Greetings and welcome to my Nutrition section. Remember the well known, but seldom followed, Food Guide Pyramid? Well after 12 years the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) unveiled a new food guide pyramid to reflect the government’s new dietary guidelines. Interestingly, the new food guide pyramid, named “MyPyramid,” stresses the importance of balancing what we eat with physical activity. Rather than 6 blocks within the pyramid to represent the food groups, like the original guide, the new MyPyramid uses colored vertical bands with different widths to illustrate how much food should be consumed in each category. The different sizes of the bands show the proportion of food you should eat from each food group.

MyPyramid can be accessed at www.mypyramid.gov and offers 12 different eating plans depending on how many calories you need and how active you are. To find out your Mypyramid plan just enter your age, gender, and activity level. Once the data is submitted you will be provided recommended calories per day, recommended daily number of servings from each food group, a meal tracking worksheet and a variety of menus.

Hunger -Satiety Scale

To determine the extent of your hunger and fullness, a hunger scale from 1-10, can help keep you on track throughout the day. Staying between 3 and a 6 before, during and after each meal will be your lifetime goal. Being hungry is the natural physiological mechanism that signals you to eat. The problem arises when you get too hungry and you allow yourself to reach 1 and 2 on the scale, which will increase your chances of overeating to the point that you reach a 7-10 on the scale. When you overeat, you impede your weight loss success. Overeating also comes with the feeling of guilt, which typically is followed by over restriction. This is where many dieters get caught up with the starving-binging cycle. Our bodies will tell us what we need and when, IF we train ourselves to LISTEN and RESPOND. Spend a few days and begin the process of listening to your bodies hunger needs. Before and after each meal, write down a number on the scale that applies to your hunger.

10 = Stuffed to the point of feeling sick, in a food coma

9 = Very uncomfortably full, need to loosen your belt

8 = Uncomfortably full, feel stuffed

7 = Very full, feel as if you have overeaten

6 = comfortably full, satisfied

5 = Neutral, neither hungry nor full

4 = Beginning signals of hunger

3 = Hungry, ready to eat

2 = Very hungry, unable to concentrate

1 = Starving, dizzy, irritable

Home | Biography | Nutrition | Fitness Training | Programs
Recipes | Portfolio | Store | Links | Contact