Counting?

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rehagen01
rehagen01 Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
I have a hard time counting nutrition facts. Such as counting calories, fat grams, carbs...etc. It's very confusing when you eat 1 serving size but you eat your alotment of carbs or protiens for the day. Is there really such a thing as a balanced diet nowadays?

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  • rehagen01
    rehagen01 Posts: 6
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    I have a hard time counting nutrition facts. Such as counting calories, fat grams, carbs...etc. It's very confusing when you eat 1 serving size but you eat your alotment of carbs or protiens for the day. Is there really such a thing as a balanced diet nowadays?
  • deanea
    deanea Posts: 1,437
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    I have a hard time counting nutrition facts. Such as counting calories, fat grams, carbs...etc. It's very confusing when you eat 1 serving size but you eat your alotment of carbs or protiens for the day. Is there really such a thing as a balanced diet nowadays?

    If you make an effort to eat one member of every food group in every meal you have a balance diet, and you will notice that the grams add up every meal pretty consistantly (though most go over in protein, but thats ok if you work out). That is the theory of balanced.

    For example:

    Breakfast: 1 w/w toast with light cheese and a 2 piece of back bacon
    1 apple

    snack: small yogourt/ 8 almonds/V8 juice

    lunch: Turkey sprinkled with mozerella and spinach, 1 w/w pita, salad with light dressing and an
    orange

    snack: light w/w crackers, hummas/veggies sticks

    dinner: salmon, asperigas, 1/2 cup rice

    snack: strawberries, fat free vanilla pudding

    Above shows approximately: 7 servings of veg and fruit, 3-4 servings of protein, 2-3 dairy, 5-6 grains and starchy, some fat

    does that make sense? (Sorry for the spelling, not a good typer)
  • pete
    pete Posts: 76 Member
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    I am reading a book called "in defense of food" by Micheal Pollan. I posted in an excerp from the amazon review you might enjoy reading. I am half-way through the book, and it has really opened my eyes with regards to nutrition science.

    http://www.amazon.com/Defense-Food-Eaters-Manifesto/dp/1594201455/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202157429&sr=8-1

    "Food is the one thing that Americans hate to love and, as it turns out, love to hate. What we want to eat has been ousted by the notion of what we should eat, and it's at this nexus of hunger and hang-up that Michael Pollan poses his most salient question: where is the food in our food? What follows in In Defense of Food is a series of wonderfully clear and thoughtful answers that help us omnivores navigate the nutritional minefield that's come to typify our food culture. Many processed foods vie for a spot in our grocery baskets, claiming to lower cholesterol, weight, glucose levels, you name it. Yet Pollan shows that these convenient "healthy" alternatives to whole foods are appallingly inconvenient: our health has a nation has only deteriorated since we started exiling carbs, fats--even fruits--from our daily meals. His razor-sharp analysis of the American diet (as well as its architects and its detractors) offers an inspiring glimpse of what it would be like if we could (a la Humpty Dumpty) put our food back together again and reconsider what it means to eat well. In a season filled with rallying cries to lose weight and be healthy, Pollan's call to action—"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."--is a program I actually want to follow."

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