It occurs to me that you probably have no idea what those categories and servings are all about. Let me explain. McConnell has told me that I should follow a roughly 2000 calorie, well balanced diet. They've broken my diet into seven categories:
- Grains: Pasta, bread, potato, rice, winter squash, corn, etc. Basically, things that are starchy, including starchy veggies.
- Veggies: Lettuce, carrots, summer squash, tomatoes, etc. Basically any veggie that isn't high in starch.
- Fruits: I think you know what a fruit is.
- Protein: Primarily meats and legumes. Eggs, too, except I don't eat eggs :P
- Dairy: Milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.
- Fats: Fats by themselves (e.g. butter), fats from food (e.g. cheese soup), fats from food preparation (e.g. fried foods)
- Extra: Anything that doesn't easily fit into the above categories.
They've asked me to have the following quantities of each category each day:
| Category | Servings |
| Grains | 7 |
| Veggies | 5 |
| Fruits | 4 |
| Protein | 8 |
| Dairy | 3 |
| Fats | 4 |
| Extra | 1 |
They told me to eat as many veggies as I feel I can stomach, so I'm nearly always over 5, and I have some wiggle room with the others, they told me that with the exception of fats and extras, I can trade one or two of one category for another from time to time.
There you have the categories. "What is a serving?" you might well ask. Well, they gave me some rough guidelines:
- Grains: 3 oz potato, 2 oz starchy veggie, 1/3 c pasta or rice
- Veggies: 3 oz of whatever
- Fruit: 3 oz of whatever
- Protein: 1 oz of whatever
- Dairy: 8 oz milk, 1 oz cheese
- Fats: 1 tbsp butter or margarine, 1 tbsp non-low fat dressing
- Extra: Use my best judgement
When I'm not sure if I've calculated my servings correctly, I ask my dietician.
Oh, and the dieticians told me to up my food intake at one point when I was losing weight too fast. My weight loss has slowed quite a bit, so I think I'm on the right track.
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