Following the serving suggestions of the food pyramid helps you fulfill the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Recommended Dietary Allowance, now called the Dietary Reference Intake, of nutrients including vitamins, minerals and fiber. Creating your daily meals by incorporating all the servings of each food group helps you to effectively chart your calorie intake. Selecting the healthiest choice from each food group helps you reduce the number of calories you eat without losing healthful nutrients.
Step 1
Visit the MyPyramid.gov website for a personalized food intake recommendation. Enter your data including age, height, weight, sex and activity level. Make five columns on a sheet of paper corresponding to the five food groups of the food pyramid.
Step 2
Count the number of servings you need to eat under the grains group, increasing your intake of fiber, carbs, vitamins and minerals. One serving or 1 oz. of grains is a ½ cup of brown rice, a ½ cup of whole wheat pasta, one slice of whole wheat bread, or a ½ cup of cooked sweet potato flesh. Each serving has approximately 100 calories. Read the nutrition label of your food for the exact number of calories to list on your tables as you create your daily meals. For a 2,000-calorie diet, you will eat about 600 calories from the grains group.
Step 3
List the number of cups you need to eat under the vegetable group. Most of your veggies should be dark green or orange such as broccoli, spinach, carrots and orange sweet peppers. A cup of broccoli florets has 10 calories, 2 cups of fresh spinach has 14 calories and 1/2 cup of carrots has 33 calories. Eat a variety of vegetables throughout the week incorporating higher calorie veggies and lower calorie veggies to fulfill your consumption of folate, fiber and vitamin A.
Step 4
Note the number of cups you need to eat from fruits. Satisfy your fruit requirements primarily from fresh fruits rather than fruit juices as juices have a higher calorie concentration and lower fiber content per cup compared to fresh fruits. One cup of raspberries has 60 calories, 1 cup of cubed mango has about 107 calories, a medium apple has 81 calories and 1 cup of orange sections has 85 calories. Fruits are an excellent source of vitamins and antioxidants including vitamins C, vitamin A and potassium. For a 2,000-calorie diet, you will average about 170 calories from fruits.
Step 5
Count the number of servings you need from calcium-rich foods including skim milk, low-fat yogurt, low-fat cheese, tofu and Chinese cabbage. One cup of skim milk has about 80 calories, a ½ cup of 1-percent milk cottage cheese has 80 calories, and a ½ cup of calcium-enriched tofu averages 183 calories. Adults need 1,000 mg of calcium per day according to the Linus Pauling Institute. Calcium-rich foods can contribute between 320 to 450 calories each day to your meal plan.
Step 6
List the weight of protein you need, varying your intake between fatty fish, lean beef, chicken breast, peas, nuts, beans and seeds. One ounce of most nuts average about 180 calories, a 3-oz. serving of beef tenderloin has 175 calories, a 3-oz. serving of chicken breast has 140 calories, and one serving of black beans or a ½ cup has 110 calories. Three ounces of salmon has plenty of omega-3 fats which enhance the health of your arteries, but also have as many calories as beef tenderloin. You can potentially eat between 350 and 400 calories from the protein group on a 2,000-calorie plan.
Tips and Warnings
- Make a daily meal plan of five to six small meals, incorporating the serving recommendations from each food group, satisfying the RDA.
Things You'll Need
- Paper
- Pencil
References
- Essential Fatty Acids Education: Dietary Reference Intakes
- My Pyramid: Inside the Food Pyramid
- Fruits and Veggies Matter: Fruit and Vegetable Benefits
- Pennsylvania Apples: Apple Health Benefits
- Berry Health Benefits Network: Health and Healing Fact Sheets: Raspberries
- Linus Pauling Institute; Calcium; Jane Higdon, April 2003
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