Food Pyramid...Sad

[jamikins]

So I'm taking a college-level water aerobics class for my PE requirement (I went back to college several years ago). We are learning about "nutrition" this week. We have to use the Food Pyramid...and it says women should eat no more than 2 servings of meat/egg/cheese/legumes per day, for a TOTAL of 5 oz.

They also recommend 6 servings of bread, cereal and grains per day and only 10% to 30% of calories from fat.

I'm going to fail my nutrition unit. We have to analyze our diets relative to the pyramid. I think I eat 5 oz of meat at every meal, NO grains in the whole day, and my fat content is off the chart! (Maybe I should lie...tell them I had a bowl of oatmeal and a banana for breakfast instead of my actual scrambled eggs in butter and three pieces of bacon!)

So...the government strikes again with their science by committee. The food pyramid! It looks like the wheat lobbyists had the most $$$ to spread around D.C.

[mitzimarie]

Re: Food Pyramid...Sad

I'm going to fail my nutrition unit. We have to analyze our diets relative to the pyramid. I think I eat 5 oz of meat at every meal, NO grains in the whole day, and my fat content is off the chart! (Maybe I should lie...tell them I had a bowl of oatmeal and a banana for breakfast instead of my actual scrambled eggs in butter and three pieces of bacon!)

Jamie, that is exactly what I would do. That mentality is just so far from ours, that it is not worth the time and effort to try to defend your WOE in that class. I would play their game... come up with a fake menu that will make them happy. I am often vague when people ask how I am losing weight... it just gets old having to defend it.

Good Luck

[jamikins]

Re: Food Pyramid...Sad

Yep. I'm afriad you're right, Mitzi. I can't change the curriculum (or the textbook) with a good argument, can I?

Since I'm going to engage in academic dishonesty, should I fabricate a so-called "healthy" eating plan (low fat/low cal), or should I throw in some Cheetos and M&Ms to make it sound plausible?

[Laurenfra]

Re: Food Pyramid...Sad

Why no be a little more honest, prepare an acceptable menu based on the pyramid and write a paper why this would be the perfect meal plan according to the pyramid. Then explain you have very spacific diatery needs that dont match the pyramid.

[jamikins]

Re: Food Pyramid...Sad

Hi, Laurenfra...

That's a suggestion.

I see you're from "Blink and you miss it, Texas." Um...you don't happen to teach PE at a certain community college in a large military town in central Texas, do you? And if you do...well, um, I wasn't ACTUALLY considering fabricating my homework...I was just--you know--weighing my options.

[Sherri]

Re: Food Pyramid...Sad

The Government food pyramid is SAD, it stands for" STANDARD AMERICAN DIET"!It's no wonder so many Americans are so unhealthy. Very sad indeed!

[jamikins]

Re: Food Pyramid...Sad

Good news! I was honest on my nutritional analysis, and I turned it in. I got it back yesterday with a note from my instructor that surprised me.

It turns out that she, herself, tried Atkins three years ago and she said she lost fat, gained muscle and felt like she was the healthiest she had ever been. She said she stayed on it for six months, but one day she had a piece of birthday cake before a cycling class, and the carb-load gave her an incredible energy surge and so she decided to quit Atkins. She said Atkins wasn't a good fit for her, because she runs, cycles, swims, kick-boxes and does yoga every day (those are the classes she teaches) and she needs the carbs for quick energy...but she said she endorses the plan for people who need to lose a lot of weight, who are just starting to get active, and who need to bust the sugar from their diets.

Unfortunately for everyone, she MUST teach the food pyramid according to the curriculum. Yesterday, she gave us a nice lecture about "not all carbs are equal." She said veggie carbs are much better than pasta carbs and pasta carbs are better than Dorito carbs, and that even if we use the pyramid we need to remember that items within the food groups differ significantly in nutrition. For example, an avocado is completely different from a banana, yet they are both considered "fruit." Grouping foods according to the pyramid is somewhat meaningless when you're considering protein/carb/fat/vitamins/minerals/glycemic response, but if you're in the first grade, the pyramid is helpful in teaching nutrition.

I'm very proud of my instructor for being honest. I wish she had lectured us before our assignment was due (I would have had less anxiety), but she didn't want to influence us.

There is some hope out there!

[guekjian]

Re: Food Pyramid...Sad

Wow Jamiekins, you must have been so relieved! Someday everyone will get it...

[elsy]

Re: Food Pyramid...Sad

Hi there. That was an interesting piece about your instructor. Too bad for her and for everyone else that needs to continue preaching the wrong thing.

I told my allergist about Atkins when I got tested for Candida (thank goodness I'm not allergic). She's Asian and naturally skinny and pettite so she doesn't take sides. She just said oh well whatever works right. I also told my Dentist cuz i overheard a conversation they were having about low carbs. Well, it turns out him and almost the entire staff is on Atkins. He got everyone on it. How cool is that right?