine blends contain transfats. You may start to see more products developed without hydrogenated oils as consumers begin to realize how bad this oil is.
Fried food are soaking up the saturated and transfats they are cooked in. Despite what’s been said, the country fried secret recipe blend at KFC is not a healthy food choice!
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9. Vegetables and Fruits
Eat more red, orange, and dark-green veggies like tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and broccoli in main dishes.
Use fruits as snacks, salads, and desserts.
Fresh or Frozen Fruits and Veggies are the best choice.
When they removed the fats from products and we all tried to move to a low fat lifestyle, they added sugar to still keep our taste buds happy. For many people there was a license to eat as much as you want because the product was “fat free”. Compare Snack Well Fat Free Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies with the Chips Ahoy. (Close to the same amount of calories. The difference is in the number of fat grams vs. the number of sugar.) Remember a calorie is a calorie is a calorie!!!!
Remind participants that unused carbs are actually stored as fat. Yet another reason why the food pyramid back fired.
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10. Cut back on empty calories from solid fats and added sugars
Look out for salt in foods you buy
Drink water instead of sugary drinks
Eat sugary desserts less often
Limit empty calories to less than 260 per day, based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This document is intended for the exclusive use of Growing Up Fit certified personnel and contains information that is copyrighted. All personnel must obtain permission to copy this information. Dissemination of this document is prohibited.

11. Refer Participants to copy of Healthy Eating Pyramid
There are many variations in the food pyramid currently circulating. This modified pyramid is based on sound scientific evidence and was designed by Dr. Walter Willet from the Harvard School of Medicine.
Some points to discuss are:
At the base of the pyramid is daily exercise and maintaining a healthy weight. At the bottom are oils - a complete reversal from the original pyramid! Vegetables should be eaten in abundance and fruits at every meal. Nuts are recommended 1-3x a day – but remember what a serving looks like! Lean protein is recommended in the form of fish, poultry, and eggs in combination with the nuts and legumes. One to two servings a day of lean dairy is recommended. At the top of the pyramid, are red meat and butter. The recommendation of sparingly translates to 1-2x a month!
How often are you eating red meat in a week? If you’re eating it every day, cut back to 3-4x to start. If you’re eating it 3-4x, cut back to 1-2x a week. If you’re down to once a week or less, you’re in good shape.
Also at the top are many of the items that were at the base in the original pyramid. Review these. There is still room for whole grain foods – high fiber cereals and breads. It’s recommended at most meals which translates to 3-4 servings a day. Think again about serving size. This is substantially lower!
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12. Your Dinner Plate Fruits and Vegetables Grains Proteins
WATER Or
Low Fat
Milk
Here’s our attempt at a model that promotes moderation and healthy proportions. Using the image of a plate, half of your plate should be filled with fruits and vegetables. The fresher the better! (frozen and canned are okay but avoid foods that contain added sugars and salt. One quarter of your plate should contain a lean protein. The serving should be no bigger than the size of your palm (not to be confused with your entire hand to the length of your fingers.) The other quarter of your plate is saved for a serving of starch. Starches (many of the things previously at the base of the pyramid) are potatoes, rice, breads, pasta, and corn.
Solicit answers from participants. Dinner is ready and you have a ½ chicken breast, a big salad with lots of color, and a scoop of grandma’s potatoes. Aunt Sophie stops over with homemade blueberry muffins. Is there room on your plate? (No!) What do you need to do? (Decide between the muffin and the potatoes because you don’t need both.) You notice that dad is pulling turkey sausage off the grill. Is there room on your plate for a piece? What do you need to do?
After you have finished your dinner, you are still hungry! Can you have second? (If you are really hungry – yes! But when it comes to seconds, select more fruits and veggies.)
Drink water! Your body needs water and it helps you to feel full. Soda and juice are for special occasions! And when you do have them, drink one glass with a lot of ice. This is one of the most significant changes you can make in reducing the number of calories or the energy you take in!
Continue to reinforce this image in upcoming weeks.
This document is intended for the exclusive use of Growing Up Fit certified personnel and contains information that is copyrighted. All personnel must obtain permission to copy this information. Dissemination of this document is prohibited.

13. The MOST Important Thing…
EAT ONLY when you are HUNGRY!
STOP when you are FULL!
Drive these points home! Eat only when you are hungry! Not when you are bored or tired or sad or lonely or stressed out or mad! If you are bored, go outside! If you are tired, go take a nap! If you are sad, do something that makes you happy besides eating! If you are lonely, call up a friend or relative! If you are stressed out, take a deep calming breathe and put on some good music! And if your mad, run, jump, power march hard – until you get it out of your system.
Eat only when you are hungry! What does hunger feel like? The next time you open up the fridge – ask yourself if you are really HUNGRY!
Stop when you are full! You do not need to clear your plate. Sometimes we eat as if we may never be able to eat again! Or because we paid for it, we feel guilty not finishing our food. Take the extra home! Save some for later! STOP when you are FULL!
This concept, much like MVP, is at the root of maintaining a healthy weight throughout your life!
The way the lecture is designed the last two slides can be printed with together on a single page. Encourage parents to detach this from their handout and post prominently on the fridge or visible cupboard.
This document is intended for the exclusive use of Growing Up Fit certified personnel and contains information that is copyrighted. All personnel must obtain permission to copy this information. Dissemination of this document is prohibited.