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No Comments [ Add Comment ]A balancing act
By KATIE M.ELLIS
hose hoping to eat healthier this year can hire a dietitian or nutritionist to create a customized diet -- or they can do the same thing for free at the government-sponsored Web site www.MyPyramid.gov.
Once at the site, the link "My Pyramid Plan" shows how many servings of grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, meat and beans, along with a total number of calories and how many of those can come from fats and sugars, a person should eat based on his or her age, gender, weight, height and activity level.
Other links will customize a diet for pregnant or breast-feeding women, preschoolers and kids, as well as analyze a diet and plan a menu.
Tracking for change
Six women in Northern Utah, ranging in age from 25 to 53, agreed to try the Web site and the pyramid plan.
Each woman designed her own way to track servings, using pieces of paper in envelope pockets, the tracking tool at the Web site or a spreadsheet.
"I think the hardest part was logging on the computer, it takes more time than just switching a piece of paper. I color-coded Popsicle sticks and started switching those," said Melany Lee, 47, of Ogden. "The challenging part of that is sometimes knowing what constitutes a serving, so back to the computer for that info. It takes a little more time than I have sometimes."
Karri Sloan, 25, of Roy, started with a paper system but found the Web site to be more motivating.
"I checked out the mypyramid.gov site more and I am so in love with it. I decided to track myself using the tracker they have provided, instead of my own little pocket pyramid. It is supermotivating; it calculates everything and even graphs how I am doing.
"The thing that I have found is good for me, as a stay-at-home mom, is having to write down and track what I eat. I am less likely to snack on my kids' leftovers and munch for fun during the day because I don't want to write down one-fourth of a jelly sandwich or 25 marshmallows.
"I've (also) realized I need to get some more protein in my diet. Dairy and fruit are the easiest for me and it makes me happy that I can have as much grains as I usually do. Some days it's easy to get all the veggies and other days it's not. I really have to plan how to get them in," she said.
Eat your veggies
Most women found getting at least three cups of vegetables the biggest challenge of their new diet.
Joan Thompson, associate professor of nutrition at Weber State University, said it's because Americans have had an animal-based diet -- and the pyramid emphasizes a healthier plant-based diet of whole, raw foods.
"For 50 years, Americans have been told, 'Eat your meat and drink your milk to grow big and strong,' " she said, "Our vegetable is iceberg lettuce with blue cheese dressing. The paradigm has to shift."
She recommends scheduling veggies into your day. For example, if you need three cups of vegetables, you could eat one veggie snack and one serving at lunch and at dinner.
Thompson says the nice thing about MyPyramid is it includes starchy vegetables and beans as part of your allotment, so you can combine potatoes, corn or beans with green and orange vegetables.
Fifty-three-year-old Susan Jenkins of North Ogden said the only way she can get her three cups of vegetables is to do a cup at each meal. She even eats steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower with her breakfast, but she says it's worth it because she starts the day ahead.
"This has opened my eyes. I feel so much better when I eat my veggies. I have so much more energy, but it's hard to get them all in," she said.
Rod Hansen, associate professor of nutrition at WSU, said it's OK to start out slow with veggies.
"Vegetables (are) a common problem. There is a heavy emphasis (in MyPyramid) on vegetables. Go ahead and start to work them in," Hansen said. "After a while, people start to like vegetables. It's not so much taste, it's also texture -- the crunchiness, they start to like the mouth feel.
"Over time, the taste, crunchiness and texture starts to be appealing. There's much more to eating than tasting."
Hansen said people may experience discomfort because the vegetables have more fiber than they are used to eating.
"When people go from low to high fiber, sometimes it's a little rough. The GI track has to get in shape and it takes a little while to get used to fiber if it hasn't had a lot in the past. Gradually get into it and give vegetables a chance," he said.
Staying motivated
Others are shocked by the vast amount of food they must eat in a day. For example, most plans include nine to 12 servings of grain.
When she began tracking, said Danielle Wilson, 28, of Plain City, she didn't get anywhere close to the amount of calories she is supposed to eat.
"With whole, fresh foods, when you take out the fat and processed foods, it's unbelievable how much food you have to eat to meet your calorie value," Thompson said. "But when you take out the high-calorie foods, you may get hungry faster."
She also warns those trying the site to pay close attention to serving sizes. For example, a large bagel can be four servings of grain.
Another challenge is staying motivated. After the first week of trying the new plan, most women reported they had a hard time sticking with it.
"I always eat better when I am tracking. Sadly, I only made it through three days of tracking and then got off track," said Kaelynn Studabaker, 36, of North Ogden. "I eat more and eat wrong things when I am not tracking as well ... I also know that when I track, I eat better and smaller portions."
If you stick with your plan long enough, Hansen said, you will feel better and may lose weight, which can be your motivation.
"Just stay with it and start to feel the good effects."
He suggests keeping a journal so you can look back further than the last few days and see the positive changes. He also said it is helpful to start the plan with a friend.
"There is power in numbers," he said.
Change for better
After a month of using her pyramid plan, 33-year-old Katrina Nelson of Willard said she has lost a few pounds, her clothes feel looser and she has more energy.
"It's more fruits and vegetables and less treats ... I feel so much better. I can never get all my servings in, but I try. Even my 8-year-old daughter is doing it. She'll say 'Mom, I need one more fruit.' "
Thompson and Hansen agree that creating and using a plan at www.mypyramid.gov is a good way to become healthier.
"It analyzes the diet and it's relatively simple," Hansen said. "It addresses portion distortion. We eat way too big portions -- it shows how different portions should look.
"It includes exercise, which is a part of the whole picture of having a healthy lifestyle. It helps us eat more good fats and less bad fats.
"The minor negative is that it's a little awkward to use. Overall, it's a great tool people can and should use."
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