Choose My Plate and Your Nutrition

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                A few weeks ago, I received an assignment for my Introductory Nutrition Class. I was to go onto www.choosemyplate.gov and create my own “Super-Tracker” account. Okay, shouldn’t be a problem. Oh, but it was harder than I thought it would be. First, it took me forever to find the correct place to log-in. But once I was logged-in, I was completely lost. What’s the first thing I’m supposed to do here? Apparently, first I was supposed to find the right link in order to put in my weight, height, age, and whether I want to lose or gain weight. You’d think that a program that advertises easy-to-use software would kinda be, I don’t know….easy to use?

                Once I found the link and recorded all the necessary information they needed, I was flooded with page after page of recommended dietary guidelines, recommended physical activities, how much calories I need to eat per day, how much food I need to eat in order to achieve those calories, and more. After the feeling of being overwhelmed got the best of me, I logged off and decided to work on it later.

                After three days of procrastination, I decided to give it another try. This time, I wasn’t flooded with all kinds of information and was given three choices: to compare calories in my favorite foods, to record the food I ate that day, and to record the type of exercise I did and for how long. I chose to record my food. I put in that I ate cheerios for breakfast with a cup of milk, and that banana I had with two tablespoons of Nutella. The chart refreshed and showed that I had eaten 448 kcalories of food. Not bad, I thought. This shouldn’t be hard, all I have to do is eat enough food to reach my recommended 2600 calories. But then I noticed something else. Apparently, I have to diversify my meals enough so that I eat certain amounts of different kinds of food. For example, I have eat up to 9 ounces of grains. Shouldn’t be hard, I thought. But as I quickly realized, you have to eat a lot of bread, pasta, and crackers to reach the recommended amount (even if all you eat is whole grain).

Below in chart number 1, is the recommended dietary guideline for myself.

1.)    Daily recommended calories and food amounts for a 22 year old male with moderate physical activity who is underweight (130lb.). Goal: 140 lb.

Calories	2600 Kcal.
Grains	9 oz.
Vegetables	3 ½ cups
Fruits	2 cups
Dairy	3 cups
Protein foods	6 ½ oz.
Oils	8 tsp.

My professor’s assignment required that I create a one day meal plan based on the above guidelines. Shouldn’t be hard, I thought. Boy was I wrong. I spend 3 hours trying to add enough food to the plan that wouldn’t put me over or under the recommended amounts of each food group. I was determined to have foods from all of the groups in the food pyramid…er…I mean…plate.

2.)    My Ideal Meal Plan based on the recommended food guide above.

Food	Amount	Where fits in guidelines	Calories
Breakfast
Pancakes	2 (5inches ea.)	2oz Grains	90
Chocolate Milk	1 cup	1 cup Dairy	208
Eggs	2 large eggs	2 oz. Protein	184
Morning Snack
Strawberries (with sugar	1 cup	1 cup Fruits	76
Yogurt (whole milk)	½ cup	½ cup Dairy	135
Lunch
Whole grain bread	2 slices	2 oz. Grains	138
Cooked Broccoli w/ butter	1 ¾ cup	2 cup Vegetables	181
American Cheese	1 oz.	½ cup Dairy	95
Lunch Meat	2 oz.	2 oz. Proteins	224
(Cont.)
Afternoon Snack
Assorted Veggies (baby carrots, celery, etc.)	½ cup	½ cup Vegetables	26
Whole Wheat Crackers	5 crackers	1 oz. Grains	126
Whole Wheat Bread	1 slice	1 oz. Grains	69
Vegetable Juice	½ cup	½ cup Vegetables	36
Dinner
Pasta	1 ¼ cup	2 ½ oz. Grains	363
Toast	½ slice	½ oz. Grains	35
Fruit Juice	1 cup	1 cup Fruit	130
Chocolate Milk	1 cup	1 cup Dairy	208
Steak	½ small steak	2 ½ oz. Protein	181
			Total: 2,505 kcal.

As you can see, even with all the food I put in my meal plan, I still only reached 2,505 calories. That’s 95 calories less than my goal. Not bad, I think. But then I looked back on the list. Something is wrong…terribly wrong. This list is huge! Surely the USDA doesn’t expect me to eat ALL of this?! In order to meet this meal plan, I would have to eat constantly! Is there some kind of conspiracy going on here? Did the grain industry lobby the USDA to put the recommendation high? As did all the other agriculture industries? Maybe the USDA recommended dietary guidelines aren’t flawless.

After 3 or 4 days of recording my food intake, I notice a link that’s labeled “My Reports.” Upon clicking on it, I found that I could read several reports on my calorie intake, physical activity, meal summary,  and nutrients I’m eating. Below is the report of what I ate during the assignment.

3.)    What I actually eat (which is probably why I’m underweight).

	Goal	Actual
Calories	2600 Kcal.	1593 Kcal.
Grains	9 oz.	6 oz.
Vegetables	3 ½ cups	2 cups
Fruits	2 cups	1 ¾ cups
Dairy	3 cups	2 ½ cups
Protein foods	6 ½ oz.	4 oz.
Oils	8 tsp.	4 tsp.

Conclusion:

            My eating habits aren’t great. I’ve never had a good appetite and because of it, my portion sizes are almost always very small. The effects of this have even been noticed by my friends; I have low energy. This project has opened my eyes to my unhealthy eating habits. For example, a healthy protein level is 6 ½ ounces for my goal, but I’m only eating 4 ounces daily. The same can be said for all food groups; I fall below the desired calories in all food categories. My plan is to take these goals seriously and to gain weight so that I can reach a more healthy weight and energy level.

            Even though the whole website is pretty complicated, you can learn to use it over time. I’m making it a project of mine to log in at least once a day to record my eating and physical habits. Sure, I think that the food industries have caused the USDA to exaggerate their recommended intake levels, but in my case, more food isn’t a bad thing. For people trying to lose weight, however, food intakes that are exaggerated could actually make it harder to lose. But you have to start somewhere, and this website holds a lot of promise even if it is hard to navigate and understand.

            Another aspect that I really appreciate about the website is the privacy it ensures. When I was creating my account, it didn’t ask me my name or where I was from. Instead I was to put in a username, password, and my email address. For some, trying to lose weight is embarrassing, and the anonymity the website offers is great.

You have to hurry and do it now though, the USDA only gave Michelle Obama’s idea until 7-31-2012 before it expires and the website is taken down.